Living At Model Farm

A Memory of Shirburn.

The Edwards family lived at Model Farm from 1953 to 1957. We went to Chinnor School, my brother Stuart went to Lord Williams, Thame. My mother Phyllis started 1st Shirburn & Luknor Brownies and was Captain of 1st Watlington Guides when Lady Valerie Parker was District Comissioner. She also sang in Watlington Church choir. My father Ben was Farm Manager, in his spare time he was a Special Constable. I have three sisters, Priscilla, Kathryn and Bridgid. Our grandmother Daisy Sturt lived with us. My memories of that time are swimming in the corn in the corn stores and sliding down the grain shutes in the dryer. Also putting the chains on the sacks of corn so they could be lifted up on the winch to the top floor of the building. Sheep dipping in the dip by the Dutch barns. walking with Dad at night during lambing time to check everything was ok. Having loads of lambs living in the kitchen if their mothers could not raise them and bottle feeding them. The tractor shed was opposite our house and the drivers had to take the exhaust pipes off because they stuck up in the air and could not go under the arches to get into their allotted spaces. I also remember that the workmans lobby was nearby and we used to drink their cold sweet tea from Corona bottles which they brought to work with them, two of them were the Coles brothers. We lived there when the road to the farm was tarmaced, very posh, most farms still had a mud or stone track leading to them. I was naughty and wrote all our family names and birthdays on the tarmac with chalk and Mum made me carry a bucket of cold water to the place and scrub the road. I often wonder whether she knew that the next shower of rain would have washed it off! I expect it was good for my soul or something. We had to make a May Day garland for school every year and Janet Tuckwell whose father was the gardener at the Castle always won, I wonder where she got her flowers from. My brother spent many an hour putting things on the railway line and waited for the train to squash them flat. On the way home he would buy sweets from the shop which were used as prizes for games of Monopoly which he always won. I could go on but please if any of this reminds you of any of us please get in toucn via e-mail on rikajoed@btinternet.com. Bye for now.

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