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DIDCOT

The Essential Guide

Sandra Frith

DIDCOT

The Essential Guide

Sandra Frith

Text, photographs and maps copyright © Sandra Frith 2013

The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

First published 2013

All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This book contains links for third-party websites. The author has no control over, and is not responsible for, the contents of such third-party websites. Please use care when accessing them.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information in this book is correct, there may be some cases where things have changed since the time of writing. The author will be pleased to make the necessary amendments in future editions of the book.

Cover photos: Cornerstone Arts Centre (front cover); Ladygrove Lakes (back cover (a)); Didcot Railway Centre (back cover (b)); Manor Road (back cover (c)).

The author would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce photographs: Marjorie Hoek p33(a); Brian Lingham p58(a).

The author would also like to thank Brian Lingham for his invaluable historical research on Didcot in The Long Years of Obscurity, The Railway Comes to Didcot and A Poor Struggling Little Town, without which she would not have been able to write The History of Didcot chapter.

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

DIDCOT THROUGH THE YEAR 6

FAUNA AND FLORA 9

THE HISTORY OF DIDCOT 10

OLD DIDCOT 19

NORTHBOURNE AND STATION ROAD

CONSERVATION AREAS

24

MOWBRAY FIELDS AND MILLENNIUM WOOD 27

LADYGROVE LAKES AND LOOP 30

CORNERSTONE ARTS CENTRE 32

DIDCOT RAILWAY CENTRE 34

DIDCOT POWER STATIONS 38

LITTLE WITTENHAM NATURE RESERVE 40

MILTON MANOR HOUSE 44

PENDON MUSEUM 47

WALKS 48

FURTHER READING 54

ESSENTIALS

GETTING AROUND 60

WHERE TO STAY 65

TOWN CENTRE AMENITIES 66

SHOPPING 73

FOOD AND DRINK 75

EATING AND DRINKING 76

LIVE MUSIC 81

DAYS OUT WITH CHILDREN 82

SPORTS 83

DIRECTORY 87

INDEX 94

The Didcot coat of arms shows the Berkshire stag with cherry blossom, a canon representing the Royal Army Ordnance Depot and a mitre representing Ralph de Dudcotte, the thirteenth-century Abbot of Dorchester-on-Thames. The crossed lines represent the railway and the sheaves of corn and the ram’s head represent the corn and wool produced by Didcot farmers.

INTRODUCTION

3

INTRODUCTION

Didcot lies in southern England in the county of Oxfordshire. It is the principal town in the South Oxfordshire district, with its western edges bordering the Vale of the White Horse district. Didcot covers an area of 5 km sq (3 miles sq) with a population of over 25,000. It is located about 24 km (15 miles) south of Oxford, just off a major A road (the A34), which in turn links to the M4 and M40 motorways, therefore making it easy to get to London, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham. More importantly, Didcot is an important part of the train network – frequent high-speed trains from London to the West Country and Wales stop here. It takes only 20 minutes to get to Reading and 45 minutes to get into the centre of London. Despite this, Didcot has for a long time been perceived to be inferior to its older and prettier neighbours: Abingdon (13 km (8 miles) to the north), Wantage (14.5 km (9 miles) to the west), and Wallingford (11 km (7 miles) to the east). It is true that Didcot isn’t as picturesque as these historic market towns, two of which (Abingdon and Wallingford) are on the River Thames; apart from the area around All Saints’ Church in Lydalls Road, Didcot is relatively new and most people associate it with the imposing power stations (which actually aren’t in the Didcot parish boundary) that can be seen from miles away. It has the dubious honour of being one of the towns described in Sam Jordison and Dan Kieran’s 2003 book, The Idler Book of Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK. On a more positive note, in a 2007 study carried out by the Office for National Statistics the Ladygrove estate in

The Berkshire Downs

Ladygrove and Didcot Power Stations

INTRODUCTION

4

Didcot was named as the place where residents have the longest healthy-life expectancy in England and Wales.

The inhabitants of Didcot have, until recently, tended to be working class: working as farm labourers up to the early-twentieth century, for the railway in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and for the army depot in the early to mid-twentieth century. However, Didcot is in an area of Oxfordshire where there is now a large number of science-based businesses (jointly known as the Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone): the Milton Park business estate, the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus (which includes the Atomic Energy Authority (although the nuclear research is being decommissioned) and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, which houses the Diamond Light Source) and the Culham Science Centre, which are attracting more middle-class people to the area (these three business centres between them employ nearly 13,000 people). Added to this is a growing number of commuters who work in London, Reading and Oxford, but live in Didcot where the property prices are lower. The changes to the town centre in recent years, including the opening of an arts centre, reflect the changing demographic. Looking to the future, Didcot has been named as a designated growth area and the population is expected to double to 50,000 by 2026, starting with 1800 new homes which are planned to be built on the northern outskirts of the town.

The town is surrounded by areas of natural beauty: the Berkshire Downs to the east and south, the Ridgeway to the south and the Thames Path to the north and east. In addition, some of the prettiest villages in Oxfordshire are only approximately 8 km (5 miles) or less from the centre of Didcot: Sutton Courtenay, Appleford, Long Wittenham, Little Wittenham, North Moreton, South Moreton, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Aston Upthorpe, Aston Tirrold, Blewbury, East Hagbourne, West Hagbourne, Upton, Chilton, Harwell, East Hendred, West Hendred, Milton and Steventon. Didcot is twinned with Meylan in south-eastern France, which is, appropriately, a technology- and science-based industrial town near Grenoble and Planegg, near Munich in south-eastern Germany, which is also a science- and technology-based town.

The Thames at Little Wittenham

Didcot and the surrounding villages

INTRODUCTION

5

Didcot town

DIDCOT THROUGH THE YEAR

6


It is usually cool in winter (rarely going below 0°C (32°F)) and warm in summer (rarely going above 32°C (90°F)). Snow usually falls in January or February, but there are sometimes winters with no snow at all. The warmest months are usually July and August, but they can also be wet. Despite this there are lots of events happening in Didcot in the summer. The latter months of the year also have events happening, the highlight being the Christmas Street Fair at the end of November. Spring and autumn are the best times to see nature at its most impressive. The weather can be unpredictable all the year round and it is always advisable to take an umbrella with you.

Ladygrove Lakes in autumn

Loyd Recreation Ground in winter


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January to April The annual Civic Ball is held in February or March. The event takes place at Didcot Civic Hall, hosted by the Mayor, and includes a five-course dinner and entertainment. Tickets must be bought in advance, and the money raised goes to the Mayor’s chosen charities. The Mayor is elected annually, serving from May to May, and therefore the chosen charities change annually.

Little Wittenham holds the final of the annual World Pooh Sticks Championships at the end of March. The game is based on that described in The House at Pooh Corner (1928) by A.A. Milne and involves all the competitors dropping their sticks into the river from one side of Little Wittenham Bridge and watching to see which stick is the first one to come out on the other side of the bridge. The owner of that stick is the winner.

In late March and early April you can see the lambs being born in the Hill Farm lambing sheds at the Earth Trust Centre, Little Wittenham. There are also activities for the children, such as tractor and trailer rides and hay-bale climbing. Tickets can be bought on the day.

May to August The Harwell Feast is held at the end of May, starting with a parade of floats which go through the village to the recreation ground where there are stalls and attractions.

Uptonogood? is an annual off-road bike ride which is held in June. There are four routes with differing levels of challenge. Each route starts and finishes in Upton, where there is food and activities for the children.

Wittfest, a free annual charity festival of local musicians, is held in late June in the grounds of The Plough Inn, Long Wittenham.

In late June/early July the St Birinus Pilgrimage from Churn Knob (near Blewbury) to Dorchester Abbey takes place to commemorate St Birinus’ walk to Dorchester-on-Thames in the seventh century, where he became the Bishop of Dorchester Cathedral and baptised King Cynegils of Wessex. The walk passes through Blewbury, South Moreton, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Little Wittenham.

In early July the Didcot Races organised by Didcot Runners take place at Willowbrook Leisure Centre on the Ladygrove estate. The races comprise of a five-mile (8.05 km) race and a two-mile (3.22 km) fun run. Both races are open to the public, but you have to pay an entry fee.

A Didcot Town Fayre is planned to be held annually in mid-July in Edmonds Park.

The Truck Festival at Hill Farm, Steventon takes place in late July. It is a three-day music festival, which can attract some big-name performers, as well as local talent. You can buy day and weekend tickets.

At the end of July or beginning of August the annual beer festival takes place at the Cornerstone Arts Centre. This lasts three days and is a good opportunity to try beers from small breweries. There is also live music in the evenings from a variety of bands.

In August there is a funfair in Edmonds Park. It is usually there for five days.

Little Wittenham Bridge

Beer festival

Craft fair


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The annual art exhibition is held at the end of August at the Civic Hall. This lasts three days and is a showcase for local artists, photographers and sculptors. All the works can be purchased. Entrance is free and you can vote for your favourite piece.

The Didcot Hospital fete is held annually on the afternoon of the August Bank Holiday Monday.

September to December In early November the annual craft fair is held at the Civic Hall. There are various stalls selling crafts and food items.

The Bonfire night fireworks are held in Loyd Recreation Ground on Brasenose Road on the Saturday nearest to the 5th November. The entrance fee includes watching the lighting of the bonfire, a choreographed firework display, plus there is a small funfair and a pig roast.

On Remembrance Sunday there is a parade from the Edinburgh Drive car park along Broadway to the Garden of Remembrance behind the Civic Hall, where there is a service of remembrance.

The Christmas street fair is held on the last Thursday of November. Broadway is closed to traffic and taken over by fairground rides and food stalls. The Christmas lights are switched on and children can visit Santa. There is a different theme each year and people dress up in fancy-dress costume and parade from the Orchard Centre along Broadway to the Civic Hall. Recent themes have included Dr Who, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Wizard of Oz and ‘Vintage’. It is a well-organised and popular event, attracting up to an estimated 20,000 people.

A Christmas carol service is held in mid-December at the Civic Hall with the Didcot Choral Society and local school choirs.

Regular events Weekly Market, Market Place. Held on Fridays and Saturdays. A disappointing market, with only a few stalls, including stalls selling fruit and vegetables, bread, cakes and pies, plants, and clothes and bags.

Car boot sale, Didcot Town Football Club, Bowmont Water, Ladygrove. Held every Sunday (March to October only), from 9 am to 2 pm.

Monthly Farmers market, Orchard Centre. Held on the second Saturday of each month from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm. Local produce includes meat, fish, cheese, bread, cakes and baked goods, preserves, beer, fruit and vegetables. Much of the produce is organic.

A Sunday market selling crafts, gifts and food is held in the Orchard Centre on the first Sunday of each month.

Garden of Remembrance

Christmas street fair

Weekly market

Farmers market

FAUNA AND FLORA

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FAUNA AND FLORA

Flying overhead and swooping into the fields are the now ubiquitous red kites. Until the 1980s they were extinct in England, as in the past they were considered vermin and a threat to agriculture. A successful reintroduction programme in the Chilterns means that they are a common sight in south Oxfordshire. They are beautiful birds of prey that have a distinctive high-pitched cry. They look graceful as they fly with hardly a beat of their wings, and are stunning when the sun reflects off their reddish-brown body.

South Oxfordshire has also had success at encouraging the protected great crested newt to breed. Canada geese regularly visit Ladygrove Lakes, staying there when the water levels are high enough. They are distinctive with their black heads and white stripe around their cheek and throats. While graceful on the water their water landings are inelegant.

The many areas of natural beauty in and around Didcot have a wide variety of plants which are largely managed by the Earth Trust. The Broad Arboretum at Little Wittenham and Millennium Wood contain species of trees and shrubs native to Oxfordshire which can be seen all year round, including willows, sweet chestnut, walnuts, sycamore, wych elm, limes, poplar, aspen, alder, hazel, whitebeam, rowan, crab apple, dogwood, buckthorns, hawthorns, hornbeam, cherries, birches, scots pine, beech, yew, holly, juniper, box, oaks, maple, privet, guilder rose, spindle and elder. Mowbray Fields in Didcot has common spotted and southern marsh orchids, which can be seen in June. Wild flowers can be seen in the summer at Mowbray Fields and Little Wittenham Nature Reserve.

Red kite

Canada geese on Ladygrove Lake

Trees in Millennium Wood

Wild flowers in Mowbray Fields

Common spotted orchid

Southern marsh orchid

THE HISTORY OF DIDCOT

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Today Didcot is a growing town with a modern centre and excellent road and rail links, so it is hard to imagine just how small and insignificant it was until the mid-nineteenth century. The story of Didcot is that of a small farming community living a self-enclosed existence for centuries, which was catastrophically changed by the development of the railway junction, followed by the transfer of the army depot. The resulting influx of people needing new houses, shops, schools and other facilities led to the expansion which continues up to the present day and beyond.

For more information see Brian Lingham’s four-volume history of Didcot (see page 54).

7000 BC to 43 AD

Ancient communities The discovery of ten circular houses on the Great Western Park estate, suggests that there was a community in and around Didcot dating back to the late-Bronze Age. A number of Iron Age roundhouses have also been uncovered west of Freeman Road. However, it is very likely that there was a settlement in this area before these times, as hunting tools and ceremonial artefacts dating back to the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and a pond barrow from c.2000 BC have also been found.

43 AD to 450 AD

Roman settlements Evidence shows that in Roman times a community developed in the highest part of Didcot, now known as Old Didcot. Pots and coins have been found in the area around the church, remains of a Roman villa have been uncovered on Great Western Park and the Didcot Hoard, a buried pot of 126 gold coins, was discovered in a field to the west of Slade Road in 1995. It is possible that the Romans attempted to drain the marshland, which is now Southmead and Ladygrove, by digging what is now known as Moor Ditch, although the ditch may pre-date the Romans.

450 to 1066 Saxon village In the early-fifth century, Saxons settled in the area. The village was known as Wibaldinton (or Wibaldeston), meaning Wigbald’s Farm, until the twelfth century, by which time it had developed into a manor.

1066 to 1500

Norman manor Before the Norman Conquest the manor was tenured to a man named Turchill by Edward the Confessor. After the Norman Conquest the settlement passed to Henry de Ferrers, who was a baron of William the Conqueror. He then passed it to his son-in-law, Nigel de Albini. It stayed in the de Albini family until Nigel’s grandson committed an act of treason against the future King Henry II and had to quit-claim all rights to the manor in 1155. It was then passed by Henry II to Hugh de Mara, a knight. The manor stayed in the de Mara family until the 1230s when Hugh’s great-granddaughter, Elena, married Andrew le Blunt (the son of a rich merchant) and it passed to him. It stayed in the le Blunt family until 1317, when Andrew’s son sold it to John Stonor (who was Lord Chief Justice of England in Edward III’s government), and it became part of the Stonor Estate. Generations of the Stonor family were lord of the manor until the late-seventeenth century. It is in the 1155 charter passing the fief to Hugh de Mara that

The Didcot Hoard is a pile of coins which amounted to 10½ years of a Roman soldier’s pay. Whether the coins were buried for safety or as a religious offering is not known. It is owned by the British Museum, but is on long-term loan to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

The manor of Didcot This was a single geographical unit. It was given by the king to a knight to provide him with an income. The income came from rents, fines and services from the tenants, the sale of cereals and animals and tax.

‘I will, and firmly ordain that the aforesaid Hugh and his heirs shall hold Dudcotte aforesaid, by hereditary right, complete with all its appurtenances, from me and my heirs.’

A section from the charter passing Didcot from Henry II to Hugh de Mara, 1155


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the name ‘Dudcotte’ (Didcot) is first mentioned. The name Dudcotte is Saxon in derivation (coming from ‘Dudda’s Cot’, meaning ‘Dudda’s cottage’). It is possible that ‘Dudda’ was the seventh-century King Didan of Mercia and that this was his country retreat. (He was also the father of St Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford.)

The manor doubled in size to a population of 120 in the period 1086 to 1438, by which time there was a church, a manor house, 25 houses and 5 cottages. All Saints’ Church dates back to c.1160, however, it is likely that there was a church on the site pre-1160 which may have been raided and destroyed during the civil war of 1135 to 1154.

During the Norman period the former slaves became villeins (tenants who paid money or gave services to the lord of the manor in return for allotments of land). The community was self-supporting. Most houses had their own well and everyone brewed their own beer. Farming was done by the open-field system, the main crops being barley and wheat. Sheep and cattle were grazed on the Marsh (the marshland that is now the Ladygrove estate). A common meadow in the north-west corner, which also became marshland in the winter (now the Southmead Industrial Estate), was used for winter feed for the livestock. There was a windmill to the west of the village for grain. By the early 1300s some of the villeins had become freeholders and by the early 1400s the Stonor family abolished villeinage completely and made the former villeins tenants.

