In response to the post here I received some emails from another erstwhile village resident, Davnet Van Tinteren - as follows:
"Re Virginia Jealous's comment about the dawn chorus walk to Badbury Hill, that was in fact my 11th birthday party and Mrs Nias wasn't leading that one although I think she and her son Philip came along.
Virginia had a sleepover at my house which was terribly exciting for me because I think it was the first time I'd done that. We and a troop of village children and, what I now realise, was a bunch of very kind parents, including the Teagle family congregated before dawn and walked up The Holloway to Badbury Hill and watched the dawn come up and hear the birds start to sing. For me and my youngest sister it's an enduring memory that was very special. After we'd rambled about a bit everyone went back to our house (now called Helm's Deep, in Puddleduck Lane) and my father had got a barbecue going and made bacon sandwiches and tea for everyone.
Mrs Nias most certainly did lead us carol singing round the village - again a large gaggle of children and some devoted parents. I think we were trying to raise money to restore the Reading Room which was very dilapidated and still had an old fashioned pump in the kitchen.
Another memory is when a BBC film crew came in 1974 and filmed Beowulf, directed by Don Fairservice. Virginia and I were given roles as serving wenches.
One winter the pond at the Tythe Barn froze (much to the bewilderment of its resident geese) and we skated - well I fell over - and my father amazed me skating when I had no idea he could do such a thing.
I recall summer days in the school holidays when a bunch of the village children would pack together, and go for great long walks that kept us out most of the day. Invariably we walked up Puddleduck Lane well beyond Bob Miles's pig farm and then down a lane known to us as Muddy Lane up where Billy Nias had his sawmill, and eventually wound its way round the village to the very bottom. Somewhere along the way we'd make a camp fire and bake potatoes in the embers and warm cans of baked beans for lunch.
It was a lovely place to live and grow up, and I remember it very fondly."
I asked Davnet a bit about the house she mentions on Puddleduck Lane
"We actually lived in 2 houses in Puddleduck Lane (one after the other), which were the 2 houses literally as th Hill flattens out, on the left as you go downhill.
One was built in Cotswold stone and had a deeply pitched roof and deep eaves, and the other was a pale brick house next door. Again with deep eaves as my mother wanted to attract swallows to nest there.
They were self built houses with my father doing as much of the work as he could. My mother designed the first house we lived on and wanted it to echo the Tythe Barn in its shape.
Someone along the way has extended it very beautifully indeed.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if our first house was called Swallows now, but when we lived there it didn't have a name.
If you had a surname like van Tinteren and lived in Puddleduck Lane your post was never going to go astray!
We moved to the village from Faringdon in March 1968."
Having checked the map we settled on the houses being Jemima and Meadowcroft as they are called today, I found some original planning documents for that time.
West Winds was granted permission in 1961, Shallows (not Swallows as the planning map shows) was granted permission in 1964, Orchard Cottages was granted permission to be converted from 2 cottages to the 1 we see today in 1965; and what was described (maybe transcribed incorrectly) as Holms Dees in 1966 followed by Jemima in 1968.
Mallards 1971
Brookside 1971
South View extended in 1976
The Cattle Barn on Puddleduck Lane was shown as being used as a pig farm as late as 1989 before conversion to the stables and tack room and is, I guess, Bob Miles' Pig Farm referred to by Davnet
In the maps below from 1883 and 1899 we can see Orchard Cottages, Puddle House and Southview and just about make out the field or orchard in the 1947 aerial photo (its pretty dark!) before the few houses were added to the village during the 60s and 70s.
Anything to add? Email Gavin - [email protected]
"Re Virginia Jealous's comment about the dawn chorus walk to Badbury Hill, that was in fact my 11th birthday party and Mrs Nias wasn't leading that one although I think she and her son Philip came along.
Virginia had a sleepover at my house which was terribly exciting for me because I think it was the first time I'd done that. We and a troop of village children and, what I now realise, was a bunch of very kind parents, including the Teagle family congregated before dawn and walked up The Holloway to Badbury Hill and watched the dawn come up and hear the birds start to sing. For me and my youngest sister it's an enduring memory that was very special. After we'd rambled about a bit everyone went back to our house (now called Helm's Deep, in Puddleduck Lane) and my father had got a barbecue going and made bacon sandwiches and tea for everyone.
Mrs Nias most certainly did lead us carol singing round the village - again a large gaggle of children and some devoted parents. I think we were trying to raise money to restore the Reading Room which was very dilapidated and still had an old fashioned pump in the kitchen.
Another memory is when a BBC film crew came in 1974 and filmed Beowulf, directed by Don Fairservice. Virginia and I were given roles as serving wenches.
One winter the pond at the Tythe Barn froze (much to the bewilderment of its resident geese) and we skated - well I fell over - and my father amazed me skating when I had no idea he could do such a thing.
I recall summer days in the school holidays when a bunch of the village children would pack together, and go for great long walks that kept us out most of the day. Invariably we walked up Puddleduck Lane well beyond Bob Miles's pig farm and then down a lane known to us as Muddy Lane up where Billy Nias had his sawmill, and eventually wound its way round the village to the very bottom. Somewhere along the way we'd make a camp fire and bake potatoes in the embers and warm cans of baked beans for lunch.
It was a lovely place to live and grow up, and I remember it very fondly."
I asked Davnet a bit about the house she mentions on Puddleduck Lane
"We actually lived in 2 houses in Puddleduck Lane (one after the other), which were the 2 houses literally as th Hill flattens out, on the left as you go downhill.
One was built in Cotswold stone and had a deeply pitched roof and deep eaves, and the other was a pale brick house next door. Again with deep eaves as my mother wanted to attract swallows to nest there.
They were self built houses with my father doing as much of the work as he could. My mother designed the first house we lived on and wanted it to echo the Tythe Barn in its shape.
Someone along the way has extended it very beautifully indeed.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if our first house was called Swallows now, but when we lived there it didn't have a name.
If you had a surname like van Tinteren and lived in Puddleduck Lane your post was never going to go astray!
We moved to the village from Faringdon in March 1968."
Having checked the map we settled on the houses being Jemima and Meadowcroft as they are called today, I found some original planning documents for that time.
West Winds was granted permission in 1961, Shallows (not Swallows as the planning map shows) was granted permission in 1964, Orchard Cottages was granted permission to be converted from 2 cottages to the 1 we see today in 1965; and what was described (maybe transcribed incorrectly) as Holms Dees in 1966 followed by Jemima in 1968.
Mallards 1971
Brookside 1971
South View extended in 1976
The Cattle Barn on Puddleduck Lane was shown as being used as a pig farm as late as 1989 before conversion to the stables and tack room and is, I guess, Bob Miles' Pig Farm referred to by Davnet
In the maps below from 1883 and 1899 we can see Orchard Cottages, Puddle House and Southview and just about make out the field or orchard in the 1947 aerial photo (its pretty dark!) before the few houses were added to the village during the 60s and 70s.
Anything to add? Email Gavin - [email protected]
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