Winter Of 1963

A Memory of Great Witley.

I moved to Great Witley in 1954 with my family, we lived at the Engine House, which used to pump the water for Witley Court. I attended Witley school from 1954 to 1960, the headmaster was Mr Wyton, a memorable time for me, living on the farm enjoying the freedom that modern society cannot provide. The winter of 1963 was a long one, and now at the age of 14 I enjoyed sledging and snowball fights with my two brothers, Philip and Michael. One of the greatest memories of that winter was the frozen pool above Witley Court, called the Washing Pool, a popular fishing haunt for midlanders. My father owned an ex army Willy's Jeep and decided that the ice on the pool would support its weight easily, which it did; and almost on a daily basis we all drove the jeep on the pool spinning and sliding around. Philip and I also took our old motorcycles on the ice, spending more time off the bike than on, but fantastic fun, looking back I realise how dangerous it was, but we were young and I am still alive to relate the tale. I have 8mm cine film of the event, now it is on dvd and if anyone is interested, I would be more than happy to show them the footage.
I can be contacted by email .. gwfrancis111@hotmail.co.uk
In 1970 I married a local girl, Jan Cartwright, at Witley Court Church, the Rev Lockwood who was the village vicar during the 1960's, then residing at Hanley Swan, aggreed to marry us, and Mr Wyton kindly played the organ for us, another truly memorable event.