I was born in St Clements, Oxford on 21st April 1908 in the home
of my grandparents. A few days later I was taken home, a little old white-washed
thatched cottage on the Eynsham Road, Botley, directly opposite Tilbury Lane.
The cottage still stands there and I expect would fetch a good price today. I
remained there until 1914. My memories of Botley Pound are happy and manifold. I
recall sitting at the apex of Eynsham Road and Cumnor Hill to watch the lovely
black horses (pulling the trams) turn round to return to Oxford, having dropped
their passengers. I recall the little orphan girls walking down Hutchcombe Lane
in their clean, starched uniform, from the Home at the top.
In the year 1914 we moved to Chawley and another white-faced thatched cottage,
which still looks very lovely - I wish it were mine. The next 4 to 5 years were
spent mostly playing in the Brickworks and enjoying the beautiful wooded country
around. During the early part of the First World War colonial soldiers spent
their days training, digging trenches, etc on Hinksey Hill (not the Hurst). My
brother and I would join them and often go on route marches with them. It was
great fun and they would share their rations with us.
I think it was 1917 when we moved to Cumnor village. At that time we had five
children in the family. I was ten years old then and had no difficulty in
finding work on the farms where labour was short. The main employer was the
Chawley Works, where my father worked from 1910 to 1926.
I could do most jobs on the farms and at the age of 14. I could handle a plough
and two horses for Mr Frank Tyrell, of Chawley Farm. I also worked for Mr Walker
and Mr May, who paid more money. I emphasise the money as this was most
important as we were very poor and eventually a family of nine children.
My schooldays were spent at Cumnor School with Mr Tom Cole, Headmaster, Mrs
Cole, Headmistress, and Miss Lambourne. For a while 1 was in the Church choir. I
remember one cold winter morning I fainted and fell flat on my face. I probably
hadn't had any breakfast before going to Church. I suppose I was an average
schoolboy, reaching Standard 7.
On Wednesday mornings in my last year at school I would play truant and go to
the Cattle Market which was then in Gloucester Green. There I would help a
cheapjack to set up his stall and hold up his wares to display them to poor
prospective customers, for which I was paid 2/6d. Sometimes I would find a
farmer who wanted cattle taken back to the Cumnor area, which again brought in a
few shillings.
Rabbits and the odd pheasant which I would catch in the woods and fields formed
a large part of living, and the farmers were always glad to reduce the rabbit
population.
At the age of 14 I left school, and I remember Mr Cole lecturing me and saying
if only I could stop laughing and think more seriously about life I might do
well. However, enough about my schooldays. I had to think about earning a
living. I managed to get work with H. Tuckwell & Sons by lying about my age. I
was 14 but I told Mr Tuckwell I was 17. He said 'You look very young but you are
strong enough'. I was taken on as a stoker on a steam wagon. The driver was
Monty Cooper, who lived at the top of Hurst Lane.
I have many more memories. Making hay in Cumnor Meadow. Mr F. Tyrrell would
drive from Skinners Bridge. We boys would swim in the river. On Sunday evenings
in the summer we would often walk down the Leys to Bablockhythe, cross the river
by ferry boat; a glass of lemonade and packet of crisps was real enjoyment.
There were not many houses on Cumnor Hill. They were mostly owned by the
Bennetts, Oxford business men: Mr Percy Frewin of Hinkins & Frewin; Mr David
Organ, Manager at Chawley Works; Mr Lewis of Cape & Co.; Mr Colegrove,
Stationer; Mr Griffiths, Fire Chief; David Duce, Fishmonger; Mr White, Fruit and
Vegetables, Oxford.
I remember my uncle George Colborn, Bugle Major. O.B.L.I. and his buglers
performed the ceremony at the unveiling of Cumnor War Memorial in about 1920. In
December 1925 Albert Holloway and I went to the recruiting office and joined the
Royal Tank Corps. We accepted the King's Shilling and a Railway Warrant to
Bovington Depot, Dorset, where after various tests we were accepted In January
1926. In 1927 I went to India, returning in March 1932.
(William Woodward, then living in Headington, wrote this letter in 1990. He
died in 1995)