There were a few recognisable areas in Didcot in this period, including a hunting park, known as ‘The Park’, on the site of what is now Edmonds Park. It is also believed that roads existed on the sites of what are now Foxhall Road, Park Road, Wantage Road, Broadway, Abingdon Road and Cow Lane.

1500 to 1800

Tenant farmers In the 1600s Didcot consisted of landowners, tenants and tradesmen. The wealthy tenant farmers became the prominent families of Didcot, including the Sayers, the Blakes and the Lydalls, after whom roads are named. Rectory Cottages (built in the early 1600s on the site of a previous manor house), opposite All Saints’ Church on Lydalls Road was the manor house during this period.

All Saints’ Church

White Cottage, Manor Road – dating from the early-15th century

Ladygrove Farm, dating from the late-16th/early-17th century

Rectory Cottages


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Sir Francis Stonor sold the manor to Edward Griffin in 1563 and it was passed to his son, Rice. In 1602 Sir Francis Stonor’s son (also Sir Francis Stonor) bought back the manor, but it had a mortgage held by Robert Wintour, who was one of the group of Catholics who tried to kill James I in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. After Wintour’s execution the mortgage was transferred to the State and Sir Francis Stonor made the mortgage repayments, so the manor stayed in the Stonor family until the 1650s, when the family, who were Catholics, had it taken from them by the republican government, in lieu of fines. They regained it after the Restoration. However, in 1660 an Act abolishing feudal tenures resulted in the Stonor land sales and in 1664 Robert Lydall bought the leasehold to the manor house and the patronage of the church from Thomas Stonor. In 1745 the Lydall family sold the estate to Brasenose College (which is still the patron of All Saints’ Church) and in 1778 the Baker family bought the manor. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries smallholdings were taken over by larger landowners and the former smallholders became labourers. In the 1720s the population increased to 150 as people came into the village to work on the farms, and the village gained a blacksmith, a carpenter and a shopkeeper.

1800s The railway By the early-nineteenth century the smaller farms had disappeared and the farmhouses were converted into working-class tenements. The Enclosure Act of 1836 meant that the common lands were divided into allotments and existing landowners received land, the size of which related to their existing landholdings. In the first half of the century the rectory to All Saints’ Church was built (The Old Rectory on Foxhall Road). Also during this period the first pub in Didcot, The White Hart, opened on the corner of Broadway and Foxhall Road (it is now the site of a petrol station).

1839 brought the start of major change in the village as navvies arrived to lay the railway lines. Didcot was chosen as part of the route on the London to Bristol railway line after the landowners of Newbury prevented the railway line going through Newbury. The original station opened in 1840 and with its opening the name Didcot was made official, but Steventon was the main junction, and it was there that passengers for Oxford transferred onto coaches. It is 12th June 1844 that is a key date in Didcot’s history, as this is the date the branch line to Oxford opened and a larger station, renamed Didcot Junction, opened, and so began a major period of growth and change, as Didcot became a central point in the western section of Britain’s railway network. Didcot was chosen for the junction, rather than Steventon, as the low-lying, level ground presented no serious engineering problems. A broad-gauge/standard-gauge transfer shed was built in the 1850s to tranship goods between broad- and standard-gauge lines, making Didcot an important junction on the London to Bristol line (broad gauge was built by Brunel for the Great Western Railway (GWR), but it was abandoned in 1892, as standard gauge was used elsewhere).

The development of the junction continued apace. In 1856 a loopline was opened to allow trains to go between London and the Midlands without having to go through Didcot station and in 1882 a further cross-country line from Didcot to Southampton via Newbury was opened. The original station


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had been built with the track totally enclosed, but in 1886 a major fire destroyed it and when the station was rebuilt it was no longer completely enclosed.

In the years immediately following the opening of Didcot Junction, a hotel and tavern near the station opened and a second pub called The White Hart opened at the top of Station Road (the building was replaced by the current Broadways pub building in 1927). These initially provided accommodation for some of the new residents of Didcot. The opening of the Didcot Corn Exchange in 1857 allowed local producers to transport their corn to market quickly and cheaply. The Provender Store, built in 1884 to provide feed for the railway company’s horses, also benefitted local farmers who were able to sell their corn and hay to it (the site is now the station car park).

The increasing number of new people to Didcot resulted in more amenities being built, including the Prince of Wales Hotel opposite the station and the first pub in Old Didcot, The Queens Arms, in the early 1860s. Gas was also brought to Didcot in the 1860s, continuing Didcot’s modernisation. The major landowners during this period included the Revd R. Morrell, the Revd W. Baker and John Blagrave. The Revd W. Baker was the lord and owner of the manor of Didcot. He also owned Manor Farm on Foxhall Road. He sold the lordship and manor of Didcot, plus Manor Farm, to Lord Overstone (a banker and MP) in 1857, who then passed the manor to his son-in-law, Colonel Loyd-Lindsay (the MP for Berkshire and later Lord Wantage of West Lockinge). By 1873 Loyd-Lindsay owned 368 acres, including Manor Farm and Ladygrove Farm, which made him the largest landowner in Didcot.

New homes were needed for the growing number of railway employees and their families. In the 1850s the GWR built a terrace of houses at the Broadway end of Station Road (now demolished) and working-class cottages were built in Old Didcot. Marsh Cottages on Broadway were built in 1863. However, the large-scale building for the railway workers took place in the 1860s, ’70s and ’80s when the original houses in Northbourne were built, followed by shops, a chapel, two churches, a school and a pub.

In the 1840s and 1850s the lives of the villagers and of the railway employees were very different. The villagers were still living in a semi-feudal state under the control of the lord and the church. The railwaymen were not prepared to be under the control of the lord and the church and were relatively wealthy compared to the villagers. The village school, which opened in 1847, moving to a building in Rectory Cottages in 1854, was brought about by the railwaymen, who could afford the fees.

The Queens Arms pub

Marsh Cottages

Church Street (Northbourne)


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The 1890s saw significant changes. The first Parish Council was formed in 1894, run by the landowners of Old Didcot, the first allotments were created in 1895 and in 1896 the Board elementary school opened in Manor Road (in what is now Manor School). One important improvement made in the late 1890s was the opening of the sewage works. This was significant for the health of the people of Northbourne, as up to then pollution in the wells in Northbourne houses meant that disease was rife. However, the conditions of the main roads were terrible. They were dirt roads which often flooded. One reason given for Didcot never becoming a major industrial centre in the first half of the twentieth century was the poor roads. In 1899 another wealthy landowner, Robert Rich (after whom Rich’s Sidings is named), bought Blagrave Farm. This proved to be a good purchase for Rich, as it consisted of the land that many of the Broadway shops were built on in the twentieth century.

1900 to 1919

The army depot House building continued in the first years of the twentieth century up to the start of the First World War, but the focus moved from Northbourne to the area between the station and Northbourne: Broadway, Station Road and lower Lydalls Road. Rich’s Sidings were developed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Robert Rich, acted as an agent for tradesmen, such as coal merchants, who used his sidings for the transhipment of their goods. The sidings are now used as a business estate. Up to the mid-nineteenth century any crimes had been dealt with by the manor, but by the early-twentieth century the village had a police force and in 1912 the first police station was built on Hagbourne Road.

When the First World War broke out in 1914 the War Office started to transfer part of the Woolwich Arsenal away from the exposed site near the Thames Estuary, where it could easily be attacked, to Didcot which was in an excellent position in the railway system. It then became the general stores. The army then purchased land to build barracks. By the end of the war in 1918, 1900 troops of all ranks were stationed in Didcot and a large civilian force was employed at the depot. The depot covered 20 sq km (8 sq miles) along the railway from Didcot to Milton (what is now Milton Park business estate). The army was also responsible for the construction of the western half of Station Road, as it needed a direct route between the station and the depot. The impact of the army on Didcot was greater than the railway as the population of the village grew substantially, from just over 700 in 1911 to over 2000 in 1924.

1920 to 1945

Towards a town The 1920s and 1930s were decades that saw further expansion in Didcot, including the first cinema on the site where the current library is (the second, bigger, cinema, the art deco New Coronet, opened in 1932 and is now a bingo hall), the Marlborough Club,

Manor School

Original police station, Hagbourne Road

The New Coronet


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The White Hart (now Broadways) and The Wallingford Arms pubs and the public cemetery in Kynaston Road. Electricity was introduced and a reservoir was built and water pipes laid to supply water from Hagbourne Hill (Didcot’s water is now supplied from Farmoor Reservoir, near Oxford).

House building continued, away from the Northbourne area. The houses built in the two decades leading up to the Second World War were in Kynaston Road, the Oval, the army officers’ houses on Ordnance Road (Ordnance Road is now part of Vauxhall Barracks) and the private-sector Georgetown Garden City estate (Wantage Road, Foxhall Road and Glyn Avenue), the Tavistock Avenue and Vicarage Road areas, plus a few private houses in Park Road, Hagbourne Road and Broadway.

In 1923 Didcot and Milton depots were made permanent and named the Central Ordnance Depot, Didcot. The Didcot and Northbourne Sports Ground was formed from two meadows to the east of Station Road (by the railway line). It later become the ground of Didcot Football Club, until 1999 when the club moved to the Loop Meadow Stadium on the Ladygrove estate. The former ground is now the site of the Orchard Centre car park. In 1929 the first fire station was opened. In 1931 Didcot Senior School opened (it was originally named St Frideswide’s and until 1936 was a mixed-sex school, it then combined with the girls’ grammar school in 1973 and became Didcot Girls’ School) and in 1936 St Birinus school opened and St Frideswide’s became the girls’ senior school and St Birinus became the boy’s senior school (both schools remain single sex). In the 1930s the Catholic church in Manor Crescent and the Baptist church in Wantage Road were built. Edmonds Park was purchased by the Rural District Council, which would ensure the area, that had been a park since the fourteenth century, would remain a park. The Royal Oak pub was the first pub to be opened at the park end of the village in this decade. In the same decade a few small factories opened around Didcot, including a vegetable cannery and a soap and toiletries manufacturer, both of which provided jobs for women.

Up to 1924 most of the Didcot shops were in the station area, as it was thought that this is the area that Didcot would develop around commercially. However, after 1924 the development moved to lower Broadway, where shops were built for the new houses in the Wessex Road-Kynaston Road area. By 1939 there were 46 shops in Broadway, including Rex Garage in Vicarage Road which is still trading today. Didcot hospital opened in 1939. It was funded solely by voluntary contributions and activities organised by the community. It cost £5000 to build. In the same year the post office on Broadway opened (it is now the delivery, sorting and collections office).

Broadways

Wantage Road (Georgetown)

Rex Garage

Didcot Girls’ School

Didcot hospital

Shops in lower Broadway


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The haphazard development of Didcot meant that there was a general dissatisfaction about Didcot’s ugliness and lack of uniformity. A letter to a local newspaper in 1934 called it ‘a place without a centre or a soul’, a complaint that continued up to the early-twenty-first century.

In 1920 Lady Wantage died and Manor and Ladygrove Farms were sold to her former Manor Farm tenant, Dennis Napper. Napper was another major landowner of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. He was known as the ‘squire’ of Didcot, although the Loyd family remained lord of the manor. In 1899 he bought Morrell’s Farm on Foxhall Road (of which the Conservative Club is the only surviving part). He also held one of the contracts to supply fodder to the Provender Stores. By 1922 he owned 500 acres in total.

From the formation of the Didcot Parish Council in 1894 until 1928 the councillors were the landowners of Old Didcot. In contrast, the East Hagbourne Parish Council, also formed in 1894, was controlled by the railway workers of Northbourne. The Didcot Trades and Labour Council, formed c.1917 (led by railwaymen Ernest Edmonds and Arthur Watson), became a pressure group making demands and suggestions to the Didcot Parish Council and the Rural District Council. Unlike the villagers at this time, the railwaymen were outward looking and politically aware. They were prepared to stand up to the socially superior members of the community. The former Didcot Labour Club building (due to be demolished), on the corner of Station Road and Lydalls Road, was originally the Co-operative Stores (built in 1916). In the 1920s, the shop was the meeting place for the Labour Party of which the railwaymen were members. The first railwaymen were elected to the Didcot Parish Council in 1928.

Up to 1935 Northbourne was part of the parishes of East and West Hagbourne. In 1935 Northbourne was amalgamated with Didcot parish, although most Northbourne residents had considered themselves Didcottians long before this date. Four wards were created (All Saints, Georgetown, Northbourne and Park) and the population increased to 6500. The army presence continued to grow when the Pimlico Depot (the Clothing Inspectorate Department) was transferred to Didcot in 1933, bringing 300 new employees. During the Second World War the size of the depot increased to include a shed that covered 60,387 sq m (650,000 sq ft). By 1943 there were 3000 military personnel and 4400 civilian personnel at the depot. People came from many other towns to work at the depot, where the main job was packing equipment. The railway became logistically important and played a major role in the D-Day preparations in 1944. Dealing with all this extra personnel meant that buildings had to be requisitioned, such as the Coronet Ballroom, which became the NAAFI canteen. Land was also requisitioned to put huts on as accommodation for the personnel. Amazingly, bearing in mind its size, the Didcot depot was never attacked by the Germans, although the RAF depot at Milton and the RAF airfield at Harwell (now the Harwell Campus) were attacked during bombing raids.

The former Labour Club building


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1946 to 1971

The power station By the end of the war the demand for more housing was great. Evacuees who didn’t return to London and the extra workforce at the depot put a strain on the existing housing. To solve the housing crisis, from 1947 to the early 1950s the local authority built houses on Sinodun Road, The Croft, Newlands Avenue, Fairacres Road, Queensway, Barnes Road, Glebe Road and Edinburgh Drive. In 1956 the first post-war private houses were built on Meadow Way, followed by the Brasenose Road, Loyd Road, Cockcroft Road and Portway areas in the early 1960s.

In the 1950s and early 1960s former houses on Broadway were replaced by shops giving it the much-criticised appearance it now has, with houses on one side and shops on the other side of the road. The first swimming pool was built in Newlands Avenue in 1961, near the site of the present Didcot Wave.

In 1962 the cross-country railway line that went from Didcot to Southampton via Newbury was closed down as it was one of the lines deemed unprofitable in the Beeching Report. Up to that time there had been a station at Upton. There is currently an action group who are trying to reopen the line. In 1964 the Royal Army Ordnance Corps left Didcot. Vauxhall Barracks is now the base of the bomb disposal regiment, 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, part of the Royal Logistic Corp.

During this period, two places were built which are synonymous with Didcot. ‘Didcot A’ Power Station was built between 1965 and 1971, changing the landscape significantly, and in 1967 Didcot Railway Centre opened as a museum on the site of the former Didcot Motive Power Depot.

1972 to 2003

Didcot becomes a town In 1974 Didcot, which had previously been in North Berkshire, became part of South Oxfordshire and it officially became a town, although it had been referred to as a ‘town’ in the local papers as early as 1933. At the same time Didcot Town Council was created.

The town continued to grow in these decades. In the 1970s and 1980s the Fleet Meadow estate was built and from the late 1980s to the early 2000s the Ladygrove estate was built on the former marshland. The four wards of the town changed to All Saints, Northbourne, Park and Ladygrove.

Williams Grand Prix Engineering is a company associated with Didcot, even though it moved to bigger premises in Grove in 1994. The factory was formed in 1977 in an old carpet warehouse in Station Road. In honour of Sir Frank Williams and his association with Didcot, an avenue on the Great Western Park estate has been named after him.

The Didcot Window (1992) by Martin Donlin, an etched-glass window on the first floor of the library, depicts aspects of Didcot’s history: the railway, the cooling towers, a racing driver and the army.

Didcot Power Stations

Shops on upper Broadway which were houses up to the 1950s

Didcot Town FC ground on Ladygrove


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With the extra population using Didcot station, in 1985 it was renovated and renamed Didcot Parkway. The word ‘parkway’ in this context means ‘park and ride’.

The gas-powered ‘Didcot B’ Power Station was built and began operation in 1997.

2004 to present

The Orchard Centre Recent years have brought more change and improvements to the town. Didcot got the centre it so desperately needed when, in 2004, the Orchard Centre shopping area opened, followed by the five-screen cinema in 2007 and the Cornerstone Arts Centre in 2008. In 2007 the 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment was awarded the Freedom of Didcot, cementing its relationship with the town.

