Category Archives: Local interest

The Coming of the Railway to Oxford

For our first meeting in 2015 we welcomed back Liz Woolley who gave us an excellent talk on “How the Coming of the Railway Changed Oxford”. She described the background development of the railways in Britain and how Oxford joined the network. The railway in Oxford then had profound effects on the landscape, the nature of trade and the population level, all of which were described with the aid of well chosen illustrations.

From early beginnings with the Liverpool to Manchester line in 1830 the number of route miles increased to 6000 in1851 and peaked at around 20,000 in 1914. Brunel’s Great Western Railway reached Steventon in 1838 but not until 1843 was a Bill approved to build a branch line to Oxford. The University objected to the original plan for a line through Iffley village but also on moral grounds, not wishing the undergraduates to have easy access to the fleshpots of London. The route finally accepted terminated at a station at Grandpont, South West of Folly Bridge. There was opposition to this route also, particularly on the siting of a bridge to carry the Abingdon Road over the railway. John Towle, who owned the nearby Paper Mill hastily built a small house of wood and paper on the route, some say to claim compensation. This house was enlarged over many years and stood on a site opposite the Redbridge Waste site. It was demolished in 1998.

In 1851 the rival (standard gauge) railway LNWR, later LMS, came to Oxford and built a station at the site of the present Said Business School. This station was closed in1951 and moved to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton near Aylesbury in 1999. In 1852 the Grandpont station was closed and a new station built on the current site on Botley Road. In the 1880’s a housing development was built on the old site. In 1886 a spur was built to the Gas Works and the elegant bridge over the river still exists. Another relic of the old railway, the swingbridge over Sheepwash Channel, also still exists and preservation work is planned to prevent further deterioration. In 1908 a number of Halts were introduced for a steam carriage but this service was soon superceded by road transport.

The railways led to big reductions in Coach and Canal traffic but led to large increases elsewhere. Brewing, furniture removals, the Jam Factory, cattle pens and rather surprisingly, temperance hotels all appeared in the proximity of the stations. Between 1841 and1901 the population of Oxford doubled and new suburbs were built, often to house railway workers e.g. Osney Island, New Hinksey and Cripley Road. Tourism grew and became more commercialised with new hotels including the Randolph being constructed to replace some of the coaching inns which had earlier closed.

Our next meeting is on Thursday February 12^th when Mark Davies will talk about “Motoring and Transport in the Forties”. Visitors (£3) are most welcome.

Local Oxfordshire talks – January 2015

Information provided by the OLHA (www.olha.org.uk)

6^th – Henley – Hazel Williams “Gatehampton Roman Villa”. Kings Arms Barns, Market Place, 7:45pm.

6^th – Hook Norton – Brian Rider “The Battle of Edgehill”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.

8^th – Banbury – Stephen Johnson “Henry Moseley: from Oxford to Gallipoli”. Banbury Museum, Spiceball Park Road, 7:30pm.

8^th – Didcot – Madeleine Loynes “Didcot Power Station”. Northbourne Centre, Church Street, 7:30pm.

8^th – Wootton & Dry Sandford – Liz Woolley “The Coming of the Railway to Oxford”. Community Centre, Lamborough Hill, Wootton, 7.30pm.

9^th – Charlbury – Bill King and Helen Bessemer-Clark “Dad’s Underground Army – British Resistance in WWII”. Memorial Hall, Browns Lane, 8:00pm.

12^th – Chipping Norton – Members’ social evening with supper. Methodist Church, West Street, 7:30pm.

12^th – Goring & Streatley – Sue Milton “Swan Upping”. Goring Village Hall, 2:30pm.

12^th – Radley – Richard Dudding “Deserted Settlements of Radley”. School Hall, 7:30pm.

13^th – Marcham – John Leighfield “Putting Marcham on the Map: from Gough to Google”. Marcham Church, 7:45pm.

15^th – Abingdon – Geoffrey Tyack “Revising Pevsner: a New Edition of The Buildings of England: Berkshire”. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45 pm.

15^th– Eynsham – Mark Davies “Lewis Caroll and the Pre-Raphaelites”. Church Hall, Thames Street, 7:30pm.

15^th– Wychwoods – John Leighfield “Putting the Wychwoods on the Map”. Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall, 7:30pm.

16^th – Finstock – “The History of Finstock and Fawler”. Village Hall, 8:00 pm.

19^th – Adderbury – Stephen Barker “Oxfordshire on the Home Front”. Methodist Chapel, Chapel Lane, 7:30pm.

19^th – Kennington – Richard O Smith “Britain’s Most Eccentric Sports”. Methodist Church, Upper Road, 7:45pm.

20^th – Enstone – Jo Eames “General Hobart – WW2 Designer of Special Tanks Important to the Success of D-Day”. Venue tbc (contact 01608 677246, carolawt@gmail.com), 7:30pm.

21^st – Bloxham – Anthony Poulton-Smith “Oxfordshire Place Names”. Jubilee Hall, off Brickle Lane, 7:30pm.

26^th – Oxfordshire Family History Society – Liz Woolley “The Parish of St Thomas the Martyr, West Oxford”. Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington, 8:00pm.

27^th – Hanney – Simon Wenham “The History of Salter’s Steamers”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.

27^th – Kidlington – Jill Saint “Miss Read Remembered by her Daughter”. St John Ambulance Hall, High Street, 7:50pm.

27^th – Sutton Courtenay – Bill King “The Roman Invasions.” Village Hall, 7:30pm.

