Bloxham Village Community News Item

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Bloxham History Club

We have a speaker every third Wednesday at 8.oopm in the Jubilee Hall, Barley Close, Bloxham. The speaker on 17th January is Martin Greenwood, on Banburyshire Villages. He has just written a book on the subject. The speaker on 21st February will be Deborah Hayter, on 'Ridge and Furrow' - What is it?' She is a very lively speaker, much enjoyed last year.

Remaining speakers are

21 March Frank Johnson on 'Arts and Crafts Movement in the north Cotswolds'

18 April Tim Porter on 'Cotswolds in the Wars of the Roses

16 May Liz Young on 'Churchyards'

At the October meeting Howard Hicks gave us a very informative talk on the history of Hook Norton Brewery. There has been a decline in the number of breweries since the days when Banbury had ten and Oxford had fourteen, although the number of small specialist breweries is now on the increase.

The Hook Norton brewery began in 1849 when a farmer, John Harris, decided to make use of his old malthouse and the fine springs on the site. The present offices were built in 1895. The brewery today is unique in having the only full time steam engine, used for 70% of the work. The iron tanks at the top of the 90 foot tower are filled with water pumped up from the local springs. Some of the old equipment is still in use, such as the original wooden fermenting racks. Other pieces can be seen in the museum attached to the brewery. There are three working dray horses, serving some local villages and delighting visitors.

The brewery today is still run by direct descendants of the man who started it. After the talk everyone had a chance to sample some unusual kinds of ‘Hooky’

Dr Hyde's Bridge

The new season opened with a fascinating talk by Martin Way on “The Home Front” during the Second World War. He covered many unusual and less known aspects of the war effort at home. The government thought it important to involve as may people as possible and so there were may organisations set up, with their own badges. Some of these had already been set up before the war began, such as the ARP, to organise civilian defence against air raids. In 1938 when volunteers were called for, one million turned up! Many people know about the Home Guard, or ‘Dad’s Army’, and ARP wardens but probably know much less about the various roles of women. Many replaced men in factories, or on the land in the Womens’ Land Army. There was of course the Womens’ Voluntary Service, which did sterling work. It was formed in 1938, to cope with the evacuation of children from danger zones. On the first day of the war there were 130,000 WVS and 2 million people were evacuated that day. The Government would not let women do anything military though, and so they were not allowed to join the Home Guard, although they could be ARP wardens (at £2 a week as compared to the men’s £3 a week). The women later formed the Womens’ Defence Volunteers but were not recognised by the government. Martin Way covered many other aspects of life in wartime, illustrated by some unusual photographs. Marvellous posters encouraged everyone to do their bit – Dig for Victory, Make Do and Mend – and there were books, cigarette cards, leaflets, even games, to give information and cheer people up. The audience greatly enjoyed looking through his extensive collection.

The next meeting will be the Annual General Meeting on 15^th November at 7.30pm in the Jubilee Hall. Mr Mike Buxton will talk about ‘Milestones’.

War Memorial

It is hoped to research the people who are commemorated on our War Memorial. If there are relatives in the village, or if you have any information on these people or their relatives, could you let me know please, on 720037? Their names are:

1914-1918 War:

H Ayres, A Bartlett, A Baughan, E Callow, E Carter, F Carter, LN Clifton, A Coleman, V Cunningham, W Dickinson, WHG Enock, E Golby, WC Golby, EH Havill, R Hartall, S Hawtin, A Heath, ES Hopkinson, C Horley, F Horley, G Jacob, F Manning, CR Mobley, NW Mobley, F Rogers, WG Russel, FW Simpson, G Sutton, J Sutton, AL Tyrrell, E Wise, A Woodward, WG Woodward

1939-1945 War:

RW Bridges, C Butler, GS Darby, RGS Darby, MW Faulkner, HG Preedy, CV Smith, WA Wiggins, HG Young

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