Radley News - May 2012
Our normal meeting date this year fell on Easter Monday so we arranged to have a joint meeting with the Radley Women’s Fellowship the following week. Our speaker was John Ledger who talked about the Missionary Aviation Fellowship. A report of this meeting can be found elsewhere in the magazine.

The club has recently bought some new audio recording equipment and soon we will be conducting more interviews in our ‘Tale to tell’ series. We are always interested to hear of people who have an interesting story to tell, especially if it is connected with Radley. The project sub-committee are having a break but in the autumn we will start a project about the industries and occupations connected with Radley, other than agricultural. Over the last few years the club has published several books connected with the history of Radley and most of these can be bought at the village shop. Details can be found on the club’s website.

Next month our speaker will be Liz Woolley on the subject ‘Industrial architecture in Oxford’. Liz is an excellent speaker and we are looking forward to her return visit. In June Linda Haynes will talk about the Hampton Poyle rail crash and in July there is a change to the programme. Instead of having members’ interests we will be having another tour of Radley College.

Indoor meetings are held in Radley Primary School’s hall at 7.30 pm on the second Monday of the month. Guests and new members are always welcome.

Radley News - April 2012
Our speaker for March was Tony Hadland who gave a very interesting talk about the Wantage Engineering Company with additional information about Nalder a& Nalder and the Wantage Tramway Co. The first company was set up in 1826 and made agricultural machinery and steam engines. Their Berkshire plough was very profitable for them. In 1852 they produced the first steam-powered threshing machine. Munitions were made there in WW1 and it is rumoured that the casings for Barnes Wallis’ bouncing bombs were also made there in WW2.
The Wantage Tramway, the first of its kind in the country, was set up in 1873. It was built alongside the road from Wantage to the junction with the GWR main line, just north of Grove. To begin with the tram was drawn by horses and that was succeeded by a Grantham car, a self-propelled steam tram. Passenger services finished in 1925 but the line continued to be used for freight until 1945 after which it was dismantled. Tony’s talk concluded with a brief clip from an old film of the tram called Jane, travelling along the track amongst the cars and bicycles of the day.

The Club is in the process of buying some new audio equipment for recording people’s stories. We have interviewed quite a few people over the last few years that have an interesting tale to tell about their lives and the resulting CDs are kept in the Club’s archives. We would now like to continue with this work and we would be very pleased to hear of anyone who would like to be interviewed or has any suggestions as to whom we should ask. It doesn’t have to be someone who has lived in the village all their lives, although these people’ s reminiscences are very valuable.

Following the success of the farms and families project the sub-committee is going to be looking at other occupations that have involved Radley people in the past. It will also be looking at industries, past and present, in the village. I hope lots of people will be involved with this project as they were with the last one.

Our next meeting will be a week later than usual because of Easter when we will join with the Women’s Fellowship to hear John Ledger speak about the Missionary Aviation Fellowship. This will be held in Radley Primary School hall at 7.30 p.m. on April 16th.

Radley News - February 2012
At our January meeting there was an audience of over 70 people to hear Robert Sephton, one of our members, talk about the early days of the Salvation Army in Oxfordshire.

Robert had done extensive research before his talk and he was able to tell us how the Salvation Army, with particular emphasis on Oxford, originated and progressed. William Booth had set it up for the relief of poverty and to benefit mankind and the country. His influence eventually spread around the world and the Army now has members in 59 countries. Initially the Oxford branch, which had been set up in an old rag mill in St. Ebbe’s, faced substantial opposition with protests and even riots from local residents. The members persevered and over time it became a respected part of the community. The Salvation Army members were strict teetotallers and at one time the brewers and hotel trade tried to take the moral high ground, by setting up their own army called the Yellow Ribbon Army, which supported drink in moderation. A rougher group of brewers started the Skeleton Army, which paraded skulls and crossbones on their banners and mocked the Salvation Army songs by putting their own words to them. On one occasion this latter group broke down a fence to attack the Salvation Army members.