Many people were surprisingly saddened when the ‘Didcot A’ Power Station was closed in 2013, feeling that the cooling towers are part of Didcot’s identity. Despite this, Didcot continues to expand and in 2011 building started on the Great Western Park estate; although significant portions of the estate are not in Didcot parish, it is considered by locals to be part of Didcot. Didcot Parkway station is currently being redeveloped and is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

The future Future plans Despite the promise of more expansion, probably the biggest impact on Didcot’s identity is if the cooling towers of the ‘Didcot A’ Power Station, that have been so much a feature of the landscape, are demolished (English Heritage is currently considering whether to list them). Planned changes in the town include the former Didcot Labour Club building opposite the station being knocked down in 2013 and replaced with houses and possibly a hotel. Phase 2 of the Orchard Centre is due to start in late 2013/early 2014; Marks and Spencer, Debenhams and John Lewis have been mentioned as possible shops in this new shopping area. The size of the town is set to continue to grow as more houses on north Ladygrove are due to be built c.2015 and more building will be done on Great Western Park. A third secondary school is planned to open in 2016; discussions are also taking place about opening Harwell Enterprise Academy, a secondary school focusing on business and technology, on Harwell Science and Innovation Campus; and a new sports centre is planned. In addition, by 2016 the train route between Didcot and London is to have an electrified line, which should mean more modern trains giving a faster, smoother journey.

Didcot accent Although the North Berkshire accent has largely disappeared from Didcot due to people moving in from other areas, the distinctive features of the accent can occasionally still be heard: the ‘f’ is pronounced as a ‘v’, a ‘w’ is inserted before ‘o’ in words such as ‘boy’ (pronounced ‘bwoy’), ‘a’ is changed to ‘o’ in words such as ‘way’ (pronounced ‘woye’), ‘s’ is sometimes pronounced as ‘z’ and vowels and diphthongs are strongly pronounced and often the sound is changed from standard English (‘please’ is pronounced as ‘plaze’). Also ‘he’ and ‘she’ are often used in place of ‘him’ and ‘her’. A good example of this accent can be heard in the spoken poems of the poet Pam Ayres, who grew up in Stanford in the Vale, a village 24 km (15 miles) west of Didcot. The author Tom Hughes, who was from Uffington, a village south-west of Stanford in the Vale (famous for the chalk White Horse), recreates the accent in Chapter 1 of his novel Tom Brown’s School Days (1857).

Due to the ‘f’ being pronounced as ‘v’, in the past Foxhall Road was known locally as ‘Vauxhall Road’. A discrepancy arose in 1947 when the name Foxhall Road became official, but the army barracks on that road retained the name Vauxhall Barracks.

Didcot Parkway station

Cornerstone Arts Centre

OLD DIDCOT

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OLD DIDCOT

Up to the 1840s the village of Didcot comprised of three roads, now called Foxhall Road, Lydalls Road and Manor Road. After the coming of the railway the village started to grow away from this area and as a result this part of Didcot, ‘Old Didcot’, avoided much of the modern development which happened elsewhere. Old Didcot is an attractive place to walk around, with a high proportion of listed buildings. It has retained many of the farmhouses, dating from as far back as the fifteenth century, which are now mainly private houses. Naturally they have been renovated since they were first built, but they have kept their exterior charm, which includes timber frames and thatched roofs.

OLD DIDCOT

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Old Didcot is only a five-minute walk from the train station. The walk from the station to Foxhall Road is along a busy unattractive road, running alongside the railway line and looking towards the Power Stations; and even the start of Foxhall Road, with the Vauxhall army barracks on the right is inauspicious. However, towards the end of the barracks the older houses start to appear. On the left is The Old Rectory (the imposing former rectory of All Saints’ Church), designed in the early- to mid-nineteenth century by the architect Henry Jones Underwood (whose other works include the Oxford Botanic Garden Library). In the late-twentieth century the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper lived here. He became infamous for erroneously authenticating the ‘Hitler Diaries’.

A little further down, on the corner of Foxhall Road and Brasenose Road, is the timber-framed Smiths Farm: a good example of an early-seventeenth-century farmhouse. Look out for the horseman weathervane on the roof on the Brasenose Road side of the house.

Opposite Smiths Farm is what is left of Morrell’s Farm: a timber barn, which was converted into the Conservative Club in 1951.

Walk a bit further down Foxhall Road to see, on the right, the cockerel weathervane on the part of the mid-seventeenth-century Manor Farm that is visible from the road (the former farmhouse has been converted into flats), before turning back and turning right into Manor Road.

Once you are in Manor Road it will feel like you have left Didcot and entered a quiet country village. On the right is Manor Primary School, which was built as a Board elementary school in 1896 and still retains much of the original architecture, and just after it is Manor Cottage, built in the 1670s and which in the nineteenth century was the village shop. Just down from Manor Cottage is the timber-framed Blacksmith’s Cottage, built in the late-seventeenth century.

The Old Rectory

Smiths Farm

Conservative Club

Manor Farm

Manor Cottage

Blacksmith’s Cottage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Diaries

OLD DIDCOT

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On the left slightly back from the road at the entrance to the alley is The Nook, a timbered house with a thatched roof. The oldest part dates from the sixteenth century. In the eighteenth/nineteenth century, like many of the farmhouses, it was divided into three working-class tenements, but it is now a single house. Just down the road from here is Thorney Downe House, part of which dates from the mid-1600s. This was a nursing and maternity home in the 1930s and 1940s. Next to Thorney Downe House is White Cottage, the oldest house in the village, dating from the early 1400s. This was also divided into tenements in the eighteenth/nineteenth century. Opposite White Cottage is Elm Cottage, a pretty white late-sixteenth-century timber-framed house with a porched gate. At the bottom of Manor Road, on the left, is The Queens Arms public house, built in the 1860s. On the right are the last remains of the farming past – two fields with some cows and a couple of horses in them. Turn left into Lydalls Road. The road is named after the Lydall family who were major Didcot landowners and the leading family in the mid-seventeenth to mid-eighteenth centuries. Members of the family lived on this road in the manor house (now Rectory Cottages). As you enter the road, directly in front of you is Blagrave Farm, a timber-framed house dating from the early-seventeenth century. Just after Blagrave Farm is a cul-de-sac called Stonor Close, with ugly modern houses, which seems an unfitting road to be named after a family with a strong historical association with the village. As you walk up the hill, on the left is a mid-sixteenth-century house with a timber frame and herringbone brickwork which was built with a single ground-floor room with a room above it originally accessed by a ladder. Further up the road, opposite the parish church, are Rectory Cottages, built in the early-seventeenth century on the site of a mediaeval manor house. Rectory Cottages, as the name suggests, are now two separate dwellings, but in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as one dwelling, it was the village manor house. A school room was built at the back of the house in 1854 and it was used as the village school until 1896. The cottages are arguably the prettiest houses in the town with a partly-thatched and partly-tiled roof, a timber frame and leaded-light windows. Opposite Rectory Cottages is All Saints’ Church (see page 22). From the church continue up the road back to Foxhall Road.

Fields on corner of Manor Road, Lydalls Road and Lydalls Close

Elm Cottage

Blagrave Farm

16th-century house on Lydalls Road

Rectory Cottages

The Nook

Thorney Downe House

OLD DIDCOT

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ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH

All Saints’ Church in Lydalls Road is the oldest surviving building in Didcot. It was built as a Christian place of worship and is still used for that purpose. It is situated on the highest point of Didcot and this site may have been a holy site as far back as Roman times. It is believed that there has been a church on the site of the present church since Saxon times and that a missionary called Berin preached here. He was a seventh-century bishop who was sent by the Pope to England to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. He later became St Birinus (after whom the boys’ secondary school in Didcot is named) and was the first Bishop of Dorchester Cathedral in the seventh century. The present building is thought to have been built in the 1160s. The oldest parts of the church that are still standing are the nave walls, the capital and the font, all of which are probably from the twelfth century.

Enter the church grounds through the lych gate. This has a wooden plaque at the top which is a memorial to First World War soldiers. Walk through the graveyard to the entrance of the church in the south porch.

Although the church is small, there is something interesting in each direction. The chancel, in the east of the church, and the south aisle date from 1340. In the north wall there are two fourteenth-century stained-glass windows. Two of the three church bells also date from the fourteenth century. The responds of the chancel arch, the stairs in the north wall of the nave, the doorways, the west window of the nave and the roof of the nave date from the fifteenth century (although the

Lych gate

North wall window

OLD DIDCOT

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glass in the west window has been replaced more recently). In the south aisle there is an effigy in Purbeck marble of an abbot dating from c.1290. It is thought to be of Ralph de Dudcote (the Abbot of Dorchester-on-Thames who died in 1293). He was a member of the de Dudcote family, who ran the Stonor Estate.

In the floor of the north aisle there are stone slabs dating from the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries commemorating prominent members of the village: Robert Lydall who died in 1677, Robert Jennings who died in 1685 and Richard Blake who died in 1709. On the pillar between the pulpit and door there is an example of seventeenth-century graffiti, where someone has carved the date ‘1638’ in the stone.

There is stained glass in all of the windows, except the plain one on the east wall. The story goes that a group of people, including the poet John Betjeman, felt there was too much stained glass in the church and fought to have a simple window on this wall (and won).

Much of the present church dates from the nineteenth century, when it was modernised and made bigger. The north aisle, the vestry, the steeple and the south porch date from this period. There have also been twentieth-century changes, such as the organ and the pulpit. The roof dates from the 1960s.

Outside the church the small graveyard to the front and the back of the church was the main graveyard for the village until the public cemetery in Kynaston Road opened in 1928. Beside the porch is a yew tree. It is believed that the tree was planted over 1000 years ago on the site where St Birinus preached. The tree continues to grow today, despite having been badly burnt a few years ago.

Services Sundays at 8.00 am (Communion) and 10.00 am (Parish Eucharist, except first Sunday of each month, when an informal service is held and the fifth Sunday of the month, when a Morning Prayer service is held).

First Sunday of each month at 6.30 pm (Communion).

Tuesdays at 9.30 am (Communion).

Visiting The church is locked when there is no service. Contact the church via the website to arrange a visit: www.didcotallsaints.org.uk

The font

Effigy of a 13th-century abbot

Slab commemorating Robert Lydall

The nave and west window

The chancel and east window

c.1200-year-old yew tree

http://www.didcotallsaints.org.uk/

NORTHBOURNE AND STATION ROAD CONSERVATION AREAS

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Both the Northbourne and Station Road areas were developed in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries as a result of the need for housing for the railway workers. More recently both areas have been named as conservation areas, due to their historical character. However, the two areas are quite different in appearance as a result of the priorities of the developers. In a conservation area it is not the individual buildings, but the buildings as a group which are important.

NORTHBOURNE

The expansion of Didcot away from the station and Old Didcot areas is due in part to chance. By the 1860s houses were needed for the increasing number of railway workers and when land in East Hagbourne’s Upper and Lower End Fields came up for sale in 1865 the purchaser, Stephen Dixon, was one of the first people to start building on this land, which became known as North Hagbourne (and also as New Town) and, later, as Northbourne. The first roads that houses were built on were Hagbourne Road, Church Street, Mereland Road, High Street and Wessex Road. Church

Looking across Wessex Road and down High Street

Church Street

High Street – originally engine drivers’ houses in the 1880s


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Street, Bourne Street, High Street and East Street are in the conservation area, with Mereland Road, Broadway, Wessex Road and Hagbourne Road being on the edge of the area. The houses in this part of Northbourne are good examples of the types of houses which are normally associated with high-density industrial areas: small working-class terraced houses on narrow streets, with no front gardens. When these houses were built the other residents of Didcot were concentrated in Old Didcot. Northbourne was therefore a long way from the rest of the village. The oldest houses in Northbourne are 105–107 Broadway, built in 1867, closely followed by the terraced houses in Church Street, built in the early 1870s (originally known as Dixon’s Row). Houses for the engine drivers were built in High Street in the early 1880s. As a result of the new population in this area in the nineteenth century, facilities, including St Peter’s church, now the Northbourne Centre, and the Railway Arms pub, now The Sprat, were built in Northbourne in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In the late-nineteenth century shops were built for the Northbourne residents – a shop still exists with the name Dales on it. This was originally a draper’s built in 1890 but is now the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Although many of the houses are still standing and the conservation order has meant that householders are not allowed to make changes to the exterior of their homes that would be unsympathetic to the original character, unfortunately pre-conservation order changes to the original houses, and the new houses and flats which have been built among the original buildings, have spoilt the character of Northbourne.

The Sprat The Sprat on Hagbourne Road dates from 1880. It was originally called the Railway Arms and renamed The Sprat because the railway workers were said to cook sprats on the pub fire. The pub sign is of a chimney sweep, for which ‘sprat’ was a slang term. Unfortunately it is now a slightly run-down looking pub whose future is uncertain.

The Sprat, 24 Hagbourne Road; Tel: 01235 812224

Northbourne Centre On the corner of High Street and Church Street is the Northbourne Centre, originally St Peter’s church. Up to 1890 the people of Northbourne had had to walk to East Hagbourne to attend church and it was felt they needed their own church. St Peter’s was funded by donations from the GWR shareholders. It was designed and built by Robert Rich in 1890, using stone from East Hagbourne. The exterior was designed to look like the older churches of the nearby villages, but it was built cheaply and as a result the interior has no decorative features. The building was also prone to damp and structural problems. The tower was added in 1897, again funded by the GWR shareholders, after a gale

The Sprat

Northbourne Centre

Citizens Advice Bureau, originally Dales

ormerly Dales, High

Street

105–107 Broadway


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damaged the temporary roof on this part of the church. By the 1970s a decision had been made to build a larger more central church and by then the condition of the Northbourne building was so bad that it was decided to declare it redundant as a church and a new St Peter’s was built in Newlands Avenue. The original St Peter’s was deconsecrated and became the Northbourne Centre in 1976. It is now owned by the Didcot Arts and Community Association and hired out for artistic events and for local groups to hold their meetings in. The exterior is still that of a church and it retains its original dramatic appearance. Look out for the tall fir tree in the grounds. It came from Lord Wantage’s Lockinge Estate and was planted to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Northbourne Centre, Church Street; Tel: 01235 812516

STATION ROAD

The group of GWR houses on Station Road were built in 1904, which was relatively late considering that the railway had been in existence in Didcot since the 1840s. The GWR, who had them built for the employees, wanted the houses to look uniform and modern (they were among the first houses in Didcot to have gas lighting). The size and position of the houses related to the status of the railway employee. The station master had the largest house nearest to the station. The other large detached houses were occupied by the track inspector, the locomotive foreman and the officials of the telegraph, telephone and signalling sections. The larger of the terraced houses were for the engine drivers and the other terraced houses were for the workers of lower ranks. The different groups of houses have distinctive characteristics. The small terraced houses at the top of Station Road have a small stair window above the porch and multi-paned windows on the front. These houses share a porch. The engine drivers’ terraced houses are in blocks of four instead of six and each house has its own porch, which is closed on the sides with small windows. The porches of the detached houses are larger and more elaborate. Unlike many other parts of Didcot, where there is a mixture of architectural styles in a small area, all the houses on Station Road were built with the same dark red and blue bricks, and the same decorative brickwork. The road has a unique character and to walk along this road between the station and the shopping area is surprisingly pleasant.

Detached house, Station Road

Larger terraced house – originally for engine drivers

Smaller terraced houses, Station Road

MOWBRAY FIELDS AND MILLENNIUM WOOD

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Spiralling Steam (2004), a sculpture near Mowbray Fields by Rob Woods


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MOWBRAY FIELDS

Mowbray Fields Nature Reserve is one of Didcot’s best-kept secrets. It is located on the southern edge of the town just off Queensway, but you will feel like you are a million miles away from the streets of Didcot once you enter it. It was formed as a nature reserve in 2000 and is run by South Oxfordshire District Council and the Earth Trust (who also manages Little Wittenham Nature Reserve, see pages 40–42). It was developed around a fill pond, which was built to prevent East Hagbourne from flooding if the Hagbourne Brook overflowed. The nature reserve has a variety of natural habitats, including woodland, a marsh, a stream and grasslands. A raised causeway and a viewing platform allow you to see these areas close up. In the summer there is a wildflower meadow which attracts many varieties of butterflies, insects and birds. In June common spotted and southern marsh orchids flower in the reserve. You can also see the now common red kites flying over and swooping into the nearby fields all the year round. In the winter you may see snipe in the pond area. There are also the remains of the disused Didcot to Southampton railway line on an embankment that is now the Sustrans Route 44 cycle path. Along the cycle path are wooden sculptures and benches, which are based on the themes of the landscape and local history, designed by the students of Rycotewood Furniture Centre (at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College). (See Spiralling Steam on page 27.) Views to the south from here show how close to the countryside Didcot is, as there is virtually nothing but a few small villages between here and the Berkshire Downs.

