Harwell: Village for a thousand years

Menu
  • Harwell Book – Full text of ‘Village for a thousand years’
    • Introduction
      • Contents
    • Beginnings – The Beginnings of Harwell
      • The Beginnings of Harwell
      • The Charters
      • Close
    • Middle Ages – The Late Middle Ages
      • Harwell Church
      • The Medieval Manors
      • Cruck Buildings
      • Close
    • Tudors – Tudors to Charles II
      • The Tudor period
      • Berkshire Farmers and their Homes
      • The Harwell Mug
      • Harwell: The Family Name
      • Trade Tokens
      • In the Civil War
      • Close
    • Charities – Harwell Charities
      • John Loder
      • Christopher Elderfield
      • Poor’s Orchard
      • William Wells
      • J. King
      • Frances Geering
      • Matthew Eaton
      • Robert Loder
      • Bag(g)’s Tree
      • An Old Harwell Recipe
      • Close
    • 19th C – Harwell in the Nineteenth Century
      • Enclosures
      • The Great Fire of Harwell
      • Fire at Didcot Station
      • Harwell and the Early Posts
      • Close
    • People – Some Nineteenth Century Families, Houses and Personalities
      • The Manor of Bishop’s Harwell, or Lower Manor, after the Middle Ages.
      • Bob Lay, Bob Lay, Bob Lay
      • The Bosley Family
      • John Lay of Prince’s Manor 1815 – 1888
      • From a book sold for the Blewbury Village Organ Fund in 1874.
      • Thomas James Pryor
      • The Day Family
      • The Hitchman Family
      • Other Old Harwell Families
      • Pillar House, Harwell
      • A Country Doctor (Dr Richard Rice)
      • Kelly’s Directory reports on the Harwell of 1891
      • The School
      • A Pictorial Miscellany
      • Close
    • 20th C – The Early Twentieth Century
      • Stanley Day
        • The Turn of the Century
        • A Visit to Harwell
      • Tape Recordings
        • A Houseboy at Harwell
        • Eliza Hutchings
        • Harwell Bakeries
        • The Eggs
        • Old Neighbours
        • Fire at King’s Farm (c.1908)
        • Will It Light?
        • Miss Irene Clarke’s memories.
      • Poem by H.S. Baker
      • Close
    • WWII – The Second World War
      • Guinea Pig Club
      • Eric Greenwood
      • Harwell in Wartime
      • School Life in Wartime
      • The Harwell Players
      • Close
    • 1945 -1985 – The Post War Years
      • The Atomic Energy Research Establishment.
      • Harwell Parish Council
      • Water and Sewage
      • Nursing Service
      • School Life after the War
      • The Winterbrook Youth Club
      • The Public Houses
      • The Whit Monday Feast
      • Wild Flowers of Harwell
      • The Bee Orchid
      • Village Footpaths
      • St Matthew’s Church Today
      • Harwell Women’s Institute
      • Harwell Bowls Club
      • Harwell Football Club
      • Close
    • Cherries – Harwell Cherries
      • Robert Loder
      • Cherries (1965)
      • Gordon Bosley
      • John Masefield: The Cherries
      • Close
    • Appendices
      • Appendix I the Harwell Charters
        • Introduction to The Harwell Charters
        • Charter No 1
        • Charter No 2
        • Charter No 3
        • Appendix I Charter References
      • Appendix II Buildings
      • Appendix III Glossary
      • Appendix IV Contributors
      • Appendix V References
      • Close
    • Close
« The Turn of the Century
Tape Recordings »
You are here: Home / 20th C / Stanley Day / A Visit to Harwell

A Visit to Harwell

by Stanley Day

During this period, I visited my Aunt, Annie Day, living at The Chestnuts at Townsend, a detached red brick house with tiled roof containing five bedrooms, two sitting rooms, kitchen and larder, but no bathroom; it has since been renamed “The Malthouse” as there was originally a malthouse on the site of the garden. The visit proceeded as follows:

