West Hagbourne Village History Group

Minutes of Meeting Monday 22nd September 2008 at Fairview, York Rd.



  1. Present: Eva Pinkava, Sheila Taylor, Val Walton, Mary Wiley

  2. Apologies: Josie Hill, Ted Kendrick, Eve Setch, Linda Thompson

  3. Minutes of A.G.M. and meeting on 30th June 2008. All agreed minutes were correct.--------Matters arising----------

  4. Answering enquiries from web master: Enquiries will be sent to the secretary who will pass them to Mary who agreed to answer them if possible. Mary offered to deal with the enquiry from Angela Incigneri of Australia. She is interested in the life style of her ancestors who lived in our village in the early 1700’s.

  5. Treasurer’s report: As Linda was unable to attend the meeting there was no report.

  6. Village web site: Roger Sweet has revamped the web site and Sheila has updated the village web site and History Group’s page. Sheila will add more information re Pete Annells’ book, West Hagbourne at the Court Star Chamber, and myths and make suggestions when East Hagbourne revamp their website. The book order form will also be updated to correct postage.

  7. History Group’s Board: Water damage has been reported to suppliers------awaiting response. Sheila will follow this up. It was agreed to remove overhanging branches.

  8. Planter near pond: Val described the planter she saw in Oxford. Members will continue to look for suitable planters. Before decisions are made Sheila will contact Parish Council to find out exactly what is required from the History Group.

  9. Moor Lane: The Parish Council reported that Oxford Conservation Volunteers have agreed to improve the hedge line on the south side.

  10. Village Association Lunch: All who attended enjoyed the lovely weather, food and company on July 27th in the garden of Broomsticks by kind invitation of Marion. There was some interest shown in our History projects which were available to view.

  11. Chapel Survey: no news regarding results. Sheila will email Andrew Hutt and Stan Hughes.

  12. Richards Family from Canada:-------have looked on the internet to trace ancestors in Berkshire and Oxfordshire, including West Hagbourne. Mary sent a copy of our book. The letter which Mary received was interesting reading. It included the story of the grandfather who was born in Harwell in 1875 and supposedly had Winston Churchill as a playmate, as well as descriptions of places in the area where their ancestors had lived. York Farm was the home of Richard and Eliza Richards in 1880 before they emigrated to Canada.

  13. Malcolm Brownsword’s project: Malcolm has produced an interesting C D of the history of West Hagbourne with particular reference to the history of the Horse and Harrow pub. The CD was passed to Mary.

  14. Celebration of St. George’s day with the Village Association. The History Group is keen to join the Village Association to help celebrate St. George’s day next year ( April 23rd 2009 ). The actual celebration day needs to be arranged and the History Group’s input when we have a joint meeting with the Village Association on Monday17th November at Marion Judd’s home Broomsticks at 7.30pm. Thanks to Eva for offering her house for the next meeting but as the numbers could be 16 Marion felt it would be more convenient at Broomsticks.( Eva and I have discussed this )

  15. A. O. B. ---none

  16. Date and venue of next meeting:-----joint meeting with Village Association at Broomsticks, Main Rd. on Monday 17th November at 7.30pm. Please note change of venue.