The foundations of the Citadel in Oxford were laid in 1887 and housed many projects to help alleviate suffering, as well as youth activities, the band and choir. These premises were demolished in 1970 to make way for offices. The Army now meets in Wytham Street and is still committed to doing its social work.
The project sub-committee will soon be discussing the club’s next project. Members have given us some interesting suggestions and it is likely one of them will be chosen. As with our last project on farms and families of Radley I hope many members of the club and others will make contributions to it.

Radley News - December 2011
John Leighfield, the former chairman of RM, was the speaker at our November meeting when members enjoyed hearing about his passion for maps. The pictures and maps, which he brought, showed the development of map-making from very early times to the present day and where possible he had chosen examples with special reference to the area around Radley. It was interesting to see how plagiarism crept into mapmakers’ work over many centuries, but modern map enthusiasts have found this very useful. Amongst the many maps on display at the end was one made of Oxford by the Russians during the Cold War. Members felt they could read a little Russian by the time they had worked out where all the places were.

During the meeting a board was passed around so that members could write down their suggestions for a future project, which might be undertaken by the club. Some ideas were forthcoming but we are still happy to receive other suggestions, which can be given to any member of the committee. The last exhibition and book will be a hard act to follow, but there are still parts of Radley’s history waiting to be discovered.

The December meeting will be our annual Christmas dinner at the Bowyer Arms. It will be on December 5th, which is a week earlier than our usual meeting date. At our January meeting, Robert Sephton, one of our members will talk about the early days of the Salvation Army in Oxford. We are always pleased to welcome new members and guests. The subscription is £10 per year and guests do not have to pay for their first visit. Subsequent visits are £2.50.

Many of the club’s publications are on sale in the village shop or from Joyce Huddleston or myself. They make good Christmas presents for anyone who has had connections with Radley.

Two new members were welcomed to the meeting on 10 October when the subscriptions for the year became due and the new Membership Cards were available outlining the events planned by our Programme Secretary,  Jenny Lee. We mourned the loss of  Ray Faulkner, a former member, who in his later years was such a staunch supporter of the Save Radley Lakes campaign.

Mark Davies gave us a good talk on  Alice in Waterland  a topic which he has researched for many years.  His talk was followed by a lively discussion, and tea/coffee and biscuits were provided again by Rita with help from Joan Gibbs. The Christmas meal at The Bowyer Arms to be held on Monday 5th December is being organized by Bill Shaw. Menus have been sent by email to members.

On Monday 14th November we will welcome John Leighfield who will talk on Mapping, From Gough to Google.  Radley Primary School Hall,  Doors open 7 for 7.30. Guests are always welcome and their first visit is free.

Radley News - October 2011
The September meeting was our AGM. The chairman and treasurer reported on a very successful year, which ended with a membership of about 80 and a healthy financial balance. The committee is almost the same for next year except that Rita Ford and Les Hemsworth have stepped down and Richard Dudding and Bill Shaw have taken their place. Rita is one of the founder members of the club and she felt that she ought to have a break from the committee having served on it for so many years. Thankfully she will still be on the project sub-committee as it would be hard to imagine the club functioning so well without Brian’s and her help. Les has made a valuable contribution to our photographic archives while on the committee and will continue to be our official photographer.

Andy Lamb, curator of Oxford’s Bate Collection of musical instruments, then gave a most interesting talk. He informed us that primarily the collection exists to make the instruments and archives available to students and researchers, but additionally it is a registered museum and has a duty to conserve the instruments for the future. We have no shared vocabulary for describing the sound of an instrument so the only alternative is to play and listen to it, which results in a tension between playing delicate old instruments and preserving them.
Andy described 500 years of western music using the example of an instrument called the serpent.  He talked us through, with occasional accompaniment from the serpent, the development of music from renaissance, through baroque and classical to romantic. This was an interesting, enlightening and enjoyable talk and Andy surprised us all at the end by telling us that the serpent he had brought with him was a replica instrument made of plastic in 1985 by an Abingdon man, David Harvey.

We are hoping to have a reprint of the Farms and Families book and this will then be on sale, alongside the book about the stained glass windows of Radley Church and other RHC publications, in the village shop.