28^th – Dorchester – Margot Metcalfe “Poverty in Dorchester-on-Thames”. Followed by AGM. Village Hall, 7:30pm.

29^th – Aston – A Musical Evening. Group Supper and Social with The Three Pressed Men. Fellowship Centre, Cote Road, 7:30pm.

Local Oxfordshire talks – November 2014

Information provided by the OLHA (www.olha.org.uk)

4^th – Henley – Judy Dewey “The History of Wallingford”. Old King’s Arms Barn, King’s Road, 7:45pm.

4^th – Hook Norton – Don Ratcliffe “The Croakers of Hook Norton and the Threat to the Open Village”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.

6^th – Eynsham – Andrew Moss “The History of the Old Radcliffe Infirmary”. Church Hall, Thames Street, 7:30pm.

8^th – Sutton Courtenay – World War I Commemoration. All Saints’ Church 7:00pm.

10^th – Chipping Norton – Richard O Smith “Oxford Eccentricity: a History of Mayhem and Mischief”. Methodist Church, West Street, 7:30pm.

10^th – Goring & Streatley – Liz Woolley “Children’s Experiences of World War 2 in Oxfordshire”. Goring Village Hall, 2:30pm.

10^th – Radley – Gavin Hannah “The Building of Nuneham Park”. School Hall, 7:30pm.

11^th – Marcham – Tony Hadland “Foray to the Falklands”. Marcham Church, 7:45pm.

11^th – Thame – Simon Baynes “‘This Royal Throne of Kings’: Shakespeare and English History”. Barns Centre, Church Road, 7:30pm.

12^th – Deddington – Gareth Richard “The Poor of Deddington”. Windmill Centre, Hempton Road, 7:30pm.

13^th– Banbury – Colin Harrison “Oxford and the Pre-Raphaelites”. Banbury Museum, Spiceball Park Road, 7:30pm.

13^th – Wootton & Dry Sandford – Stephen Barker “The City of Oxford during the Civil War, 1642-46”. Community Centre, Lamborough Hill, Wootton, 7.30pm.

14^th – Charlbury – Charles Menteith “Non-Christmas Carols”. Memorial Hall, Browns Lane, 8:00pm.

14^th – Wallingford – Rosey Meara “Recent Cotswold Archaeology Projects in Oxfordshire”. Town Hall, 8:00pm.

17^th – Adderbury – Barry Davis “Adderbury at Leisure”. Methodist Church Schoolroom, 7:30pm.

17^th – Bicester – Martin Way “Barrels, Barley and Beer”. Clifton Centre, Ashdene Road, 7:30pm.

17^th – Kennington – Mark Davies “Oxford’s Historic Waterways”. Methodist Church, Upper Road, 7:45pm.

18^th – Clanfield & Bampton – Paul Backhouse “Excavations at the First World War Burial Site at Fromelles”. Carter Institute, Clanfield, 7:30pm.

18^th – Cowley – John Fieldsend “Kindertransport: Children in Search of Security in the 1930s”. Temple Cowley United Reformed Church, Temple Road, 8:00pm.

18^th – Enstone – Janet Newson “Beakhead Doorways: Design and Mysteries of Romanesque Sculpture in North Oxfordshire”. Venue tbc, 7:30pm.

18^th – Iffley – Tim Porter “The Cotswolds in the Wars of The Roses”. Church Hall, Church Way, 7:30pm.

19^th – Bloxham – Roger Scanlan “The Past, Present and Future of Thatching”. Jubilee Hall, off Brickle Lane, 7:30pm.

19^th – Littlemore – Members’ evening – discussion of past year, projects and social evening. Littlemore Community Centre, Giles Road, 7:30pm.

19^th – Otmoor – Robert Harris “Women in Industry during the War Years”. Islip Village Hall, 8:00pm.

20^th– Eynsham – Richard Smith “Bovington Tank Museum and the Battle of Cambrai”. Church Hall, Thames Street, 7:30pm.

20^th – Longworth – Tony Hadland “Steam and Steel in the Vale of White Horse”. Southmoor Village Hall, 7:30pm.

20^th – Sibfords – Gerald Lesinski “The Crown Jewels”. Village Hall, Sibford Gower, 8:00pm.

21^st – Besselsleigh – Julie Ann Godson “The Water Gypsy: How a Thames Fishergirl became a Viscountess”. The Hayloft, Great Park Farm, 7:30pm. Tickets £5.00 in advance, £6.00 on the door. Contact rosemarykitto@gmail.com.

21^st – Finstock – Bill King “WW1 – the First Two Years”. Village Hall, 8:00 pm.

24^th – Launton – AGM. Grange Farm Mews, 7:45pm.

24^th – Oxfordshire Family History Society – Shaun Morley “From Time Out of Mind: Custom and Ritual in 19th Century Oxfordshire”. Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington, 8:00pm.

25^th – Hanney – Martin Buckland “The Invisible Brick – Revealed in Language and Literature, Film and Fiction, Music and Murder, in the Local area and Much More”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.

25^th – Kidlington – Stephen Barker “The Story of the Chiltern Railways”. St John Ambulance Hall, High Street, 7:50pm.

26^th – Dorchester on Thames – Paul Booth “A View from the Train. The Roman Archaeology of High Speed 1 in Kent”. Village Hall, 7:30pm.

26^th – Ruskin College, Oxford – Margaret MacMillan “The Outbreak of the First World War: History and Memory”. Dunstan Road, Headington, 7:00pm. More info here.

27^th – Aston – Tony Hadland “William Gill – A Victorian Explorer and Spy”. Fellowship Centre, Cote Road, 7:30pm.