3. MRS. E. BASSETT.

Page 25

Mrs Bassett kindly agreed to talk to the Cropredy Historical Society and this is an extract taken from the tape recording made at that meeting. Born in Cropredy in 1912 she lived for the first 11 years of her life in Church Lane. The rest of her time spent in the village before marriage was at Plantation Cottage. Since marriage her home has been in Chipping Warden.

Her contribution to the family budget began at an early age. Everyone remembers her as a very attractive active girl and they recall her with affection. Mr Colin Shirley on reading a copy of the talk wrote back to say "Edie was often at our house when my Mother was alive (Mrs Albert Shirley of Old Yard). She was quite a character. One thing she didn't tell, was the time she and her sister Nellie took Mr Bott's father up Williamscote Road in an invalid chair. I don't know what was wrong with him but he used to be taken about in a chair. They let the chair run away with him, I don't know if he was tipped out or not but he had a bad turn that night. I can remember Edie telling mother and I about it and saying "Our Nellie says you know if he dies we shall be murderers." He didn't die, at least not then. I remember how amused we were.

The middle thatched and stone cottage in Church Lane, was once part of an old farm house. The Tasker's had two bedrooms under the thatch. A winder stairs led down from a tiny landing. On entering the front door the sitting room was on the left. This had an open grate. The floor was of stone flags. The passage and pantry had red and black quarry tiles. The hall passage led past the stairs and pantry to reach the back door. A small indoor coalhouse took up the small space where once a passage led to the rest of the farm house, then the Hickman's cottage. Outside a brick built wash house had a little grate as well as a copper. In the summer Mrs Tasker would use that grate to cook on, keeping out the steam. Mrs Edie Bassett nee Tasker's talk in April 1983:

Page 26

My first thoughts of Cropredy was when I went round with Mr Godson with the bread. Mr William Godson, not his son Mr Gardner Godson. He used to have my tea, cos I used to come out of Cropredy School and get on the bread cart and go with him to Great Bourton and Little Bourton, and I knew all the houses there.

I always remember when I used to go with Mr Godson with the bread. I used to think what a funny Row it was down Stanwell, you know where Dr Davies lived. There was Josh Young playing his violin. Manor Road. Then there was another old boy sat at an organ, with a bowler hat on, Trench Dale. He used to have the door open and this black bowler hat on and play the organ. I used to see him when I took the bread, and that was very musical down that Row.

I used to go up to Mr Lidsey's which is that big white house by the Aluminium factory, though there was no factory, just fields and some old bullocks. He trotted on down with his bread cart...there's two cottages right by the side of the canal on the left hand side...Day and Hall that was the name of the people in those cottages then when I was a child. I had to make the journey with this big basket of bread, while he went in the dark, you know, with a lantern, all up that field, then he'd pick me up on the way back from delivering down there. That was the end of the journey, and we'd turn and come back.

The trace broke up Bourton Hill! We both came out, but no harm was done, and mended by a rope. You always carried a rope didn't you with those carts?

I went round with my Father with the Carrier's cart. Well first of all I had to get the horse, I had to catch the horse. I had to go to the field. I was eight years old. I couldn't reach to get her collar on, so I stood in the manger and got the collar on, up and put it the wrong way up and twisted it. The manger you see to reach...I used to go and fetch the horse first then help harness it and get it in. Then you went round the village, up Red Lion Street, where Mrs Hadland kept the Red Lion.

You went round the village, you knew people like, there was a Mrs Gardner and the Vigger's from Prescote cottages, used to have their groceries regularly from Walker's stores. Used to have their order writ out and you collected it. I had to take the order and then the boy from the stores brought the parcels up and put it in the cart you see. Yes wrote down, you had a book. You had to pay and you had some bad debts. Those with least money paid best you found. Yes, they never owed nothing, the Gardner's and the Vigger's, although they had a big family, they was very straight forward. That was Esther Gardner, that was Esther's mum and Bunny.