Mowbray Fields, Mowbray Road (off Queensway) Mowbray Fields is run by the Earth Trust. Its website gives information of walks and events: www.earthtrust.org.uk/Places/Communitymeadows/MowbrayFields

Viewing platform in the fill pond

Disused railway embankment, now a cycle path

Bridge over Hagbourne Brook

Wildflower meadow


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MILLENNIUM WOOD

Millennium Wood is located at what is known as the Hagbourne Triangle, between Didcot and East Hagbourne, south of the St Birinus Playing Field. Enter it via Royal Berkshire Court or New Road; there are footpaths to the west and the south of the wood. At each of the three entrances (two from the western footpath and one from the footpath just off New Road in East Hagbourne) there is a map showing the layout of the wood and where the different planting is located. As you enter the wood through the western entrances the path will take you to a picturesque stone circle. The wood, as the name suggests, was planted in 2000 and is starting to look like an established wood. Although it is only 3.6 hectares (8.9 acres), there are several pathways within the wood, which, as you walk through it, makes it feel bigger than it is. It has been planted with native species of trees and shrubs, including ash, oak, willow, rowan, silver birch, maple, hazel, elderberry and holly. Interestingly, the trees have been planted in rows and, in some parts of the wood, by species, which gives it an unnaturally uniform appearance. Millennium Wood is also a haven for wildlife, including grey squirrels, foxes, badgers and hedgehogs. There have also been sightings of muntjac deer. An ephemeral pond within the wood, which by its nature is dry for part of the year and usually fills with water in the spring, is a good breeding place for frogs.

From Millennium Wood you can continue south following the footpath to East Hagbourne or turn right where the footpath forms a crossroads and follow the path to Mowbray Fields.

Millennium Wood, off Royal Berkshire Court and New Road, East Hagbourne Buses: 94, 95

Ephemeral pond

Stone circle

LADYGROVE LAKES AND LOOP

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The Ladygrove estate is a large housing estate of approximately 3000 houses located north of the railway line. It was built between 1987 and 2003 on former marshland, and to avoid the inevitable problems of flooding, the developers created two lakes to provide drainage. These lakes and the surrounding park area, with outdoor sports facilities and cycle routes, have created an unlikely but attractive place to exercise and relax.

Moor Ditch

Ladygrove Lake

LADYGROVE LAKES AND LOOP

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LADYGROVE LAKES

The lakes themselves aren’t very big (it only takes 10 minutes to walk around them at a gentle walking pace), but they are full of fish, including barbel, bream, carp, goldfish, gudgeon, perch, roach, rudd and tench. There are also amphibians and invertebrates. Various breeds of wild duck live on the lakes. Canada geese and swans also reside there when the water levels are high enough. The lakes are popular with anglers and the Environment Agency holds coaching sessions for potential anglers on the lakes from time to time. To fish on these lakes you must by law have a fishing permit and licence which you can get from Acorn Angling (133 Brasenose Road; Tel: 01235 816132) or Didcot Angling Centre

(36 Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 817005) . You can walk around both lakes via footpaths and there is a boardwalk across the eastern lake, which acts as a habitat for the amphibians and invertebrates, to protect them from being eaten by the fish in the lakes. The two mounds either side of the lakes offer views of the lakes, the football ground and the cooling towers. On the mound to the south of the lakes a Sarsen stone from the Temple Estate near Marlborough has been erected (the Temple Estate is said to have been used by the Knights Templar). A miniature labyrinth pathway, based on the ancient labyrinth symbol, has also been created. The idea is to follow the pathway to the centre and back out again and doing this is said to be meditative. On a snowy winter’s day the mounds are popular with children on sledges as they are the only hills in Didcot.

LADYGROVE LOOP

The Ladygrove Loop is a 4 km (2.5 mile), mainly pedestrianised, paved pathway and cycle path which starts just after the Cow Lane bridge, runs alongside the railway line to the west, loops back along by the lakes and continues through the east of Ladygrove onto the Abingdon Road and follows the railway line back to the start (or vice versa). It even has exercise stations with gym equipment at two points along the route and distance markers every 500 m (0.31 miles) so you can keep a record of the distance you have walked, run or cycled. The area around the start of the Loop also has a football pitch, tennis courts and a skate park, as well as the Loop Meadow Stadium and Willowbrook Leisure Centre on Bowmont Water (off Avon Way) being nearby; so fitness is a high priority with the council for Ladygrove residents and visitors and it seems to want to keep Didcot’s status as the place with the longest healthy-life expectancy! The Loop is a pleasant place to jog or stroll while listening to the birds singing in the trees and bushes and looking out for the rabbits that appear. There are benches along the route and an area with picnic tables for those who want to rest. The only things to spoil this idyll are the huge electricity pylons with the power lines buzzing above, which cross the estate. Although the route of the Ladygrove Loop is pretty obvious, there aren’t many visible street names, so if you aren’t sure which way to go, follow the signs to the lakes and this will take you back to the centre of Ladygrove. From the lakes follow the footpath by the eastern lake south and this will take you back to the Cow Lane bridge and Station Road.

At the north-western edge of Ladygrove the attractive Moor Ditch will appear. From here you can walk under the road bridge and follow the footpath to Long Wittenham, walking beside the ditch for most of the way.

Sarsen stone

Labyrinth pathway

Exercise station

Skate park

Pylons

CORNERSTONE ARTS CENTRE

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The completion of the Cornerstone Arts Centre in 2008 marked the end of the first phase of the rejuvenation of Didcot’s town centre, which began with the opening of the Orchard Centre in 2004. Up to this time any theatrical or musical events were held in the dated Civic Hall, away from the centre of the town, and consisted of amateur productions and the odd tribute band and almost-forgotten groups from the 1960s and ’70s (the Civic Hall does still host these events). Since the opening of the Cornerstone, comedians, speakers and musicians of all genres have performed and many dance and theatrical productions have been staged here, as well as local amateur dance shows and school concerts.

The Cornerstone is a striking modern building. The exterior is clad in silver aluminium with full-length windows surrounded by yellow and orange panels. On the Market Place side a ‘window wall’ displays various art and craftwork for passers-by to look at. The interior reflects the exterior, with red, green and yellow panels on the walls and ceiling and a large open-plan foyer, café and gallery area. There is a lift to each of the floors and state-of-the-art toilets on each floor.

In the auditorium the stage is a reasonable size and versatile for productions ranging from small intimate acts


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to large dance performances. Some of the well- known names to have performed here include Michael McIntyre, Jack Dee, Jo Brand, Jason Manford, Steven Berkoff, Ralph McTell, Hazel O’Connor, the London Community Gospel Choir, Juan Martin and Clare Teal. Many of Britain’s most popular comedians use this venue as a place to test out their material before going on a national tour. (Tickets for these top names sell out immediately, as they are very reasonably priced and there is an intimacy in this small auditorium of 236 seats which can’t be found in larger theatres.) Most productions are for one night only, with ticket prices ranging from £7 to £17.50. If you are tall, however, be warned that the seats in the auditorium are very close together and offer very little leg room.

On the top floor there is a purpose-built dance studio and a variety of dance classes for children and adults is on offer, including ballet, tap, street and flamenco. Acting and drawing classes are also held in the centre, plus various art and craft activities and extra activities for children during school holidays. The centre also regularly runs musical events for young children called ‘Cushion Concerts for Little Ones’, offering a fun introduction to classical and other genres of music.

The small art gallery on the ground floor holds art and photography exhibitions which change monthly. Entry to the gallery is free and many of the exhibits are available to buy.

The café, also on the ground floor, sells snacks and serves pre-theatre meals made using locally-sourced ingredients. You can take drinks into the auditorium in plastic cups, but be warned that the taste of the relatively expensive beer or wine is compromised. Didcot desperately needs an alternative to the depressing town pubs and the café is ideally located to be a place for people to meet friends and have a drink, but unfortunately the limited seating and the chilly open-plan area lacks intimacy. Free live music is held in the café area on one Friday evening each month, plus open-mic nights and scientific talks are also held monthly.

An annual beer festival is held over one weekend in the summer, giving people the opportunity to taste different beers from small breweries. This event is very popular, especially if the weather is good, as the seating area outside the arts centre is a good place to people watch. There is also live music on each evening of the beer festival.

Café opening hours: 9 am–9.30 pm (Tuesday to Saturday) and 10 am–4 pm (Sunday). It stays open later on days when there are evening performances.

Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road; Tel: 01235 515144; www.cornerstone-arts.org (Closed on Monday.)

The stage in the auditorium

Art gallery

Café

Live music at the beer festival

http://www.cornerstone-arts.org/

DIDCOT RAILWAY CENTRE

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Didcot Railway Centre is the home of the Great Western Society and is popular with many visitors from other parts of Britain and abroad, who may have no other reason to visit Didcot. It is conveniently located behind the railway station, a little way from the centre of Didcot. Brunel’s Great Western Railway (GWR), also affectionately known as ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’, linked London with the west and south-west of England and Wales. It existed from 1835 to 1947, when the railways were nationalised, and the railway centre houses a collection of locomotives, coaches, wagons, platforms, signalling equipment and railway lines from this era. The Great Western Society was founded in 1961 after four schoolboys launched a campaign in Railway Magazine to buy one of the former GWR locomotives which was not listed for preservation. The boys’ appeal for support led to the setting up of the Great Western Society in 1962, and the Society was offered the use of the engine shed at Didcot, which during the time of the GWR was where the locomotives were made ready. There is now a collection of over 30 locomotives, over 40 coaches and over 50 wagons from the age of steam, diesel and even gas turbine on the 9 hectare (22 acre) site. The Society is now a registered charity run by volunteers. It notes that it is not attempting to restore the equipment to ‘glistening museum standard’ but to ‘gleaming workaday’. The railway centre is not laid out chronologically and as a result it shows aspects of the era of the Great Western Railway rather than an accurate time-line.


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Opposite the ticket office where you enter the railway centre is Eynsham platform, an example of a Second World War-era platform, including a typical branch-line waiting room, which has been reconstructed using sections from Eynsham station. On ‘running days’ catch the train which runs the length of the centre (0.8 km (half a mile) in total) from here to ‘Oxford Road’ station.

From Eynsham platform head north down the tracks to the main area of the railway centre. On the right is the travelling post office exchange. On ‘enhanced running days’ there is a demonstration of the apparatus showing how the post bag was delivered into the train as it passed through. A net was swung out of the train and the postal workers on the train would collect the bags. This revolutionised the postal service, as the trains travelling at over 112 kph (70 mph) could collect the post without having to slow down or stop and the post could be sorted en route.

On the left there is the large coal stage structure, which is where the locomotives were loaded with coal and water. There is a large water tank on top of the building and the large pipes would feed the water to cranes. On ‘running days’ the locomotives are coaled from tubs which are loaded at the coal stage.

After this, on the left in two railway carriages, is the science, learning and railways centre. This is an educational and fun area for children and teenagers, which has activities and interactive exhibits related to different aspects of the railway. There are train sets for younger children to play with.

Near the learning centre is the entrance to an underground Second World War air-raid shelter, with a few period items and a recording of speeches and music from the time, to recreate what a real air raid would have been like. From here you will arrive at the shop, café and toilets. This area has been designed to look like a GWR main-line platform. The book shop has a good selection of Thomas the Tank Engine and railway souvenirs and postcards, books and DVDs on railways and GWR collectables.

Past the café is the Great Western Trust Museum, which displays a miscellany of artifacts from the GWR, including locomotive nameplates, posters, glass and silverware from dining cars, record books, a platform ticket machine and a full-scale model of a station master’s office.

Eynsham platform

Interactive exhibit in the science, learning and railways centre

Air-raid shelter

Exhibits in the museum

Travelling post office exchange

Coal stage


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Continue down the path and you will arrive at the engine shed. This shed retains many of the features of the original 1932 shed. There are four tracks within the shed. Above the tracks are smoke hoods, which carried the locomotive smoke out through wooden chimneys on the roof. There are several restored locomotives on display. The shed can be made to look like a steam-era main-line station and is often used by various film and TV companies as a location (see page 57 for a list).

To the left of the engine shed, as you head north, is another platform, Didcot Halt, which has been recreated using mainly authentic items from other places to look like a typical GWR station. This is the station for the branch-line train which runs from here to the transfer shed on ‘running days’.

Opposite Didcot Halt is the 21 m (70 feet) turntable. It is operated by hand to change the direction of travel of the locomotives. It is in operation on ‘running days’. Near here is a picnic area.

Continuing north from here, on the left is the Radstock signal box and level crossing. The signal box has been restored to 1930s condition. Further down is the Frome Mineral Junction signal cabin which has been rebuilt to 1870s condition. This cabin shows how the equipment would have been used during the broad-gauge era.

Just after the Radstock signal box is the carriage shed, which houses the 40-plus coaches, including a first-class restaurant car with kitchen and a VIP special saloon used by, among others, the Queen Mother and Winston Churchill. Some carriages are still awaiting restoration. Most must be viewed through the window of the carriage as it is not possible to enter inside the carriages without a member of the Society in attendance. However, it is worth asking a member to let you into one as they will often give you interesting information about it.

Beyond the carriage shed is a section of broad-gauge railway, which has been recreated using materials from elsewhere. Here it has been laid as a complex mixed-gauge track which can carry both broad- and standard-gauge trains. At the centre there is a replica of a locomotive designed for the broad-gauge railway, Fire Fly (the original could haul 81,284 kg (80 tons) at a speed of 97 kph (60 mph)), along with a replica of a third-class open-top coach. This runs on ‘enhanced running days’.

Engine shed

Didcot Halt

Turntable

Radstock signal box and level crossing

Restaurant car

Broad-gauge railway at Frome Mineral Junction


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Just after the carriage shed is Oxford Road station, which is the final stop on the main line.

The last building in the railway centre is the transfer shed, at the end of the branch line. The London to Bristol section of the GWR was engineered by Brunel with a broad gauge of 2.13 m (7 feet) between the rails to increase speed and comfort. However, as the railway network expanded there were problems with transhipping goods from the broad-gauge line to the standard-gauge lines used elsewhere. Didcot transfer shed (originally located in what is now the station car park) was built in the 1850s to enable this transhipping. There is a standard-gauge line on one side of the platform and a broad-gauge line on the other side. Goods were manually transferred from trains of one gauge to trains of another gauge. Broad gauge was discontinued in 1892. The shed is often used as a steam-age Paddington Station in film and TV productions.

Entrance to the railway centre is via the underpass from Didcot Parkway station. There are some steps leading to it. It is mainly open on weekends and on weekdays during school holidays from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm (4.30 pm on ‘running days’). On ‘running days’, the centre runs rides in coaches from the 1930s behind steam locomotives on both the main and branch lines. There is also a demonstration of the turntable and guided tours are given. On ‘enhanced running days’ (approximately 13 per year) the centre also runs trips on Fire Fly, plus there are demonstrations of the travelling post office and the signal boxes. On occasional days there is a ‘day out with Thomas’ which is aimed at young children who are fans of the Thomas the Tank Engine stories by Revd W. Awdry. Families can ride in coaches from the 1930s pulled by Thomas and other characters from the stories. An actor plays the Fat Controller and there are entertainers, such as magicians and a Punch and Judy show.

Admission prices are dependent on what facilities are open. A normal non-running day ticket costs £5 adults (£4 children); on running and enhanced running days tickets cost £8–£9 adults (£7–£8 children); on days out with Thomas tickets cost £10 adults (£8.50 children).

Didcot Railway Centre; Tel: 01235 817200; Website: www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk

Transfer shed

Fire Fly

DIDCOT POWER STATIONS

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The Didcot Power Stations are synonymous with Didcot, even though they technically aren’t in Didcot (they are just outside the parish on the outskirts of the genteel Sutton Courtenay; not surprisingly, the inhabitants of Sutton Courtenay were against the building of the original Power Station in the early 1960s). The site comprises of two power stations, Didcot A (now closed) and Didcot B, of which there are six cooling towers and a 199 m (650 feet) chimney (one of the tallest structures in the United Kingdom) which is lit up by distinctive red lights at night. Up to its closure Didcot A also had its own branch-line railway for the transportation of coal. The Power Stations are currently owned by RWE npower. The perimeter of the site is surrounded by high-security fencing and entrance into the grounds is restricted.

The cooling towers and chimney can be seen from miles away and are equally loved and hated: in 2003 readers of a magazine concerned with rural interests, Country Life, voted the Power Stations Britain’s third worst eyesore, after wind farms and Birmingham New Street station, but those who are fond of them have nicknamed them ‘the Cathedral of the Vale’. Out of reverence for the Power Stations, the poet, Kit Wright, wrote ‘Ode to Didcot Power Station’ in 2005 in the style of the romantic ‘ode to’ poems, using language such as ‘All-belching amphorae’ and ‘thy sacrificial breathing’.

From Round Hill, Little Wittenham


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Didcot A was built between 1964 and 1971. It was designed by the architect Frederick Gibberd, who also designed Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The arrangement of the two groups of three cooling towers, half a mile apart on a north-west/south-east diagonal, was based on an idea by the sculptor Henry Moore to reduce visual massing. The power station was tri-fuel fired, burning coal, gas and biomass. It began production in 1970 and up to its closure in 2013 produced enough electricity for two million people.

Didcot B is powered by natural gas, using combined-cycle gas turbines, and has only been in operation since 1997. It produces enough electricity for one million people. At the time of writing RWE npower are looking into the possibility of offering organised educational visits around Didcot B Power Station for educational institutions.

