Time Changes Everything

A Memory of Watchfield.

I was born and grew up in Watchfield, which was originally about 100 houses. Rapid changes to the village occurred in the late 1930s when Beckett Estate was aquired for the army. Then came the airfield and REME workshops. In the early 1940s the village was flooded as a rapid thaw melted snow on the airfield and the water came down the road. After National Service in the early 1950s I did not live at home for long, but I like to remember the village as it was when I grew up.

I notice that other memories recall the airfield was used for paratroop training, I can also add that some scenes of 'The Red Beret' were shot there.