Our next meeting is on Monday 10th October in Radley village school’s hall at 7.30 p.m. when Mark Davies will give a talk entitled ‘Alice in Waterland’. Guests are always welcome and their first visit is free.

Radley News - September 2011
Some of our members enjoyed a very interesting visit to the archaeological excavations at Marcham on July 24th. It was a lovely day and the group I was with had an excellent guide who showed us around and explained very clearly what was happening at the various sites. The site will now be covered while the evidence, which is still causing many questions to be asked, is examined and written up. This is likely to take many years. The field will not be cultivated but become set-aside so that the historic remains will not be damaged.

The club does not meet in August so our next meeting will be on September 12th at 7.30 pm in Radley village school’s hall. It will be the AGM followed by a talk by Andy Lamb entitled The Serpent that didn’t tempt Eve. This talk is about the musical instruments in the Bate collection in Oxford, which is one of the most magnificent collections of musical instruments in the world. Andy will be telling us about them and also showing some of them.

The History Club’s publications are selling well and the book about farms and families has almost sold out. More books will probably be printed if the demand continues. Patrick Dockar-Drysdale’s book, about the stained glass of Radley Church is now on sale in the village shop. Tony Rogerson and I also have copies for sale. The book, priced at £5.99 is entitled Faith and Heraldry, the Stained Glass in the Church of St James the Great, Radley.

We are always happy to have new members or visitors to join us. The committee agreed that from September visitors would not have to pay for their first visit but subsequent visits would cost £2.50. The annual membership will remain at £10 and Joyce, our treasurer, will be pleased to have the payment for subscriptions from the September meeting onwards. The new programme will be available in October when next year’s committee is known.

Radley News - July 2011
David Clark gave members and guests a very interesting and informative talk on the existing buildings of Abingdon Abbey at our June meeting. These centred around the Checker, the Checker Hall and the Long Gallery. His talk was illustrated with photographs and drawings. It was interesting to hear that the Uniform Theatre used to be a group of cottages in the 19th century and this was especially so for one of our members whose ancestors lived in one of the dwellings in that street. 

We will not be having a meeting in July but members are invited to meet at 2 pm at the Frilford/Marcham archaeological dig on Sunday 24th July. It is not a tour but we are warmly invited to attend by one of our recent speakers, Janey Cumber, whose husband spoke to us last year about the excavations.

The exhibition at Radley Village Hall on July 16th and 17th will be the big event in this year’s calendar. Rita and Brian Ford are organising a display of farm implements and memorabilia from Radley Farms and the book entitled Radley Farms and Families 1600 – 2011 will be on sale for £10.99. The book traces the story of the various farms, farmers, agricultural workers and landowners in the village over the centuries and gives a picture of what life was like during that time. In later chapters personal recollections are included. Although I wrote the book many members of Radley History Club and others have contributed to it through interviews, personal writing, photographs and sketches. Others have provided valuable assistance in proof reading and giving me advice.

There is no meeting in August. Our next meeting will be on September 12th at 7.30 pm in Radley village school’s hall. It will be the AGM followed by a talk by Andy Lamb entitled The Serpent that didn’t tempt Eve. More details will be given in a later Radley News report. If any member would like to join the committee please let me know.

Radley History Club has an extensive archive collection and members can borrow items from it. Stan Baker as archivist looks after most of it while I have the books. We often have requests for information about Radley and its families from all over the world and we are always happy to help anyone with research who requests it. Details can be found on our website. There are also details of the books and DVDs we have for sale.

Radley News - June 2011
At our May meeting one of our members, Richard Dudding, gave a most interesting and beautifully presented talk on The buildings of Lower Radley and the people who lived there.

He explained that the oldest buildings in Lower Radley are the cruck-frame cottages built up to about 1520, which originally had an open fire, no chimney, no first floor and little privacy for the people living in the hall of the house. The box-frame cottages came later (in the 16th–18th century) and they had a first floor. The walls of these were prone to bulging and tie braces can often be seen on them to hold them together. The roof slope and chimney positions can often identify box-frame houses, as they don’t change very much even when the house is altered.