Climate campaigners, such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, have complained about the polluting effects of the emissions from the Power Stations. In October 2009 a group of climate-change activists chained themselves to coal conveyor belts and pitched tents on the Didcot A chimney, with the aim of shutting down the station in protest against RWE npower plans to build up to 30 new coal-fired power stations in Europe. The protest ended after two days, but made national news. In response to the various climate campaigners’ complaints, RWE npower insists that there are strict controls to ensure that the emission of pollutants is kept to a minimum. However, despite these reassurances, Didcot A was compelled to close in 2013 as it was too expensive to comply with the European Parliament Large Combustion Plant Directive, regarding emission of pollutants. Discussions are being made about whether to demolish the cooling towers or preserve them as listed buildings.

In an effort to show RWE npower’s commitment to protecting the environment, there is an unlikely nature reserve, hidden behind metal gates and a tall fence on land west of the Didcot A site. It comprises of ponds (one which is a successful breeding place for the protected great crested newt and water vole), woodland, meadows and hedgerows, with a field-study centre. The reserve has been there since 1969, when the Didcot A site was built. The educational centre, which opened in 2002, is run by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust in partnership with RWE npower to educate people about environmental issues. The Trust runs educational programmes and tours; all visits must be pre-booked through the Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre. (The centre is only open to the general public on certain advertised days.)

Didcot B Power Station, Didcot; Tel: 01235 512291; Website: www.education.npower.com Buses: X2, 32, X32, 36

Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre, Sutton Courtenay Lane, Sutton Courtenay; Tel: 01235 862024; Website: www.bbowt.org.uk/content.asp?did=24693 Bus: 32

See the circular walk via Sutton Courtenay and Appleford on page 50 which gives you a 360° view of the Power Stations.

Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre

Sunset over Didcot A before its closure

The cooling towers

http://www.bbowt.org.uk/content.asp?did=24693

LITTLE WITTENHAM NATURE RESERVE

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Castle Hill


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The nature reserve at Little Wittenham is one of south Oxfordshire’s most popular visitor spots. It is a designated Special Area of Conservation in the Berkshire Downs; as well as two famous tree-topped chalk hills of historical significance, it contains three woods, an arboretum and a wetland reserve. It is only 9 km (5.6 miles) north-east of Didcot by road, and it is also possible to walk there by taking the public footpath through Ladygrove Farm and following the footpaths to Hill Farm (allow 1½ hours each way). The nature reserve is run by the Earth Trust, which also runs Mowbray Fields (see page 28), and it organises workshops on country crafts such as hedge laying, leather working and woodcraft, guided walks and school-holiday activities for children on the nature reserve. At the end of March and beginning of April there are popular lambing weekends at Hill Farm.

The main draw to the nature reserve is the Sinodun Hills. The two hills are named Castle Hill and Round Hill, but they have also been nicknamed the ‘Berkshire Bubs’ and ‘Mother Dunch’s Buttocks’, after a seventeenth-century lady of the manor. The hills are also often erroneously referred to as the Wittenham Clumps, but the Clumps are in fact the beech trees on the top of the two hills, which give the hills a distinctive appearance and can be seen from miles away. The trees date back to the eighteenth century, but sadly many of the original ones are dead or dying due to several summers with low rainfall. To ensure there are trees on the hills in the future, the Earth Trust is now planting drought-tolerant hornbeam and lime trees to replace the beech trees.

Both hills have evidence of settlements dating from the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods. Castle Hill (on the right as you approach the Clumps from the car park) was a hill fort and Iron Age ramparts and ditches are still evident. Throughout the years rumours have developed about Iron Age human sacrifices on this hill, but there is no evidence to support these rumours. Round Hill is to the left of Castle Hill, at the top of a wildflower meadow. It featured in a 2004 episode of the Channel 4 archaeological programme Time Team, in which they discovered evidence of an Iron Age settlement and remains of a Roman house. This hill has some of the best views of south Oxfordshire, namely the Didcot Power Stations, looking small and blending into the surrounding countryside, Day’s Lock on the River Thames at Little Wittenham and Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames. One kilometre (about half a mile) south-east of the Clumps is the Brightwell Barrow, a tree-topped mound which marks an Iron Age burial site.

Little Wittenham and Day’s Lock from Round Hill

Didcot Power Stations


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The beauty and the ancient history of the Clumps have inspired many artists and writers. In the 1840s a local poet, Joseph Tubb, carved a poem into the trunk of a beech tree on the eastern side of Castle Hill, which became known as the poem tree. The tree fell in 2012 and its remains have been left as a natural habitat. Parts of the poem, which is now illegible, are on display in the Earth Trust visitors’ centre. In 1965 the poem was traced while it was still legible.

The British landscape artist Paul Nash (1889–1946) was also inspired by Wittenham Clumps and painted many landscapes of the area. Some of these can viewed on the ‘Paul Nash and the Wittenham Clumps’ website: www.nashclumps.org.

The three woods, Neptune Wood and Paradise Wood located north-west of the hills, and Little Wittenham Wood located to the north-east are diverse, each having its own identity. Neptune Wood was created in 2005 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and has been planted with over 10,000 oak trees as a representation of the oak trees used to build the ships that fought in the battle. Paradise Wood has been planted with hardwood species, including ash, oak and walnut trees, and the wood is used for forestry research. Little Wittenham Wood is a wildlife area with butterflies, birds, otters and kingfishers. The protected great crested newt breeds in the ponds on the nature reserve and lives in the wood and in the summer there are damselflies and dragonflies. The Earth Trust also owns a two-mile stretch of land along the River Thames where it is creating a wetland reserve.

Almost opposite the Wittenham Clumps car park is the Earth Trust Centre at Hill Farm, an educational centre housing the ‘Timescape Exhibition’, which educates children about the archaeology and ecology of the landscape and includes exhibits found in the Time Team excavation. Entry to the centre needs to be booked beforehand. To the west of the Earth Trust Centre is Broad Arboretum, which contains every species of tree and shrub native to Oxfordshire. There are carved wooden animals on display and a picnic area.

From Round Hill you can walk down to Little Wittenham, where there is St Peter’s Church. The church has memorials to the Dunch family (some of whom were MPs for Wallingford), including a seventeenth-century alabaster memorial to Sir William Dunch (1578–1611) and his wife, Lady Mary (who is believed to be the ‘Mother Dunch’ of ‘Mother Dunch’s Buttocks’ fame).

As up the hill with labr’ing steps we tread Where the twin Clumps their sheltering

branches spread The summit gain’d at ease reclining lay And all around the wide spread scene survey Point out each object and instructive tell The various changes that the land befel. Where the low bank the country wide

surrounds That ancient earthwork form’d old Murcia’s

bounds. In misty distance see the barrow heave There lies forgotten lonely Culchelms grave. Around this hill the ruthless Danes intrenched And these fair plains with gory slaughter

drench’d While at our feet where stands that stately

tower In days gone by uprose the Roman power And yonder, there where Thames smooth

waters glide In later days appeared monastic pride. Within that field where lies the grazing herd Huge walls were found, some coffins disinter’d Such is the course of time, the wreck which

fate And awful doom award the earthly great.

The Poem Tree

St Peter’s Church, Little Wittenham


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From here cross the River Thames at Little Wittenham Bridge (famous for the World Pooh Sticks Championships in March), with the lock-keeper’s house beside it, and walk along the section of the Thames Path by Day’s Lock and the weir.

It is a short walk from Little Wittenham to Dorchester-on-Thames and Dorchester Abbey (a former Norman abbey, now officially named the Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul) is worth a visit. The site has a religious history dating back to the seventh century when St Birinus built a cathedral there. He was buried there in 650 and in 1225 his tomb was opened to the public and it became a place of pilgrimage. A Norman church was built on the same site in the twelfth century, but in the sixteenth century the shrine was destroyed and the relics were lost. Nowadays concerts, exhibitions and other cultural events are often held in the Abbey. It also has a popular tea room in the pretty Abbey Guest House (a pre-Dissolution monastic building) next to the Abbey.

Earth Trust Centre, Little Wittenham; Tel: 01865 407792; Website: www.earthtrust.org.uk Bus: 97 (to Long Wittenham) Dorchester Abbey, High Street, Dorchester-on-Thames; Website: www.dorchester-abbey.org.uk

Dorchester Abbey

Little Wittenham weir

Day’s Lock with Round Hill in the background

MILTON MANOR HOUSE

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MILTON MANOR HOUSE

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MILTON MANOR HOUSE

Milton Manor House is an impressive three-storey red-brick house (now a grade 1 listed building) in the village of Milton, located just off the A34, 5.8 km (3.5 miles) from Didcot. The house was built on former monastic land in the mid-seventeenth century for the Calton family. In 1764 the house was bought by the lacemaker to King George III, Bryant Barrett, who as a Catholic was not allowed to purchase property in his name, so the house was bought in the name of his brother, who was not a Catholic. Barrett married into the Eyston family, a prominent Catholic family from East Hendred, and their descendants still live in the house. The current owner is Anthony Mockler, a military historian.

Barrett Georgianised the house, remodelling many of the rooms, adding outbuildings and wings, in which he created a Roman Catholic chapel and a library. Private Catholic chapels could only be built by special permission from the King on the understanding it was not called a chapel and the family practised their faith in secret. The chapel is therefore notably plain on the exterior, while the interior is decorated in Gothic style, including stained glass windows. The chapel was dedicated in the early 1770s by Bishop Richard Challoner; some of Challoner's vestments (which show Barrett’s lacemaking skills), altar cards and his chalice are in the chapel and are still used for Mass.

The library has Gothic windows and bookcases and there is a collection of late-eighteenth- and nineteenth-century porcelain on display. The Barrett Family by Joseph Highmore, a portrait of Barrett with his wife and brother-in-law, hangs over the fireplace.

The other rooms in the house are less impressive than the chapel and library but it is worth looking out for features such as the oak and laurel-wreath pattern on the ceiling of the drawing room and the eighteenth-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper in one of the bedrooms (unfortunately now a bit faded).

18th-century Chinese wallpaper in a bedroom

Living room

Library

The Barrett Family by Joseph Highmore (Bryant Barrett is in the centre)

The chapel

Bishop Challoner's

vestments

17th-century Flemish stained glass in the chapel

MILTON MANOR HOUSE

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The extensive grounds were laid out by Barrett in the eighteenth century. They include two lakes, a walled garden (which has apple and pear trees and is pleasant to walk around, despite the broken disused greenhouses at the end of the garden), a ‘temple’ and woodland walks. There are stables with ponies, a donkey, a llama and a hen and chicks. Pony rides around the grounds are offered. The pleasant tearoom in the old kitchens houses the late Marjorie Mockler’s (Anthony Mockler’s mother) teapot collection. The tearoom also has postcards, a guide to the house and a selection of Anthony Mockler’s books on sale. The delicious cakes are made by the Women’s Institute.

Up to the 1920s a large part of the house’s income came from the farmland that was part of the estate. However, in the 1920s half of the farmland was compulsory purchased by the War Office for the Central Ordnance Depot (Didcot Power Stations and Milton Park business estate now stand on the land). The A34 runs through the remaining land. The house was occupied by the RAF during the Second World War and it needed restoring after the war. Marjorie Mockler undertook the post-war restoration and she made the decision to open the house to the public. Despite Marjorie’s efforts, the significant loss of income from the former estate has resulted in the house looking slightly run-down in places.

The pub next door to the manor house is called the Admiral Benbow, named after a man who had connections with the village. His daughter, Catherine, married into the Calton family in 1709 and lived in Milton and it is believed that the Admiral lived there in the 1690s. In 1697 he met with Tsar Peter the Great to discuss naval shipbuilding and from this a legend has grown that the Tsar stayed in the manor house. Another legend says that William of Orange stayed in the manor house in 1688. There is no evidence to support either legend. St Blaise Church, the village parish church, which is next door to Milton Manor House, has a silver alms dish which is engraved with Admiral Benbow's coat of arms. It was given to the church by Catherine Calton.

The house has limited opening to the public throughout the year (spring and summer only): bank holiday weekends, the last two weeks of May and the last two weeks of August. Guided tours are given around the house at 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm. Entrance to the house and grounds costs £7.50 adults (£2.50 children under 14). Entrance to the grounds only costs £4.00 adults (£1.00 children under 14). There is free parking in the grounds.

Milton Manor House, Milton; Tel: 01235 831287 Buses: 32, 32B, X2 (Sundays) By car: from the Milton interchange, take the exit for Milton Park, then take the first turning on the left, signposted ‘Milton Village’. Once you enter the village take the second turning on the left (there is a signpost to Milton Manor House). The house is at the end of the road.

A llama in front of the stables

Teapot collection in the tearoom

The boating lake

The ‘temple’

PENDON MUSEUM

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PENDON MUSEUM

Roye England, an Australian who came to England in 1925, founded Pendon Museum in 1954 with the aim of recreating the rural England of the 1920s and ’30s in miniature. The museum, located in Long Wittenham, has three main scale-model scenes depicting places on the route of the Great Western Railway in the inter-war years. As well as recording the buildings, England also recorded the trains, and as a result the museum has running models of exact miniature replicas of the GWR locomotives, carriages and wagons from that period, and they even run to timetables based on ones from the time. On the ground floor are the Madder Valley Railway and the Dartmoor Scene. The Madder Valley Railway was built solely by modeller John Ahern in the 1930s and it is considered a pioneering model, as it is the first to show a railway in a developed landscape. The railway is fragile and is only run a few times a year. The Dartmoor Scene includes a model of a timber viaduct designed by Brunel.

Upstairs is the Vale Scene, showing Pendon Parva, which is a fictional representation of the Vale of the White Horse in the 1930s, including the type of houses, cottages, farms, meadows and lanes from that period. It is not geographically accurate, but the scale models are based on real buildings in the area (including The Nook from Manor Road, Didcot (see page 21), which is labelled ‘Napper’s Row’ on the scene). The attention to detail is impressive, including washing on a line, vegetables growing in a garden and items inside the buildings which show up when the buildings are lit from inside.

The museum is run by knowledgeable volunteers, who give visitors information about the exhibits.

There is a small café and a shop selling souvenirs, postcards, books and models.

Opening hours: Saturday and Sunday 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm; bank holiday weekends 11 am to 5.30 pm; occasional Wednesdays 11 am to 5.30 pm. Entrance costs £7 adults (£5 children).

Pendon Museum, Long Wittenham; Tel: 01865 408143; Website: www.pendonmuseum.com Bus: 97

Madder Valley Railway

Vale Scene

Building based on The Nook, Didcot, in the Vale Scene

WALKS

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WALKS

For details of pubs and restaurants mentioned see pages 76–80.

Didcot to East Hagbourne via Mowbray Fields and Millennium Wood circular walk Distance: 6 km (3.75 miles) Time: Allow 1½ hours Level of difficulty: Easy

Starting from Didcot Parkway station cross the road and turn right. Take the first turning on the left into Haydon Road.

At the end of Haydon Road turn right into Broadway and then take the first turning on the left into Newlands Avenue.

At the end of Newlands Avenue turn left into Queensway. Take the second turning on the right into Mowbray Road.

At the end of Mowbray Road enter Mowbray Fields Nature Reserve (see page 28). Take the path that goes to the left and then turn right onto the Sustrans Route 44 cycle path. Follow this path until you pass a cemetery below you on the left. Exit the path by the slip path that leads onto Main Road below. Walk along this road ensuring that the entrance to the cemetery is on your left and you will enter East Hagbourne. Take care along this bit of road, as there is no footpath.

Once you enter the village, there are lots of old cottages and farmhouses to admire along Main Road. At the crossroads with Upper Cross, a fifteenth-century stone cross, turn right into Church Close. At the end of the close is St Andrew’s Church, parts of which date back to the twelfth century.

From the church return to Main Road. On the left is the Fleur de Lys pub, which serves food. From here continue along the road, passing an orchard with chickens in it on the left. At the end of the road turn left into New Road. Just after the village shop and post office follow the public footpath sign to the left and Millennium Wood is on your right (see page 29). Turn right at the end of Millennium Wood and follow the footpath to Royal Berkshire Court. At the end of the road turn right into Mereland Road.

At the end of Mereland Road turn left into Broadway. Take the first turning on the right into Station Road (see page 26). If you need a drink or something to eat there is a pub and several cafés in the area around Broadway and the Orchard Centre (see pages 78–79).

At the end of Station Road follow the road to the left and Didcot Parkway station is ahead on the right.