Page 27

(From) Mr Pinniger's, up the Lawn, a great big basket of butter used to come down, all to go to Banbury. That was in the 1918 war. We had to take a lot in. as well as out. Yes. You took vegetables and things.

When you got orders you went on to Banbury by way of Little Bourton. the back way. Then we put up at the Flying Horse, the pub in Banbury. Which was all stables then, but of course is all car park now. It was all stabling then. When you put the horse up, I was sent on these assignments and one I always remember. There were two Miss Williams down the Station Road, and they was always ill, funnily enough. Whether they were really ill or thought they was ill I don't know, but we used, I used to have to fetch the medicine from where the Whateley Hotel is. Doctor John's was there and I used to go in and pick up the medicine.

My Father used to give me, and I suppose it was the value of a shilling you know 5p now, to get something to eat, you see. Well I used to go into Miss Charlotte and Miss Elizabeth Brown's cake shop, and of course they were Quakers, and they was in those very long black dresses and their hair all drawn back. T'hey was real Quakers you know, and I used to sit down by myself at a little table and I used to order six coconut cakes and a cup of Bovril. That was my meal until I got home, late at night. What interested me so much was the pictures in there. They had lovely old Quaker pictures, beautiful pictures in the tearoom, and I used to sit and study those pictures. Well ever since I've always been fond of pictures.

Pillsworth that was another place I went to, the draper's. Lower down was a favourite shop, that's Brummit's the toyshop. Then its much the same Parson Street really, bar of course the old cake shop gone. There was old Mr Gibb the fish man opposite the Flying Horse. A man, Ginger, had a bicycle shop. Fox's the chemist and on the right hand side there was Mawles. They did corn, I suppose you would call them corn merchants. They had a monkey in there, cos I used to like getting in there to see the monkey. Then there was Dossets at the top, they were first class grocers and you could smell the coffee. They ground the coffee. Jeff's were opposite, the butchers. We used to call there on our way out for people's joints of meat. Weekend joints all done up to bring back. And always a lot of sausages from Bootes down Church Lane. Real pork. Then there was a wholesalers named Austin and Paynes down George Street, but there was always a lot of cats in there. About a dozen cats and I think that's why I always liked cats. They were beautiful. They were always tortoiseshell, funnily enough. Tortoiseshell cats.

Page 28

We used to leave Banbury I should think about five or six o'clock at night and with a bit of luck and without our Dad staying at the pub too long on the way back, we got here about seven I should think. Our Dad wasn't funny when he had a drop of beer. It affects people like that doesn't it? So I used to try and goad him past the pubs if I could!

Then you delivered the stuff around the village which took some time. You also delivered the Banbury Guardians. I think they were about tuppence, if I remember rightly, or a penny. I know one lady on the Green, Miss Lambert used to pay me in farthings, and I used to think that was terrible. You didn't make much money, you worked hard for next to nothing those days, didn't you? I enjoyed it, I had a very happy childhood. I should like it all over again. I was always occupied. I used to feed Godson's hens for one thing in that little close.

We had a coal cart separate. A proper one and you fetched the coal from the station. There was no coal merchant as such then, before Hawkins, before Botts. Father used to cart the coal from the station. People had loads then, a lot of them.

I remember Mrs Hawkins was crying when I went round with something, you know delivering something. The fire wouldn't go, the chimney wouldn't go. So of course being me, I swept the chimney for her. No, I got the flue brush up! That was round the Wharf.

The cart was covered, oh yes, you didn't get wet. Nor the baker. The baker had a covered cart too. Prince, that was Mr Godson's horse. Prince was very lazy. He was a great big horse, but he would not go very fast. You could lay the stick on him and he still would not move any faster. You know he seemed a lazy horse.