Richard outlined the socio-economic conditions before the Black Death when there were virtually no middle classes. The epidemic killed a large proportion of the population and with the resulting shortage of labour peasants were able to negotiate better wages. Consequently a class of yeomen emerged. These people worked a few acres of land and would be the builders of the cottages in Lower Radley. Following enclosure, the yeoman class disappeared to be replaced by farmers of a few large farms and landless agricultural labourers who lived in the houses, which had been divided up into two or three separate dwellings. With no mains drainage, no running water, no gas or electricity many of these cottages gradually became derelict following WWII and some were issued with demolition orders. Fortunately many survived and were restored to single homes with owners who are now no longer connected with the land.

Plans are well under way for the Farming and Families exhibition on July 16th and 17th in Radley Village Hall. The book to go with it is finished and will be on sale on those dates. Rita and Brian Ford are working hard to prepare the display and, from what I have heard about their plans so far, it should be well worth visiting. Some members signed up to help during the two days but a few more volunteers are needed so please let me know if you can spare a couple of hours.The speaker at our next meeting will be David Clarke who will be talking about Abingdon Abbey’s existing buildings. New members and guests are always welcome. The doors open at 7.0 for 7.30 pm in the Radley Village School’s hall.

Radley  News - May 2011
At a very enjoyable April meeting some of our members volunteered to talk about family items or stories of interest to them.

• Richard Dudding showed us, and talked about, some drawings done by his grandfather, a surgeon in the army, who was serving on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the early 20th century. Some names on the sketches were relevant to the present conflict there.
• David Buckle revealed some very heart-warming information about his parents.
• Mary Blanks told us about the VAD tag belonging to her mother who was with the British Red Cross in France and Germany following WW1.
• John Homewood talked about the wild-rose/Nuneham Courtenay patterned china then shocked everyone with his handling of two plates, until we realised they were made of tin but looked just like breakable china.
• Sylvia Wilson gave us a rather sad account from a very old newspaper of someone who had committed suicide and drowned her children at the same time. The woman had the same family name as Sylvia and was from the same village.
• Joan Gibbs showed us photographs of weddings in her family over the years and we delighted in looking at the fashions worn by the families.
• Sally Hemsworth showed us photos of her uncle and told us of his death during the war. She also brought along a small dressing-table mirror with drawers, which was a family heirloom.
• Rita Ford told us about a scrapbook which her husband Brian had bought recently. It consisted of fascinating newspaper cuttings from the Jersey Evening Post in 1940 when the Channel Islands were occupied during WW2. There was a list of black-market prices on the back of it, which was very interesting.
• Brian Ford concluded the evening with a talk about Radley Church graveyard. He has been trying to locate where all the graves are and who was buried in them. So many of stones are wearing badly and Brian is doing a wonderful job in documenting them before it is too late.

Richard Dudding will be the speaker on May 9th in the village school hall at 7.30pm and will talk about the houses in Lower Radley.

Radley News - April 2011
Sixty people attended the March meeting of the Club and this included three new members and six guests. Quite a few members, for various reasons, were unable to attend. The speaker, Rosanne Butler, returned to give Part III of her ‘History of Cowley’ talks. Her first two talks were very well received and we weren’t disappointed by the third talk bringing us more up to date with this interesting area.

Rosanne reminded us that, until the 19th century, Cowley was a tiny village linked to Oxford by a long country road over a marsh. She talked about how the workhouse was moved from Wellington Square to the where the Manzil Way mosque now stands and how that area came to join up with Oxford as a result of the need for housing of workers at the Colleges. The first industry to come to Cowley was the Cowley Steam Plough Company, which was based where the John Allen Centre now is. Houses for these workers were built at the top of Rymers Lane.

Father Benson was a well-known character in the history of Cowley and Rosanne told us some stories of his life and also that of his unpopular successor the Rev. Coley. A popular priest, Rev. Georgie Moore followed and we heard tales of this larger than life character. A hump in the churchyard is reputedly where he buried his horse one night.

Rosanne also talked about the foundation of schools in the area and of a small boy called William Morris who had started at one of the schools at the age of twelve unable to read and with poor grammar. The Headteacher recognised his potential and the rest is history.