Eating and drinking The Fleur de Lys, 30 Main Road, East Hagbourne Q

Upper Cross, East Hagbourne

Main Road, East Hagbourne

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Didcot to Long Wittenham (including Pendon Museum) and Appleford Total walking distance: 9 km (5¾ miles) Time: Didcot to Long Wittenham allow

1 hour Long Wittenham to Appleford allow

45 minutes Allow 2 hours for the museum Train journey: 4 to 7 minutes Level of difficulty: Moderately easy

Starting from Didcot Parkway station turn left into Station Road and then turn left into Cow Lane going under the railway bridge. After the bridge turn left following the Ladygrove Loop sign. Continue along the footpath and go under the road bridge with Moor Ditch on your left (following signs for Long Wittenham). From here you get a good view of Wittenham Clumps on your right. Continue walking along the footpath, cross the road (B4016) and continue following the footpath (it will fork to the right away from Moor Ditch), until you reach the outskirts of Long Wittenham. Walk past the entrance to a mobile-home park and Pendon Museum is a little further up the road on the left (see page 47).

When you leave the museum turn left onto High Street. Long Wittenham is a pretty riverside village with houses and cottages dating from as far back as the thirteenth century. Notice Cruck Cottage, the white timber-framed house with a thatched roof, on the left. It is believed to be one of the oldest houses in south Oxfordshire. A bit further up on the right, where High Street meets Didcot Road, is the Village Cross. It is believed that St Birinus brought Christianity to the village when he preached on the steps of the Village Cross in the seventh century and the base of the cross dates from that period. There are two places where you can eat and drink along High Street, the village pub, The Plough, and an Indian restaurant, The Vine and Spice. Just past The Vine and Spice on the opposite side of the road is a footpath which leads to St Mary’s Church. The oldest part of the church dates from the twelfth century.

From the church return to High Street and head back past the Village Cross towards Pendon Museum. After the Village Cross take the first turning on the right, following a footpath sign. Continue along this footpath to Appleford-on-Thames. The route takes you past some picturesque parts of the River Thames. The path goes around a couple of fields, so to ensure you are going the right way keep the river on your right and head directly for the church that is to the right of the Didcot Power Stations. The walk is on flat ground and there are no stiles to climb over, but a lot of it is on uneven rough grass and a bridle path, both of which can be very muddy when wet.

Footpath from Ladygrove to Long Wittenham

Village Cross with Cruck Cottage (the white house with the thatched roof) in background, Long Wittenham

River Thames, Long Wittenham

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As you enter Appleford the Church of St Peter and St Paul will be directly in front of you. As with many of the parish churches in this part of Oxfordshire, parts of it date from the twelfth century. Head towards the station by following the road at the end of Church Street until you come to a bridge that goes over the railway lines. The platform for trains to Didcot and London is down the steps before you cross the bridge (platform 1) and the platform for trains to Oxford is down the steps after you cross the bridge (platform 2). The village pub recently closed and at the time of writing there is nowhere to get food or a drink in Appleford.

Eating and drinking The Plough Inn, High Street, Long Wittenham T The Vine and Spice, High Street, Long Wittenham G

Trains The trains from Appleford to Oxford, Didcot and London are not very frequent so check train times beforehand and ensure you leave plenty of time to walk to Appleford station. There is no ticket machine on the platform so be prepared to buy your ticket on the train. A one-way ticket to Didcot costs £2.70. Trains are run by First Great Western. Tel: 08457 000125; www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk

Didcot to Sutton Courtenay circular walk Distance: 14.5 km (9 miles) Time: Allow 1 hour to walk to the centre of the village and 1¼ hours to return to Didcot Level of difficulty: Easy

Starting from Didcot Parkway station turn right into Station Road. At the roundabout turn right into Basil Hill Road. Go straight over at the next roundabout and walk along the road with the Didcot Power Stations on your right and the railway line on your left. It’s not the prettiest walk, but gives you a close up view of the cooling towers and the entire circular walk takes you around the outskirts of the power stations. Continue along this road until you reach the outskirts of Milton Park business estate. At the first roundabout go straight over into Sutton Courtenay Lane. A little way up on the right you will see the entrance to the Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre, which isn’t usually open to the general public (see page 39). Soon after this you will enter the outskirts of Sutton Courtenay.

Continue walking along the road and at the T-junction turn right into Church Street. On the left is the entrance to The Sutton Courtenay Abbey, set in extensive grounds. This was originally the Rectory House and was built in the late-thirteenth century. It has an

St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Appleford

The Sutton Courtenay Abbey

All Saints’ Church, Sutton Courtenay

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impressive Great Hall with an arched oak roof which dates from the fourteenth century. It is now used as a retreat and conference centre. A bit further along is All Saints’ Church. The main part of the church dates from the fourteenth century. By the door to the tower, which dates from the twelfth century, are crusader crosses which are thought to have been carved by soldiers returning from the crusades. In the graveyard there are the graves of Herbert Henry Asquith (1852–1928), the Liberal politician who was Prime Minister from 1908–1916 and Eric Arthur Blair (1903–1950), who is more famously known as George Orwell, the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. Asquith had the house The Wharf (which is a little further up Church Street on the left) built as his country residence, and lived in that and the adjoining Walton House after he resigned as Prime Minister. Blair doesn’t have a connection with Sutton Courtenay. When he died (in London) there were no local churches with space in their graveyards, so Blair’s friend, David Astor (a newspaper publisher who lived in Sutton Courtenay), arranged for him to be buried in All Saints’ graveyard. Astor’s grave is just behind Blair’s. This graveyard is mentioned in a fondly mocking way by Bill Bryson in Notes from a Small Island (1995).

On the other side of Church Street there is a Norman Hall which dates from c.1192. It was originally part of the manor house complex until the early-fourteenth century. In addition to this building, there are other very attractive houses on this side of the road, including The Wharf, which back onto the River Thames, making this a very desirable (and expensive) place to live. Walk a bit further along following the bend in the road and you will come to Mill House. The former paper mill in the garden was used in the late-seventeenth century to print bank notes for the Bank of England. Almost opposite Mill House is a popular restaurant, The Fish. From The Fish, cross back over the road and follow the footpath down to the river. Ahead you will see Sutton Bridge. Return to the road and turn right and then take the footpath on the right. This leads you to a pleasant walk by the River Thames past Sutton Pools and the weir. You can see the impressive back gardens of the Church Street riverside houses on the opposite bank. Also on the other side of the river is the distinctively pink Manor House. It is on the site of a former Saxon royal palace. Parts of the building date from the eleventh century, but the main parts date from the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Lord Wantage owned it in the late-nineteenth century and rented it to members of the Lindsay family, one of whom was responsible for developing the garden (the gardener Norah Lindsay). Retrace your steps and when you enter the main road again turn right and return to the church. Take the path by the side of the church and turn left into Churchmere Road. Follow the footpath sign to Millennium Common. This footpath takes you to the B4016 just before Appleford. From here follow the road to Appleford (take care as in places there isn’t a footpath). At Appleford you can catch a train back to Didcot (see details in the Didcot to Long Wittenham and Appleford walk on page 50) or you can

Asquith’s grave, All Saints’

Church, Sutton Courtenay

George Orwell’s grave, All Saints’ Church, Sutton Courtenay

Norman Hall, Sutton Courtenay

Church Street, Sutton Courtenay

Sutton Bridge over the Thames, Sutton Courtenay

The Wharf, Church Street,

Sutton Courtenay

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follow the road to the right (into Main Road) and then turn left onto the B4016 (there isn’t a footpath here either). Halfway along this road you will come to a metal gateway and a blue public footpath sign to Didcot on the right. Take this path which will follow Moor Ditch into the north-western corner of the Ladygrove estate. Follow the Ladygrove Loop path keeping the railway line on your right. When you reach Cow Lane turn right, go under the bridge and turn right into Station Road. Didcot Parkway station is a little way along on the right.

Eating and drinking The Fish, 4 Appleford Road, Sutton Courtenay C The Swan, The Green, Sutton Courtenay AA The George & Dragon, 4 Church Street, Sutton Courtenay Z

The garden of the Manor House on Church Street is open one day in June as part of the National Gardens Scheme. Website: www.ngs.org.uk

Blewbury and the Ridgeway circular walk Distance: 10 km (6.25 miles) Time: Allow 2½ hours Level of difficulty: Moderately easy

This walk starts in the village of Blewbury which is on the edge of the Berkshire Downs. To begin the walk, start on London Road (A417) heading west until you reach Westbrook Street on your right. Opposite Westbrook Street there is a bridle path signposted ‘Ridgeway’. Take this bridle path onto the Berkshire Downs towards Churn Farm. The path is narrow and a bit overgrown in a few places. About halfway along the path on the left there is Churn Hill with the barrow of Churn Knob where it is believed the seventh-century missionary St Birinus preached Christianity to King Cynegils of Wessex. (There is an annual pilgrimage from here to Dorchester-on-Thames in July.) From here you get good views of the Didcot Power Stations and Wittenham Clumps in the distance. At the farm turn right, walk past some houses and then turn left onto Boham’s Road. At the end of the road you will see a railway bridge from the disused Didcot to Southampton railway line. Turn left and continue along the path until it bends to the left. At this point continue straight on. Continue along the track to the Ridgeway, following the track up a hill. The Ridgeway is Britain’s oldest road which runs 137 km (85 miles) from Buckinghamshire to Wiltshire. It can’t be accurately dated but it is at least 5000 years old. This short section is on the Oxfordshire-Berkshire border. When you come to a fork in the track take the path on the left and then just after this turn left at the crossroads. Continue on this path passing Woodway stables and the Gallops, where race horses are trained, until you reach the A417 and return to the village.

Churn Hill

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The village is very pretty with many picturesque houses. Worth a visit are the historic thatched cob walls bordering paths near the Church of St Michael and All Angels. The church originates from the Saxon period and it serves afternoon tea on Sundays in the summer months. In the centre of the village there is the Cleve, a pond which is fed by springs coming from the Downs. It is known locally as the ‘Watercress Beds’, even though watercress is no longer cultivated there. The village is a popular place for artists and writers to live, including Kenneth Grahame, the author of The Wind in the Willows who lived in Blewbury from 1910 to the 1920s (there is a blue plaque on Boham’s House on Westbrook Street commemorating this) and Dick Francis, a former jockey and author of novels set in the horse-racing world, who lived in the village from the mid-1950s to 1986. Amateur open-air theatre productions are put on by the Blewbury Players each summer in the grounds of Orchard Dene house. There are two pubs in Blewbury serving food, The Red Lion and The Barley Mow.

Eating and drinking The Red Lion, Nottingham Fee, Blewbury V The Barley Mow, London Road, Blewbury Y

Buses The 94 and 95 run from Didcot approximately every two hours during the day (not on Sundays or bank holidays). The bus stop in Blewbury is on South Street outside the former Load of Mischief pub. Buses are run by Thames Travel. Tel: 01491 837988; Website: www.thames-travel.co.uk

Parking You can park on the road in Westbrook Street near the start of the walk.

Former watercress beds in the Cleve, Blewbury

Thatched cob walls, Blewbury

Thatched cottage, Blewbury

St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Blewbury

View of the Berkshire Downs from the walk

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FURTHER READING

Didcot library has a good selection of books about Didcot in its local studies section on the first floor. It is also worth looking for information about the history of Didcot in books about Berkshire, as until 1974 Didcot was in the county of Berkshire.

Fauna and flora Jim Asher, The Butterflies of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (Pisces Publications, 1994)

J.W. Brucker, A.G. Gosler and A.R. Heryet, Birds of Oxfordshire (Pisces Publications, 1992)

John Killick, Roy Perry and Stan Woodell, The Flora of Oxfordshire (Pisces Publications, 1998) These three books follow a similar format, giving very detailed information about species recorded in the area, with photographs or drawings and maps or grids showing the location (frustratingly the maps are not labelled with place names).

M.C. Radford, The Birds of Berkshire and Oxfordshire (Longman, Green & Co, 1966) An out-of-date (red kites are not mentioned) but accessible book. The birds are listed by their common names and there is a section of black and white photographs in the middle.

History Brian Lingham (ed and transcribed with Josephine Cormier), Didcot Documents Volume 1: Wills and Inventories, 1530–1851 (2002) – available at Didcot library. The book includes a useful glossary of terms used in the wills and inventories.

Brian Lingham, The Long Years of Obscurity: A History of Didcot, Volume One – to 1841 (1978; 2nd edition with M. and M. Heard, 2005)

Brian Lingham, The Railway Comes to Didcot: A History of the Town 1839–1918 (Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, 1992)

Brian Lingham, A Poor Struggling Little Town: A History of Didcot 1918 to 1945 (Didcot Town Council, 2000)

Brian Lingham, Dreams and Delusions: A History of Didcot 1945 to 1974 (2012)

Brian Lingham (ed), The Passing Scene: Newspaper Articles on the History of Didcot and North Berkshire written by the late S. Allen Warner (2002) – available at Didcot library. Stafford Allen Warner (1880–1961) was a chemist, optician, author and journalist who moved to Didcot in 1925. He was also on the Wallingford Rural District Council in the 1930s. He was a local historian and published articles in the Didcot Advertiser in the 1950s in ‘The Passing Scene’ column. These articles are what this book contains. Lingham calls him a ‘romantic’ and some of Warner’s historical ideas are not based on first-hand research. Unfortunately the articles are photocopies from the original newspapers and are not always easy to read.

William Page (ed), The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of Berkshire vol. III (The University of London Institute of Historical Research, 1923; reprinted 1972 from original edition) – available to view at Didcot library. The section on Didcot gives an encyclopaedic history of the town (up to 1923) on pages 471–475.

M.W. Smith and Brian Lingham, A Document to Mark 500 Years’ Patronage of All Saints’ Church (1976) – available at Didcot library. This booklet includes a description of the church, a list of the rectors up to 1976 and a history of Didcot.

Geoffrey Tyack, Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Berkshire (Yale University Press, 1966 and 2010) – available to view at Didcot library. Information about the buildings of note in Didcot (pre-Orchard Centre) is given on pages 269–273.

Memoir Walter Davis (ed Brian Lingham), My Early Life in Old Didcot 1901–1918 (2001) – available at Didcot library. Davis presents a nostalgic account of his childhood in the Didcot farming community. He gives a personal insight into village life at the start of the twentieth century.

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Military history Major Alan Barker RLC, From Farms to Arms: A Short History of the Military in Didcot (2003) – available at Didcot library. An account of activities undertaken by the army at Didcot since 1915 (particulary the Ordnance Depot).

B.F. Lingham (ed), Didcot Documents Volume 2: Miscellaneous Papers Relating to the History of the Central Ordnance Depot, Didcot (2002) – available at Didcot library. The book contains photocopies of photographs, newspaper articles and other papers relating to the Central Ordnance Depot at Didcot (1915–1961). Unfortunately the quality of the reproduction isn’t very good making it hard to read.

Richard Polley and Clare Wadley, Didcot’s Heroes Remembered (2008) Gives historical facts and information about the lives of Didcot men who died in the First and Second World Wars (including the rank, battalion, a brief description of what the person did before the war, how, where and when they were killed and if they are listed on the Didcot Town War Memorial). It also gives information about the different battalions affected and the different local war memorials. It includes a few photographs of some of the people mentioned.

Photographic history Ken Caulkett, Images of England: Didcot Revisited (Tempus, 2006) Photographs of Didcot throughout the twentieth century. It is divided into chapters: ‘People at work’, ‘Work functions’, ‘The park’, ‘Sport’, ‘The Vestas’, ‘The military’, ‘Weddings’, ‘Schools’, ‘Tennis club and theatre’, ‘Greenmere School’ and ‘People of Didcot’. Each photograph has information (date and names of people (where known) and some information about the buildings at the time). There are also a few biographies of local people. The book has an interesting and informative introduction by Brian Lingham.

Ken Caulkett, The People of Didcot (Tempus, 2000) Ken moved to Didcot in 1938 when he was two months old. He remembers his childhood with fondness and calls the book his ‘Didcot family album’. The book is a large collection of photographs of people in various Didcot scenarios throughout the twentieth century. The people are named where possible.

Isabel and Les Howlett, Didcot and Villages: People’s Photographs Volumes I–IV (2002) Photographs of Didcot and the surrounding villages from c.1900 to the 1960s, labelled with people’s names where known. Unfortunately the quality of the reproduction of the photographs is poor.

Brian Lingham, Around Didcot and the Hagbournes in Old Photographs (Sutton Publishing Ltd, 1990) A very interesting collection of photographs from Didcot, Blewbury, Upton, East Hagbourne, West Hagbourne, Harwell, the Moretons and Aston Tirrold with information about the places dating from c.1900 to the 1960s. There is an informative introduction summarising the history of the villages.

B.F. Lingham and M.J. Hall, The Changing Face of Didcot: A Photographic Record Covering the Past One Hundred Years (Didcot & District Archaeological & Historical Society, 1977) – available at Didcot library. A photographic record of the history of Didcot from c.1900. The book is divided into sections: Old Didcot, the railway, Northbourne and Broadway. Information about each photograph is given.