Father's horse used to go very fast, and I used to catch him with the halter, not a bridle. I had no bridle. Get on that gate, its still there but wont be much longer by the look of it. Get up the gate, because I couldn't jump on, there was no saddle you see. Push him up to the gate and get on the gate and then on the horse, then trot her up with just the halter, and she had me off two or three times, and where she was fond of putting me off was on that bit of grass opposite the Brasenose cottages down Station Road. That long piece from the school up to the railway station. She used to nearly always put me off along there.

Page 29

My grandfather (d.1898), my father's father, a horse kicked him right in the centre of his stomach. He loved horses. Everyone had horses then, the Doctor, everyone. He used to bait them. He came from a village by Brackley. He lived here a long while down where Roland Plumb lived at the bottom of Red Lion Street. The brick house. He lived there, but he died soon after the horse kicked him.

I was born up Church Lane opposite the Sunday School. My sister and me were twins and there haven't been any since, not in our family anyway. We were very small. There was no such things as incubators. We were put with beer bottles and hot water all round. My sister likes beer I don't.

Mrs Baisley lived one side and Mrs French opposite. Mrs Hickman lived the other side and Mrs Godson opposite. At Ankers (Beech House) the Miss Ankers were living in that house. I remember them, they were very stout ladies. When we was up Church Lane the Miss Anker's had got a great big barn, that's now a house. Well that's where we kept the cart, and there were stables there. A beautiful barn. Do you remember us having a Peace celebrations there? And there was a great big washing basket full of mugs,1918 peace mugs. We had a big party in that barn and games in the Cup and Saucer field.

Down Creampot Mr McDougall lived in Little Prescote, then he moved to Prescote. He had a very high stepping pony and trap. I used to love to see that, coming out of school, and he used to get to Midland Marts by ten past eight every morning. It was beautiful thing wasn't it? It did move. I should have liked that!

Father had some cows and milked them. (At other times) we used to fetch our milk from where Mr Roland Cherry lives (The Green) in a jug. You took a jug or a can and if we took the can we used to swing it all round and we let it all out one day, and we weren't allowed to go with a can anymore.

We used to go up Sumner's yard cos Kathy Waddups lived up there and we used to get to the old grindstone, pick the rusty nails up and try and shine them up and think we would get rich, you know. Get these nails all shiny.

The old people were very nice when you went to the doors and that. They'd ask you if you wanted a drink or a piece of cake, and I used to love going into Mrs Albert Shirley's and looking at her pictures. Mrs Tom Cooknell she used to have pictures. I used to like to go in there.

Page 30

I took the milk there you see and he was the shoemaker. We used to go in and watch him shoemaking when he was in the mood, but he wasn't always in the mood. He made all shoes and repairs. He made handmade shoes too.

I used to love it at the bakehouse, at Mrs Godson's. They were very nice people. I think when I came out of school the best two smells was I think about then now, was Teddy Robinson shoeing the horses at the blacksmith's shop, which was a very nice smell, and Mr Godson getting hot bread out of the oven. I think that was about 12 o'clock.

Mrs Ross Walker she was a big hospital worker. Red Cross. The hospital then was voluntary. Horton General and we all had to do our bit in the village. And I remember I couldn't sew. We had a B.B.S. which was a BUSY BEE SOCIETY. We had to wear these badges. Well I was busy enough but not sewing. I could NOT sew, and I got in such a state sewing in school I rusted the needles, my hands used to perspire thinking about it see. So she sent me out gardening with the boys! But we used to have to do things for the stall and my sister was a marvellous needlewoman, still is. And although we were twins we were dead opposites. She had to do my share of sewing to keep me in this Busy Bee thing. I had to do things for her she wouldn't do, you know jobs like to square it like. Then we had this hospital Fete and just as you go into the hospital on the right, we had a long stall. I used to go round with the wheelbarrow and collect vegetables and we had a vegetable stall, and a needlework stall, cadge the vegetables, wash it and clean it and get it all prepared to stand on the stall. And we made a lot of money. That's how the hospital was run. She was a great hospital worker Mrs Ross Walker.

Contents     Homepage