Met by James at Didcot station, after a postcard notifying our arrival; the typical musty smell of the brougham, James’ polished silk hat; past the railway cottages leading to the station; at the Didcot-Harwell road there was a large meadow at the corner, with cows grazing, where prosperous shops now stand; along the Harwell Road, passing through a clump of poplars on each side, when the temperature changed owing to lack of sun; past Alma Barn with the fine view of the Downs; past farm labourers on the road, one sitting on the “lead” horse, with two others following, returning to the farms after a day’s ploughing. On to Blenheim Hill, with bright colours for testing paint on the double doorway of Hitchman the wheelwright at Blenheim Cottage, up Burr Street and turn right along Townsend. Met by Aunt Annie, a rather busybody spinster, a little anxious at the arrival of a young Londoner. A bright fire in the sitting room, Grandma Day sitting placidly knitting in the fireside armchair, with a lace cap and black bombasine dress with small buttons from neck to waist.

Shown up to the best bedroom containing a large four-poster double bed, with a canopy and a deep feather mattress and a rather damp atmosphere. Descended to the sitting room with the kettle boiling on an iron trivet at the fireside for making tea, served with “fatty cake” made by Keat the baker. Oil lamps were lighted later – no radio or television – and one listened to complaints as to the smoky chimney, cherry trees robbed by the birds, mice in the larder, local gossip and so on.

Next morning, pumped water from the well and collected firewood for lighting the self-setting range for boiling water. After breakfast collected up the eggs which were to be found in all directions in outhouses and garden. Viewed the garden, with pleasant smell of box hedges, admired the vegetable crop and picked gooseberries and carrots. Off to Middle Farm to see Uncle Joseph and help with the harvest, leading the heavy carthorses out to the wheat fields. There were no reins in the wagons and one impelled the horse by word of mouth, “gee-oh” meaning turn right, and “come-ee” turn left. Up to the stooks, where labourers loaded stooks onto the wagons with pitchforks. Then to the ricks for unloading, again with pitchforks, onto a horse-driven escalator, three men on the ricks scraping up. Barrels of beer in the fields for the harvesters, and all working with a will. Uncle Joseph arrived in the dogcart with a few criticisms, a sandwich lunch, mostly bread and cheese, and all worked until about 3.0 p.m. when horses and wagons returned to the farms, where the horses were unharnessed and rubbed down. Pigs to feed with swill poured into troughs, a chat with the farm workers, and back to The Chestnuts feeling healthier for the day’s work, if a little tired.

On Sundays there was little activity in the village and all wore their “Sunday best”. At about 10.30 a.m. there was a trickle of worshippers along the footpath to the Methodist Chapel to hear the preacher. About a hundred and fifty people could be accommodated, of which ten per cent were Days. Some twenty farm-labourers and their families sat in pews at the left of the entrance door and all joined heartily in the singing. The usual chat outside the Chapel after the service and back to a hot lunch. A favourite Sunday afternoon walk was to the south end of the village, across Wantage Road, up Winnaway and along muddy footpaths past Baggs tree, over to the Horse and Jockey public house; turn left up over the Ridge where Icknield Way crosses the road, past the reservoir, down to the Folly and back to the village by footpaths through orchards.

This account of Harwell at the turn of the century by Stanley Day is endorsed by a recorded meeting with some of the older villagers in 1985, as follows.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

« The Turn of the Century
Tape Recordings »

Harwell is a village in south Oxfordshire, England, although until 1974 it was a Berkshire village. Harwell was first mentioned in 985, before the Doomsday Book.
This website presents the full text of the book (ISBN 0 9510668 0 3 ) published in 1985 to celebrate the village millennium.
"Harwell ~ Village for a thousand years"

Additional information about Harwell Village (History Notes, photos and more) can be found at harwellvillage.uk

Website © 2005–2023 maintained and managed by David Marsh on behalf of Harwell Parish Council
Copyright © 1985–2023 in the text of the book is vested in Harwell Parish Council