Poetry Kit Wright, ‘Ode to Didcot Power Station’ (2005) Written in the style of the romantic ‘ode to’ poems.

The railway Bernard Barlow, Didcot Engineman (Wild Swan, 1994) Barlow was a railway fireman based at Didcot railway shed during the 1940s and ’50s. He was later a driver. The book describes the influx of extra crews to cope with the workload brought about by the Second World War and the problems of tool shortages. Barlow describes how Didcot shed was operated, the daily routine and gives details of the crew rosters. The book includes many photographs of the station and trains from the time and also photographs of Didcot in the 1930s.

Jack Gardner, Brunel’s Didcot: Great Western Railway to Great Western Society (Runpast Publishing, 1996) Gardner was a fireman at the Didcot locomotive shed during the Second World War. He describes how Didcot developed with the arrival of the railway and the development, decline and

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eventual modernisation of the railway. He chronicles the establishment of the Great Western Society museum.

Harold Gasson, Firing Days: Reminiscences of a Great Western Fireman (Oxford Publishing Co., 1973) and Footplace Days: More Reminiscences of a Great Western Fireman (Oxford Publishing Co., 1976) Gasson worked at the Didcot locomotive shed during the days of steam and recaptures those days in these two books.

C.W. Judge, An Historical Survey of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway: Layouts and Illustrations (Oxford Publishing Co., 1984) The book gives a track plan of each station, junction and siding and also the revisions made to the track plans during the Second World War. It includes photographs and timetables.

Paul Karau, Mike Parsons and Kevin Robertson, The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (Wild Swan, 1981) The book traces the history of the railway from the 1870s, through its wartime heyday and to its decline and closure. There are many photographs of trains and railway lines.

Patrick Kelly, Didcot Steam Apprentice 1960–66 (Silver Link Publishing Ltd, 2008) An account of the working lives of the railway apprentices in the 1960s.

Edward T. MacDermot with C.R. Clinker and O.S. Nock, History of the Great Western Railway Volumes 1–3 (Ian Allan) A three-volume history of the Great Western Railway: Volume 1 was originally published in 1927 and Volume 2 in 1931. Volume 1 1833–1863 (revised 1972); Volume 2 1863–1921 (revised 1973); Volume 3 1923–1947 (1967).

Rosa Matheson, The Fair Sex: Women and the Great Western Railway (The History Press, 2010) Matheson chronicles the changing role of women in the railway using documents and testimonies. There are also photographs throughout.

Peter W.B. Semmens, History of the Great Western Railway Volumes 1–3 (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd) Not to be confused with the MacDermot three-volume history of the Great Western Railway. Volume 1 Consolidation 1923–29 (1985); Volume 2 The Thirties 1930–39 (1985); Volume 3 Wartime and the Final Years 1939–48 (1985).

Laurence Waters, Didcot Junction and Railway Centre (Ian Allan Publishing, 1989) A history of the development of the station from 1844.

Walks Nick Channer and Ann F. Stonehouse, 50 Walks in Oxfordshire (AA Publishing, 2003; updated 2008) The book includes a walk from Didcot to Long Wittenham and Appleford and a circular walk from Blewbury along part of the Ridgeway.

David Dunford, Pub Walks Around Oxford and the Thames Valley (Ensign Publications, 1994) Includes lots of local walks, including along the Downs from Blewbury, from Brightwell-cum-Sotwell to Wittenham Clumps and from Steventon to Milton. Some of the details may be out of date, but the book makes a good starting point.

Leigh Hatts, Walks Along the Thames Path (Patrick Stephens Limited, 1990) Most of the walks are quite a way from Didcot, but there is one local walk included, from Dorchester-on-Thames to Little Wittenham. Some of the details may be out of date, but the book makes a good starting point.

Jos Joslin and Elaine Townson (eds), The Thames Path National Trail Companion (National Trails Office, 2011) This book gives useful information to walkers about places to stay and other facilities in the towns and villages near the Thames Path, including information on the Abingdon to Wallingford section of the Thames.

Roger Noyce, Adventurous Pub Walks in Oxfordshire (Countryside Books, 2004) It has 20 circular walks, including a walk around Dorchester-on-Thames and Wittenham Clumps.

David Sharp, The Thames Path (National Trail Guides) (Aurum Press Ltd, 2007) This book includes walks at various points along the Thames Path, including a walk from Culham to Cholsey.

John Wilks, Walks into History: Berkshire & Oxfordshire (Countryside Books, 2008) This book contains 16 circular walks around areas of historical interest, including a walk around Dorchester-on-Thames.

Robert Wood, A Boot Up the Berkshire Downs (Pixz Books, 2010) Ten circular walks are described, including one in Blewbury.

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General David Green (ed), A Berkshire Christmas (Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, 1994) Christmas tales from the literature, history and folklore of Berkshire. The story ‘Santa Steams In’ (pages 121–125), by children’s author Colin Cox, is set in Didcot Railway Centre.

W.H. Hallam, Didcot All Saints’ Monumental Inscriptions (1937; updated by Didcot & District Archaeological & Historical Society 1995) – available to view at Didcot library. As well as the inscriptions, this file also includes miscellaneous information about All Saints’ Church.

Sam Jordison and Dan Kieran (eds), The Idler Book of Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK (Boxtree, 2003) An irreverent look at some of the less-attractive towns in the United Kingdom. Didcot is featured as number 20 on pages 74–78. The book was written before the regeneration of Didcot in the 2000s and in 2007 Jordison was invited to return to Didcot, after which he admitted that he felt more positive about the town and that it might not make it into the next edition of the book!

David Parkinson, Oxford at the Movies (P. Inks Books, 2003) The book mainly focuses on films and TV programmes filmed and set in Oxford, but also looks at other locations in Oxfordshire (including Didcot), plus gives information about people connected with the film and TV industry who are from or have lived in the area.

Rosemary Pryor and Didcot & District Archaeological & Historical Society, Didcot Town Cemetery: Monumental Inscriptions (1998) – available to view at Didcot library. This book of inscriptions includes a useful index of names.

DIDCOT IN FILMS AND TV PROGRAMMES

The Coronet bingo hall appeared in Pennies from Heaven (1978).

Didcot Power Stations were used in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) and as background shots in Inspector Morse: The Wolvercote Tongue (1987).

Didcot Railway Centre has been used in many films and TV programmes, including The Incredible Sarah (1976), The Elephant Man (1980),

Inspector Morse: The Wolvercote Tongue (1987), The Chamomile Lawn (1992), Fairytale: A True Story (1997), Carrie’s War (2004), Beyond Narnia: The Life of C.S. Lewis (2005), These Foolish Things (2006), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) and Anna Karenina (2012). It has also featured in railway documentaries: Dan Cruickshank’s Great Railway Adventures (2010) and Michael Portillo’s Great Railway Journeys (2011).

East Hagbourne was used as a location for an episode of Dr Who (‘The Android Invasion’, 1975).

Milton Manor House was used as Sir Percy Blakeney's house in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982).

Round Hill, Little Wittenham (2004) and Sutton Courtenay (2010) have both appeared in episodes of the archaeological TV series Time Team.

Rutherford Laboratories were used in an episode of Blakes 7 (‘Weapon’, 1979).

LOCAL PEOPLE OF NOTE

The past William Bradbery (1776–1860), the first person to cultivate watercress commercially, was born in Didcot.

Maurice Evans (1936–2000), a footballer who played for Reading Football Club in the 1950s and ’60s, and was later manager of Reading and Oxford United Football Clubs, was born in Didcot.

Rodney Gladwell (1928–1979), a British expressionist artist whose major works were painted in the 1950s and ’60s , was born in Didcot.

Hugh Trevor-Roper (later Baron Dacre of Glanton, 1914–2003), an historian and Oxford professor, who became infamous after the erroneous authentication of the ‘Hitler Diaries’, lived in The Old Rectory on Foxhall Road towards the end of his life.

The present day Linda Benton, a local artist whose work is well-known and loved in Didcot and East Hagbourne. She uses the features of the town and local villages to make montages representing the places. Her most famous work locally is Didcot Montage (2009), which was voted the best painting in the Didcot Art Exhibition that year in the People’s Choice category. In addition to Didcot Montage, she has also produced Scenes in Didcot (2010) and Didcot Christmas Street Fair (2011). Many of her paintings have been turned into posters and greetings cards. The Ark Studio; Tel: 01235 817891

http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/facts_about__hugh_trevor-roper

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Felix Fund, a charity that funds therapeutic breaks for bomb disposal experts returning from war zones and and provides welfare and rehabilitation facilities. (The 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistic Corp, based at Vauxhall Barracks on Foxhall Road, is a specialist counter-terrorist bomb disposal unit. Felix (a cartoon cat) is their unofficial mascot. ‘Phoenix’ was a call-sign used in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, but was misheard as ‘Felix’ and became the nickname for the bomb disposal experts. The phrase ‘fetch Felix’ is used when a suspect device is found.) Felix Fund, Vauxhall Barracks, Foxhall Road, Didcot OX11 7ES; Website: www.felixfund.org.uk

Brian Lingham, was the librarian at Didcot library from 1969 to 1992. He is the authority on Didcot history and his four-volume set of books The Long Years of Obscurity, The Railway Comes to Didcot, A Poor Struggling Little Town and Dreams and Delusions gives a detailed history of the town up to 1974. (See page 54.)

Matt Richardson, a young up-and-coming comedian from Didcot. Website: www. mattrichardsoncomedy.co.uk

The Thong Rangers, a group of local people who do amazing things to raise money for charity – and wearing very little more than thongs! It was started by Andy Web and Clifford Oakes in 2001 and over the years the group of 10 or so have pulled a two-tonne truck around Didcot, pushed concrete blocks in a wheelbarrow from Didcot to Oxford, done a five-mile shovel walk and done a 24-hour ‘last man/woman standing’ on narrow planks of wood, among other feats. Website: www.thongrangers.co.uk

Celebrities who live in the area Helena Bonham-Carter (actress) and Tim Burton (director) live in Sutton Courtenay.

Bob Harris (Radio 2 presenter) lives in Steventon and is a supporter of Didcot Town Football Club. He has been a judge of the ‘Didcot’s Got Talent’ competition and there has also been a ‘Bob Harris presents ...’ stage at the Steventon Truck Festival.

Tim Henman (tennis player) lives in Aston Tirrold.

John Lloyd (TV comedy writer) lives in West Hendred.

ESSENTIALS

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GETTING AROUND

By train There is an excellent train service to and from Didcot and most visitors will arrive at and leave from Didcot Parkway station. The station is located near the centre of the town. The Orchard Centre and Broadway are approximately a five- to ten-minute walk and Didcot Railway Centre is a one-minute walk from the station.

The station has a ticket office, which is manned during peak hours and there are also self-service machines in the foyer and one just outside the entrance. There are ticket barriers to get to and from the platforms, but you may also have to show your ticket to an inspector on board the train, so ensure you have it to hand. There are stairs to all the platforms and there is also a lift. There is a small Spar convenience store in the foyer selling food and drink items, as well as newspapers and magazines. There is also a kiosk in the foyer selling drinks and snacks. Food and drinks can also be bought at the snack bars on Platforms 2/3 and 4/5. The larger one, on Platform 2/3, also sells newspapers, magazines and a few books. The toilets are located behind this snack bar. All the platforms have enclosed seating areas and the station has free WiFi. The announcements of arriving trains and any delays are good and can be heard from anywhere on the platform.

The main direct destinations from Didcot Parkway are: Oxford, Reading, Slough, London, Swindon, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Chippenham, Bath, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton, Exeter, Torquay, Paignton, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea. The train operator is First Great Western. For timetables and information check the website. You can also pick up a printed timetable from Didcot Parkway station. Other destinations can be reached by changing at Reading, Oxford or London.

Platform 1 is for all routes west; Platform 2 is for fast trains to Reading and London; Platform 3 is for trains to Oxford; and Platform 4 is for the slow service to London, which stops at all the stations along the route, namely: Cholsey, Goring and Streatly, Pangbourne, Tilehurst,

Reading, Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough, Langley, Iver, West Drayton, Hayes and Harlington, Southall and Ealing. (It will list Ealing Broadway as its destination rather than Paddington, although it does terminate at Paddington. Be careful not to get on this train if you want to go to Paddington, as the journey can take up to 1½ hours instead of 45 minutes.) There is usually a buffet car serving drinks and snacks on the long-distance trains, but not on the trains between Didcot and Oxford or on the stopping train to Ealing Broadway.

Trains between Didcot, Reading and London are very frequent (particularly during rush hour), but fares are not cheap. Ensure that you start your journey after 9.15 am to get a cheap-day return (£27.70 to London, which includes unlimited travel on the underground), as the peak-time fare is over double that of the cheap-day return. However, with the cheap-day return there are restrictions on the trains you can return on until 7.15 pm. Trains are also frequent to Oxford (every 30 minutes during the day) and the cheap-day return fare is £5.80. If you plan to travel regularly it is worth investing in a weekly, monthly or annual season ticket. You can buy this either at the station or from the First Great Western website. Trains run from early in the morning to late at night (train timetables are slightly different at weekends and the first train is a bit later and the last train is a bit earlier than in the week).

For longer journeys it is worth booking your seat beforehand, as trains are usually crowded and finding a seat can be difficult. You can book your seat via the First Great Western website. Tel: 08457 000125; Website: www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk

By bus In contrast to the geographically extensive train service the bus service only operates to local destinations. Buses run from the station forecourt and from the High Street end of the Orchard Centre (near Next). There are also bus

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stops on Broadway. Depending on your destination buses are frequent during rush hour and run regularly during the day, but there are few, if any, buses in the evenings and on Sundays on many routes. The main bus routes are operated by Thames Travel and Whites Coaches. You can buy a ‘Plusbus’ ticket when you buy your train ticket, which includes unlimited bus travel around the town. See www.plusbus.info for more information. Bus routes change frequently, so check with the bus company before planning a journey.

X2, X32, 32, 32A, 32B, 32C, X36, 36, 94, 95, 97 and 98 run by Thames Travel. Tel: 01491 837988; Website: www.thames-travel.co.uk

91, 92 and 93 run by Whites Coaches. Tel: 01865 340516; Website: www.whitescoaches.com

M10 run by Courtney Buses. Tel: 0118 9733486; Website: www.courtneybuses.com

300 Redbridge Park and Ride in Oxford run by Oxford Bus Company. Tel: 01865 785400; Website: www.oxfordbus.co.uk

A list of destinations Abingdon X2, 32,

32B, 32C Ardington 32A Aston Tirrold 95 Berinsfield 97 Blewbury 94, 95 Brightwell-cum-

Sotwell X36, 36 Burcot 97 Chilton X32 Clifton Hampden

97 Coscote 94

Culham 32 Drayton X2, 32B,

32C East Hagbourne

94, 95 East Hanney 36 East Hendred 32,

32A Great Western

Park 98 Grove 32, 32A, 36 Harwell 32, 32A,

X32

Harwell Campus 32, X32

Ladygrove 91, 97 Long Wittenham 97 Milton X2 (Sunday),

32, 32B Milton Heights X2,

36 Milton Park X2,

M10, X32, 32, 32B, 32C, 36, X36, 94, 95

North Moreton 95

Oxford City Centre X2, X32 (fast bus), 32A

Rowstock X32, 32, 32A, X36

South Didcot 92 South Moreton 95 Steventon X2,

32C, 36

Sutton Courtenay X2 (Sunday), 32, 32B

Upton 94 Wallingford X36, 36 Wantage 32, 32A,

36, X36 West Didcot 93 West Hagbourne 94 West Hendred

32, 32A

X2 (Monday to Sunday) Milton Park, Milton Heights, Milton (Sunday), Sutton Courtenay (Sunday), Steventon, Drayton, Abingdon, Oxford City Centre (St Aldates (stop H2)). Buses run from early morning to evening. During the day buses run every 45 minutes (hourly on Sunday).

X32 (Monday to Sunday) Oxford City Centre (Castle Street and St Aldates (stop H5)), Milton Park, Harwell, Rowstock, Harwell Campus, Chilton. Buses run hourly from early morning to evening. On Sunday they start running later and run every two hours. This is the fast bus to Oxford.

32 (Monday to Saturday) Harwell, Rowstock, Harwell Campus, East Hendred, West Hendred, Wantage, Grove, Milton Park, Milton, Sutton Courtenay, Culham, Steventon, Drayton, Abingdon. Buses to Wantage run from early morning to late afternoon; to Grove from the morning (after peak time) to early evening; to Abingdon from early morning to late evening. During the day buses run hourly.

32A (Sunday only) Harwell, Rowstock, East Hendred, West Hendred, Ardington, Wantage, Grove and Oxford (St Aldates (stop H5)). Buses run from morning to early evening. During the day buses run every two hours.

32B (evenings only) Milton Park, Milton, Sutton Courtenay, Drayton, Abingdon. Buses are few and infrequent.

