History
Piddington voices
Recordings from Oxfordshire History Centre's Oral History Archive
Oxfordshire History Centre's Oral History Archive has around 5,000 recordings dating from the 1960s onwards, including recordings of BBC Radio Oxford programmes going back to 1970 and a growing collection of field recordings dating from the 1960s.
We have acquired permission from the BBC and Oxfordshire County Council to include on our village website the sound recordings below. In them you can hear several residents of the village talking about aspects of their lives here. These voices are a rich and valuable resource, and we hope you enjoy listening to them.
In the grey audio boxes below, click on the track you want to hear and it should start to play automatically.
We have acquired permission from the BBC and Oxfordshire County Council to include on our village website the sound recordings below. In them you can hear several residents of the village talking about aspects of their lives here. These voices are a rich and valuable resource, and we hope you enjoy listening to them.
In the grey audio boxes below, click on the track you want to hear and it should start to play automatically.
Hello Piddington
BBC Radio Oxford, broadcast 18 November 1973.
Courtesy of BBC Radio Oxford (www.bbc.co.uk/radiooxford)
John Simpson talks to some residents of Piddington.
Track listing
Courtesy of BBC Radio Oxford (www.bbc.co.uk/radiooxford)
John Simpson talks to some residents of Piddington.
Track listing
1. Rev. Arthur Gatehouse, vicar of Piddington since 1947, talks about the history of the church, the 12th century vicar Ralph the Hermit and the old mural of St Christopher.
2. Winifred Adams, Chairman of Piddington Social Committee and retired headmistress of the village school, talks about the village hall, opened in 1953, and what it is used for.
3. Jim Eustace, a retired cowman, talks about his job and leisure pursuits in the village, which once had three cricket teams.
4. Wendy Taylor, who was born in Piddington, talks about daily life in the village, including the Wives' Club, shopping, transport and schooling.
5. William Holt, farmer and Chairman of the Parish Council, talks about his roots in, and love for, the village, and his hopes for its future.
People and Places: Piddington
BBC Radio Oxford, broadcast 27 September 1986.
Courtesy of BBC Radio Oxford (www.bbc.co.uk/radiooxford)
Clare Christie talks to some residents of Piddington.
Track listing
Courtesy of BBC Radio Oxford (www.bbc.co.uk/radiooxford)
Clare Christie talks to some residents of Piddington.
Track listing
1. Introduction to Piddington.
2. Air Chief Marshal Sir Nigel and Lady Maynard talk about the Manor House, its history and connections with the poet John Drinkwater, and their life in this small rural village.
3. William Holt, whose great-grandfather, grandfather and father lived in the village, talks about his childhood and early life here.
4. Thomas Pitt Cholmondeley Tapper talks about how he and a friend set up an airfield at Haddenham near Thame in the 1930s to train ordinary people as pilots, and his career as a Formula 1 racing driver. You can read more about him here.
5. Dot Bayliss, living at the Old Bakery, recalls when it was a working bakery, and talks about the self-sufficient life of people in the village.
6. Tony Tallents, Chair of the Parish Council and Vice-Chair of Cherwell District Council, discusses local concerns including plans to build a large remand centre near the village.
7. Roland Hawkins talks about setting up his own business as a decorator after 38 years at Pressed Steel in Oxford.
8. Kostek Wojnarowski, who came to England during the Second World War with the Polish Air Force and married an English girl, reflects on what he values about living in Piddington and his work as a sculptor, concentrating on portraiture.
Piddington Photographs
Recorded 20 January 1994 in the Old Bakery, Piddington.
Copyright © Oxfordshire County Council
Track listing
Piddington Photos 1-3. Dot Bayliss and Hilda Jones talk to Jocelyn Goddard and Nuala La Vertue from the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies about some old Piddington photos which belong to their family. Copies of some of these photos can be seen in the Oxfordshire Photographic Archive (in the search box, type 'Piddington' as the keyword) and here.
Copyright © Oxfordshire County Council
Track listing
Piddington Photos 1-3. Dot Bayliss and Hilda Jones talk to Jocelyn Goddard and Nuala La Vertue from the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies about some old Piddington photos which belong to their family. Copies of some of these photos can be seen in the Oxfordshire Photographic Archive (in the search box, type 'Piddington' as the keyword) and here.
More images
As well as the images in the links above, you can see some more objects with Piddington connections here. (In the search box, type 'Piddington' as the keyword and check the box for images only.)
One is a pall bearer's smock, one of six used at St Nicholas's Church, Piddington, until 1950, made either by or for Mrs Brown of Piddington in the 1920-30s. The smocks were kept at the church so that the pall bearers (coffin carriers) at funerals could come straight from the fields and change into them when required. The description of the object includes the following note from 'Miss Busby' [the audio recording 'Piddington Photographs' reveals that there were many people named Busby living in the village - in fact, Hilda Jones, one of the interviewees, was a Busby before she married]: 'This village always wears smocks for funerals. It is the last that does it. They always used to borrow my smock. The smocks got very worn out with big men wearing those too tight - so one woman, a midwife, got mine copied and had six of them made, and those were always worn. The bearers do look nice, with black hats, a sort of low top hat, and black gloves. They still wear them. The first funeral they didn't was this year (1950). It was the woman that had them made. She always went round and collected them for a funeral, but they didn't wear them for her.' (Oxfordshire and District Folklore Society Annual Record, 1950, p.13.)
If you have any old photographs of Piddington, we'd be very grateful for copies to include on this website. Please contact me for more information.
One is a pall bearer's smock, one of six used at St Nicholas's Church, Piddington, until 1950, made either by or for Mrs Brown of Piddington in the 1920-30s. The smocks were kept at the church so that the pall bearers (coffin carriers) at funerals could come straight from the fields and change into them when required. The description of the object includes the following note from 'Miss Busby' [the audio recording 'Piddington Photographs' reveals that there were many people named Busby living in the village - in fact, Hilda Jones, one of the interviewees, was a Busby before she married]: 'This village always wears smocks for funerals. It is the last that does it. They always used to borrow my smock. The smocks got very worn out with big men wearing those too tight - so one woman, a midwife, got mine copied and had six of them made, and those were always worn. The bearers do look nice, with black hats, a sort of low top hat, and black gloves. They still wear them. The first funeral they didn't was this year (1950). It was the woman that had them made. She always went round and collected them for a funeral, but they didn't wear them for her.' (Oxfordshire and District Folklore Society Annual Record, 1950, p.13.)
If you have any old photographs of Piddington, we'd be very grateful for copies to include on this website. Please contact me for more information.