Shipton`s First Till Yard

The Wychwood
August/September 2003 Vol 24 No 3
Gonebut not Forgotten
Shi
pton’s Fi
rst Ti
l
lYard
weresol
dt
o whol
esal
ers
who suppl
i
ed shopfi
t
t
ers.
Breakaway
Who are al
lthese workers; are any of
them sti
l
laround wi
th tal
es to tel
l?
Thi
s art
i
cl
eon anot
her l
ocalbui
l
di
ng whi
ch
has di
sappeared i
s based on oralhi
st
ory
backed by al
i
t
t
l
edocument
ary evi
dence.
Att
hesal
eof t
heShi
pt
on CourtEst
at
ei
n
1913, partof Lot147 was t
he‘est
at
eyard’
whereal
lt
hemat
eri
al
s for t
hehugeest
at
e
werest
ored and prepared. Theseweret
het
radi
t
i
onalbui
l
ders’ st
ock of wood, st
one, pi
pes,
bri
cks, t
i
l
es, gl
ass et
c., butal
so t
hemat
eri
al
s
for maki
ng t
he‘new’ concret
ebl
ocks.
Thesebl
ocks wereused for t
hemai
n bui
l
di
ng
of t
heOxon Cash Regi
st
er Co. Lt
d., setup on
t
hesi
t
eby Al
f Bayl
i
s somet
i
meaft
er t
heFi
rst
W orl
d W ar.
Many l
ocalmen
wereemt
hey werenotal
l
pl
oyed butby 1923
happy wi
t
h Al
f Bayl
i
s and hi
s st
yl
eof managementand someof t
hework-forcebrokeaway
t
o creat
eanew fi
rm, TheUni
t
ed W ood W orki
ng Co., event
ual
l
y setup i
n St
at
i
on Road. As
t
hefi
rstfi
rm had been bui
l
ti
n an est
at
eyard
and bot
h fi
rms madet
i
l
l
st
hey wereknown l
ocal
l
y as ‘t
i
l
l
-yards’.
Bot
h busi
nesses cont
i
nued t
radi
ng unt
i
lt
he
Uni
t
ed W ood W orki
ng Co. (St
at
i
on Road)
boughtoutt
heOxon. Cash Regi
st
er Co. Lt
d.
(Upper Hi
gh St
reet
)i
nt
hel
at
e1920’s and ran
bot
h premi
ses unt
i
lt
heend of t
he1930’s. The
Upper Hi
gh St
reetsi
t
ewas t
hen boughtby t
he
Groves fami
l
y butwas requi
si
t
i
oned duri
ng t
he
war and used for t
hest
orageof hi
gh qual
i
t
y
mot
or cars from t
heBi
rmi
ngham area.
Cinema arrives!
Aft
er t
hewar someof t
hebui
l
di
ngs on t
he
si
t
ewereused for breedi
ng pi
gs and chi
ckens
and t
hemai
n bui
l
di
ng was aci
nema. Thi
s
was operat
ed by Mr. Al
f Cl
arkewho al
so ran
‘TheW ychwood St
ores’ att
het
op end of
Shi
pt
on on t
he si
t
e of t
he garage of t
he
present‘Sunnysi
de’.
TheW ychwood Ci
nemahad t
i
p-up seat
s, 4
on onesi
deof t
hegangway and 3 on t
heot
her. The programme was changed t
wi
ce a
week and had amai
n feat
urefi
l
m, newsreel
and support
i
ng fi
l
m, whi
ch was oft
en al
ongrunni
ng seri
al
. Att
hatt
i
meci
nema-goi
ng was
very popul
ar and queues somet
i
mes formed
atweekends. Thereweresomeprobl
ems for
Thefi
rm produced anyt
hi
ng t
hatcoul
d be
i
twas col
di
nt
hewi
nt
er, ani
mal
s coul
d be
madefrom wood for home, offi
ceor shop but presentand t
herewerebreakages i
nt
hefi
l
m,
mai
nl
y cash regi
st
ers and t
i
l
l
s, mostof whi
ch whi
ch caused del
ays i
n t
he programme.
30
The Wychwood
August/September 2003 Vol 24 No 3
. These may also have been due to the late arrival of the films from Witney!
And now
However the cinema-going craze did not last
forever and by the mid 1950’s the premises
were used for the painting and sign-writing on
motor vehicles and by Pratt and Haynes Ltd.,
for the storage of agricultural products. Final-
ly, in 1980, all the buildings were knocked
down for the erection of The Old Till House.
In the post war period another till-yard was
born when some workers from the United
Wood Working Co. broke away to set up The
Wychwood Manufacturing Co. in the late Alf
Miles workshop in Ascott Road
John Rawlins
Crime Stoppers
Hello Again,
The subj
ect I would like to write about today is “NUISANCE”AND HOW IT MAY
AFFECT YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE. Youths on motorcycles or cars, folk hanging
around making noise and dropping litter, are not a police priority, however I do
know from first hand experience that this can cause anguish to people when it’s persistent.
I have no magical cure, but I would advise against you taking matters into your own
hands. Please contact me. I may be able to help to nip the matter in the bud, but if it
continues I can get others to help. Please don’t sit there stewing on it, let me know.
If you want to remain anonymous j
ust drop me a line at Carterton Police Station,
without your details enclosed.
We have had a couple of offences locally involving bogus callers, particularly aimed
at the elderly. Please let me know of anyone who is vulnerable, I will be more than
willing to give them advice.
REMEMBER DO NOT let anyone into your house unless you know them, however
sweet and genuine they may sound, there are baddies out there.
If you feel that a caller to your house is suspicious please help by taking down as
much information as you can;a description of the person and any vehicle details.
You may j
ust save another person an unwarranted visit
If your area is not in a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme and you would like details of
how to get started please contact me.
During the warm weather REMEMBER to keep your
ground floor windows closed and don’t forget your first
floor windows, particularly if you leave your house unoccupied during the day and at night.
P.C.Jon Badrick
Northern Area Switchboard: 01865 266000
Carterton Police Station: 01993 893951
(Monday to Friday,normaloffice hours)
Email: [email protected]
31