At next month’s meeting, on April 11th, members will be talking about personal items or stories of historical interest. There will be a wide range of topics and I understand some secrets will be revealed. We are always happy to have guests and new members.

Radley News - March 2011
Stanley Jenkins was our speaker on Monday, February 14th and he gave a very interesting talk on the ‘Soldiers of Oxfordshire’. We were taken on a journey from the time of Alfred the Great to the present day. His talk was illustrated and he was able to show us the type of uniform and the badges of the relevant regiments and briefly talked of the battles the Oxfordshire men had been involved in. Although the title included the county of Oxfordshire, the surrounding counties were also part of the story.

The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust, of which Stanley is the secretary, has been set up to establish and run a military museum in Oxfordshire. They are hoping to have their own building in the grounds of Woodstock’s Oxfordshire Museum to house and display their collection of archives.

At our April meeting we are encouraging our members to bring along an item or story of historical interest to them and share the information with us. Next month, on March 14th, the speaker will be Roseanne Butler who is coming to give us Part 3 of her very popular talks on Cowley. The meeting starts at 7.30pm in the Village School’s hall. We are always happy to have guests and new members.

Radley News - February 2011
Liz Woolley was supposed to have been our speaker this time last year but the weather meant that we had to postpone her visit until January 2011. It was well worth the wait as she gave us a very interesting and informative talk entitled, ‘It’ll do him more good than going to school’. The title of the talk was taken from a comment made by a member of the Poor Law Union in Bicester about a 7 year old child. Many middle and upper class people of the time thought that it was quite alright for children of poorer classes to work. The children’s families often relied on their children’s wages to survive and some children, with their parents’ agreement, were reluctant to go to school when universal education became available.

Liz described the types of work available for boys and girls, some as young as seven, in Oxfordshire. Much of the work was unskilled, dull and dangerous and it failed to fit out the child with a proper skill or trade to help their future economic situation. Boys often worked in agriculture and the 1861 census for Oxfordshire shows 16% of boys under 14 working in that capacity. Boys were employed directly by farmers and there is evidence of some private gangs moving round from farm to farm including one of 60 boys in Kirtlington in 1861. Fewer girls worked in agriculture but many were employed as nursemaids or domestic servants often quite a distance away from their homes, which frequently meant they could be very lonely and homesick. The 1891 census shows 8% of girls under 14 in Oxfordshire in full time work in this way. These statistics do not show the work that was carried out in the home, or in the field, on a part-time basis by the children.
The industrial revolution and the awareness of child workers in large factories began a movement of reform in the 19th century. Liz concluded her talk by comparing the above situation to child labour in some countries today.

The talk on February 14th in Radley School assembly hall in Church Road, at 7.30 p.m. will be by Stanley Jenkins, secretary and archivist of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust, instead of the advertised Hugh Babbington-Smith. We are always happy to have guests and new members.

Radley News - January 2011
Members and their guests enjoyed a very pleasant meal at the Bowyer Arms instead of the December meeting. We are grateful to Joyce Huddleston who made all the arrangements and Ann Blake, helped by Rita Ford, who organised the raffle.

Joyce has been working hard on our new website and has done an excellent job. It is well worth having a look at it.

The exhibition about farming and rural life in Radley, which the project sub-committee meeting are organising will take place in July next year and will replace the normal meeting. We are however organising a visit to the Marcham archaeological excavations on Sunday afternoon, July 24th. The book to go with the exhibition is nearly complete and I would be grateful to receive any contributions still to be given to me.
At the February 2011 meeting the speaker will be Hugh Babington Smith on the subject of ‘Soldiers of Oxfordshire’. One of our members, Richard Dudding, is the speaker in May and his talk will be entitled ‘Lower Radley – its houses and the people who made and changed them.
At our meeting on January 10th the speaker will be Liz Woolley talking about ‘It will do him more good than going to school’. This is the talk that was postponed because of the snowy weather last year, so we are hoping for better conditions this time. Liz is an excellent speaker and we are looking forward to hearing her again. The village school hall opens at 7.0 for 7.30 pm and new members and guests are always welcome.

On behalf of the committee of Radley History Club I would like to wish everyone a happy new year.