Yattendon, The Royal Oak c.1960

Photo ref: Y32022

The well incident at yattendon scared my father. We had heard about it through relatives and we lived in east tytherley at the time. I remember my father spending a weekend tapping floors and trying to lift flag stones in our kitchen because he was convinced that there was a well under our home- there wasnt.

'The Oak' is the only pub and hotel in the village and in the fifties our next door neighbour was the cleaner there. She would cycle to the village from the farm on a heavy green bicycle in a slow and ponderous manner that has stayed with me to this day. I must have been about nine when the awful event happened that haunted me for years.  Police came to the village school one day to ask our neighbour's daughter ...see more

This was where everyone waited for the buses that took us east to Pangbourne and Reading or west to Newbury, our main shopping town.  Newbury had a thriving market twice a week and buses were frequent, eight per day.   The Well House did indeed have a well beneath it and following a tragedy at the Royal Oak pub in which our next door neighbour was killed, the building was renovated. Originally it was an open ...see more

When I was ten years old this old tree was a delight. Ancient and hollow inside, we children were able to crawl inside while mother did her shopping. We watched people pass on their way to and from the blacksmith, the grocer or the butcher, firmly believing they had no idea we were there.  If we were lucky we would have been bought an ice lolly or a sweet to eat in the tree.  It was often thought by visitors ...see more