32C (evenings only) Milton Park, Steventon, Drayton, Abingdon. Buses are few and infrequent.

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X36 (Monday to Friday) Milton Park, Rowstock, Wantage, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Wallingford. Buses run hourly (with a few exceptions) from Wallingford to Wantage via Didcot in the morning and from Wantage to Wallingford via Didcot in the afternoon and early evening.

36 (Monday to Friday) Milton Park, Milton Heights, Steventon, East Hanney, Grove, Wantage, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Wallingford. Buses run hourly (with a few exceptions) from early afternoon to early evening (to Wantage) and early to late morning and then from early to late evening (to Wallingford). At weekends the buses only go in the Wallingford direction. Buses run hourly during the day on Saturday and the service is very limited on Sunday.

91 (Monday to Friday) Ladygrove (circular route – Abingdon Road, Trent Road, Tamar Way, Tyne Avenue, Avon Way, A4130, Tower Gardens, The Oval). Buses run hourly from morning (after peak time) to early afternoon.

92 (Monday to Friday) South Didcot (circular route – Newlands Avenue, Queensway, Tavistock Avenue, South Park Avenue, Downs Road, Edwin Road, Barnes Road, Green Close, Green Road, Mereland Road, Kynaston Road, Jubilee Way). Buses run hourly from morning (after peak time) to early afternoon.

93 (Monday to Friday) West Didcot (circular route – Park Road, Meadow Way, Norreys Road, Drake Avenue, Wantage Road, Slade Road, Freeman Road, Brasenose Road, Foxhall Road). Buses run hourly from morning (after peak time) to early afternoon.

94 (Monday to Saturday) East Hagbourne, Blewbury, Upton, West Hagbourne, Coscote. Buses run every two hours from early morning to evening.

95 (Monday to Saturday) East Hagbourne, Blewbury, Aston Tirrold, South Moreton, North Moreton. A limited service runs from early morning to evening.

97 (Monday to Saturday) Tesco, Ladygrove, Long Wittenham, Clifton Hampden, Burcot, Berinsfield. Buses run hourly during the day from the morning (after peak time) to early afternoon.

98 (Monday to Saturday) Great Western Park (circular route via Didcot Parkway station, the Orchard Centre and Broadway). Buses run every 30 minutes from early morning to early evening.

M10 (Monday to Friday) Milton Park. Buses run every 10 to 15 minutes from early morning to early evening.

Tesco bus a free bus to Didcot Tesco Superstore from some of the local villages, running once or twice a week. Tappins Coaches; Tel: 01235 819393

Bus stops Buses that run to and from Didcot Parkway station and the Orchard Centre: X2, X32, 32, 32A, 32B, 32C, X36, 36, 91, 94, 95, 97, 98

There are also bus stops on Broadway: – outside the Civic Hall (eastbound (towards the Orchard Centre, Didcot Parkway, Oxford (X32) and Wallingford) – X32, 32, 32A, 93, 94, 95) – opposite the Civic Hall (westbound (towards Abingdon, Oxford (X2), Harwell and Wantage) – X2, X32, 32, 32A, 32B, 32C, 93, 97, 98) – outside Salinas 2 café near Market Place (eastbound – X32, 32, 32A, X36, 36, 91, 94, 95, 97)

– almost opposite Salinas 2 café (westbound – X2, X32, 32, 32A, 32B, 32C, 91, 92, 94, 95, 97, 98)

There are two bus stops in Haydon Road (both southbound towards Broadway) – one near the junction with Broadway for the X36, 36, 94, 95 and 97 and one opposite Melton Drive for the X36, 36, 94 and 95.

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Timetables Bus timetables are displayed on bus stops in Didcot. All the bus companies have timetables on their websites. Timetable booklets are available from Didcot Parkway station, Didcot library, the Civic Hall information centre on Britwell Road and the Cornerstone Arts Centre.

Estimated journey times from the centre of Didcot: Milton Park 10 minutes, East Hagbourne 10 minutes, Blewbury 16 minutes, Sutton Courtenay 16 minutes, North Moreton 21 minutes, Wallingford 22 minutes, Abingdon 31 minutes, Grove 30 minutes, Oxford 35 minutes (X32) or 55 minutes (X2), Wantage 40 minutes.

Bus fares Pay the driver as you board the bus and keep your ticket until the end of the journey as sometimes ticket inspectors board the bus.

Didcot to Oxford: a single costs £3.20; a return costs £4.80; a 10-trip ticket (X32) costs £19.90.

Didcot Parkway to Milton Park: a single costs £1.30; a return costs £2.00. You can buy a bus pass for £5.00.

Note: on Thames Travel buses after 11.45 pm a single ticket costs £4.50 for any journey.

A monthly pass for unlimited trips on Thames Travel buses costs £70. You can buy this from the bus driver. You can also purchase a 13-week all-zone photo bus pass from the Wallingford office, for use on all Thames Travel buses.

If you plan to do a lot of travelling around the Oxford area by bus, you can purchase a weekly South Oxfordshire and City Zone Key Card for £28 from the Oxford Bus Company which gives unlimited travel on Thames Travel and Oxford Bus Company buses for seven consecutive days. This can be purchased via the Oxford Bus Company website or from the Travel Shop in Debenhams in Oxford.

Oxford park and ride If you want to drive into Oxford but don’t want to pay the exorbitant city centre parking fees, a good solution is to drive to the Redbridge park and ride car park on Abingdon Road in Oxford (just off the A34 and A423)) and catch the 300 bus (run by the Oxford Bus Company) to Oxford City Centre (St Aldates). The journey takes 10 minutes and the buses run from early in the morning to late in the evening (they start later and stop earlier on Sunday). For most of the day buses run every 10 minutes (every 30

minutes in the evening). It costs £1.50 to park there all day and a return bus fare is £2.70 (or £2.40 in off-peak times). The bus back to the Redbridge park and ride leaves from stop H2 on St Aldates. Website: www.parkandride.net/oxford/html/ facilities/redbridge_parkandride.shtml

By taxi There is a taxi rank outside Didcot Parkway station. You can also phone for a taxi from one of the many Didcot-based taxi companies. Pryor’s, which has an office in Mereland Road, is one of the biggest companies in Didcot; the cars include Mercedes and it is professionally run, but not necessarily the cheapest. Go Green Taxis won the 2011 Ethical Stance category in the Didcot First and Didcot Chamber of Commerce Business and Community Awards. Some taxi companies will quote a price based on mileage. Expect to pay £13 to £20 to Abingdon and Wallingford; £15 to £20 to Wantage; £25 to £40 to Oxford; £55 to £100 to Heathrow Airport; £95 to £150 to Gatwick Airport. Taxi drivers usually charge more late at night.

AJ Taxis Tel: 07799 676778 AM-PM Taxi Tel: 07725 511646 Apple Cabs Tel: 07809 363681 Barr’s Taxis Tel: 01235 280018;

Website: www.barrstaxi.vpweb.co.uk Bob’s of Didcot Tel: 01235 512121 Didcot Taxis Tel: 01235 811200;

Website: www. taxisdidcot.co.uk DS Taxis Tel: 01235 820082 or 07796 535920 Elite Taxis Tel: 01235 818811 Go Green Taxis Tel: 01235 811100;

Website: www.gogreen-taxi.co.uk Harold’s Taxis Tel: 01235 512345;

Website: www.haroldstaxis.co.uk Huggies Taxi Tel: 07837 457730 Loder Taxis Tel: 01235 814679 Pete’s Taxi Tel: 07733 259647 Pryor’s Taxis Tel: 01235 812345;

Website: www.pryors.co.uk Star Cars of Didcot Tel: 07702 800999;

Website: www.taxi-didcot.co.uk

On foot As Didcot is relatively small, it is possible to walk to any destination within the town easily. To get to the Orchard Centre and Broadway, turn left out of the station and walk along the road until you reach the traffic lights. Cross over, take the road which bends slightly to the

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left (Station Road) and continue walking up it until you reach Cineworld. Continue past Cineworld and the Cornerstone Arts Centre to reach Broadway. Turn left at Cineworld and you are in the Orchard Centre.

Coach and train trips There are several companies offering day trips and short breaks by coach or train.

Coach operators Tappins Coaches (itinerary available from the Civic Hall information centre on Britwell Road) Tel: 01235 819393; Website: www.tappins.co.uk Whites Coaches (itinerary available from the Civic Hall information centre on Britwell Road) Tel: 01865 340516; Website: www.whitescoaches.com

Train operators Pathfinder Tours Tel: 01453 835414; Website: www.pathfindertours.co.uk The Railway Touring Company runs occasional steam trains from Didcot to the Cotswolds. Tel: 01553 661500; Website: www.railwaytouring.net

Parking Parking in the centre of Didcot, either for the station/railway centre or for the shopping area, is plentiful, but not generally free. There are three car parks near the station and three car parks near the shops, plus limited parking on Broadway. Check the signs before leaving your car. Failure to display a ticket in pay-and-display car parks can result in a fine of up to £80.

Station area You cannot park in the station forecourt, but there are a few spaces for dropping off and picking up travellers.

Foxhall Road car park, entrance on Basil Hill Road. Pay and display. Monday to Friday – 24 hours costs £6.20; Saturday and Sunday – 24 hours costs £3.70. You will have to cross a high footbridge to reach the station from here, which entails climbing up and down a lot of steps. Allow time for this, especially if you have heavy luggage. It is not suitable for wheelchairs.

Julian’s car park, entrances on Haydon Road and Station Road. Pay at the manned cabin or inside Julian’s. Daily parking costs £6; overnight parking costs £2.50. Located opposite the station forecourt, on level ground.

Station Road car park Pay and display. Monday to Friday – 1 hour costs £1.00, 2 hours costs £2, 3 hours costs £4, up to 24 hours costs £6; Saturday and Sunday – 24 hours costs £2. Located almost opposite the station forecourt, on level ground.

Shopping area High Street car park, entrance on Broadway. Pay and display. Monday to Friday (including bank holidays) 9 am to 5 pm and Saturday 9 am to 2 pm – 1 hour no charge (but you must display a ticket), 2 hours costs 80p, 3 hours costs £1.50, 5 hours costs £1.80, 8 hours costs £3.30; Monday to Friday 5 pm to 9 am, Saturday after 2 pm and all day Sunday – no charge.

Orchard Centre car park, entrance on Hitchcock Way. Pay and display. Monday to Saturday (including bank holidays) 7 am to 7 pm (maximum stay 4 hours) – 2 hours no charge (but you must display a ticket), 3 hours costs £1.70, 4 hours costs £2.00; Monday to Saturday 7 pm to 7 am and all day Sunday – no charge.

Edinburgh Drive car park Pay and display. Monday to Friday (including bank holidays) 9 am to 5 pm and Saturday 9 am to 2 pm – 1 hour no charge (but you must display a ticket), 2 hours costs 80p, 3 hours costs £1.50, 5 hours costs £1.80, 8 hours costs £3.30; Monday to Friday 5 pm to 9 am, Saturday after 2 pm and all day Sunday – no charge.

Broadway There are a few free parking spaces on the road outside the shops. Monday to Saturday 8 am to 6 pm parking is limited to 30 minutes maximum. There are also designated disabled parking spaces in front of Boots.

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WHERE TO STAY

For two people sharing a double room

per night, including breakfast: £ = under £60

££ = under £100

There is a limited choice of accommodation in Didcot, with the majority being small family-run bed and breakfast establishments. For this reason I have included the Premier Inn, which is one of the popular budget chain hotels, but is a little way out of Didcot.

Acorns Bed and Breakfast 1 ££ 26 Norreys Road; Tel: 01235 817651; Website: www.acornsbedandb.co.uk A small bed and breakfast on a very quiet residential road not far from Edmunds Park. It offers a self-contained suite off the main house with fridge, microwave, kettle and toaster, Internet and TV. Continental breakfast is included. There is free parking.

The House on the Corner 2 ££ 2C Hagbourne Road; Tel: 01235 812806; Website: www.houseonthecorner.co.uk An attractive old house just off the eastern end of Broadway. It offers single, double and twin rooms and a self-contained flat (let on a weekly or monthly basis). Rooms have tea- and coffee-making facilities, fridge, WiFi, TV and DVD. There is a shower in the room and the toilet is shared. Continental breakfast is included. There is free parking.

The Laurels Guest House Bed and Breakfast 3 £ 47 Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 812212 This bed and breakfast is on a main road on the western side of Didcot. It is conveniently located near a pub, a restaurant, two takeaways and a petrol station with a mini-market. It has free WiFi and TV and offers continental breakfast. There is also an adjoining self-catering guest house. There is free off-road parking.

Lemon Tree House 4 £ 42 New Road, East Hagbourne; Tel: 01235 510355; Website: www.lemontreehouse.squarespace.com This bed and breakfast is just outside Didcot, but Didcot town centre is walkable from here. It offers double rooms or a self-catering studio. Rooms have tea- and coffee-making facilities, WiFi and TV. There is free parking. The owner is a CELTA-qualified English teacher and offers a Home Stay English Course, along with local days out for his students. Breakfast is included. Evening meals are offered by prior arrangement.

MacDonald House 9 ££ 1 MacDonald Close; Tel: 01235 210840 A self-contained flat located just off Foxhall Road. The price includes full English/Russian breakfast. Free WiFi. Free parking.

Penny’s Bed and Breakfast 5 £ 62 Park Road; Tel: 01235 816898 In a nice location opposite Edmonds Park, this bed and breakfast offers a separate sitting room for guests. There is also an en suite cabin at the end of the garden. Rooms have tea- and coffee-making facilities, fridge, Internet and TV. A cooked breakfast includes fresh eggs from their chicken coop. Note there is no sign outside the building. There is free off-road parking.

Premier Inn 6 ££ Milton Heights, Milton; Tel: 0871 5278868; Website: www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/DIDAPP/ oxford-south-didcot In the unattractive grounds of the Milton Interchange services, just off the A34 and A4130, this recently refurbished budget hotel is 4 km (2½ miles) from Didcot town centre. The Apple Cart restaurant, which is part of the Table Table chain, is next to the hotel, plus there is a McDonald’s and a Marks and Spencer Simply Food store in the services area. The hotel has a confusing pricing system where room rates change daily. There are occasional offers where you can get a room for £29, but the average price is between £60 and £80 per night. Internet access is charged on a daily basis. Breakfast is not included in the room price, but can be requested when booking. The car park is a pay-and-display type, but guests at the hotel can park for free.

The Queens Arms 7 £ 2 Manor Road; Tel: 01235 813371 This pub in Old Didcot, dating from the 1860s, offers four refurbished rooms. It is located within walking distance of the train station and has free off-road parking.

Southern Wood Bed and Breakfast 8 £ 70 Park Road; Tel: 01235 212203; Website: www.bandbdidcot.co.uk In a nice location opposite Edmonds Park, this bed and breakfast has recently been renovated. There are four rooms (double, twin and single are available), with a shared bathroom and kitchenette, WiFi and TV, plus laundry facilities. A cooked breakfast is not included in the room price, but is on offer at an extra cost. There is free parking.

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66

Didcot town centre showing shops, places to eat and drink, places of entertainment and businesses


67

Broadway The Orchard Centre


68

TOWN CENTRE AMENITIES See the numbers in the coloured circles on the map on pages 66 and 67 for location.

Shops Places to eat and drink Places of entertainment and sport

Businesses Other Shops Aquatics 13 Coxwell Aquatics

224 Broadway Tel: 01235 519502

Bicycles 115 Mountain Mania Cycles

80-82 Broadway Tel: 01235 759366

Books 35 WHSmith

188 Broadway Tel: 01235 814329

133 The Works The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 816427

Building supplies and DIY materials 124 Travis Perkins

Broadway Tel: 01235 819262

190 Millhill Tools 1-3 Hagbourne Road Tel: 01235 817781

192 Didcot Calor and Paving Centre Rich’s Sidings, Broadway Tel: 01235 814186

199 Art Steel Works Rich’s Sidings, Broadway Tel: 01235 819999

Car supplies 119 Interpart

74 Broadway Tel: 01235 817672

Charity shops 27 Shaw Trust

200A Broadway Tel: 01235 813245

30 Cancer Research 198 Broadway Tel: 01235 510950

37 Action for Children in Conflict 184 Broadway Tel: 01235 519393

48 British Heart Foundation 166 Broadway Tel: 01235 817142

54 Age UK 158 Broadway Tel: 01235 519580

61 Debra 3 Market Place Tel: 01235 813566

63 Oxfam 5 Market Place Tel: 01235 813714

91 Oxford Animal Sanctuary 122 Broadway Tel: 07570 521678

94 Helen and Douglas House 133 Broadway Tel: 01235 818253

Chemists, beauty and health foods 3 Lloyds Pharmacy

Britwell Road Tel: 01235 812116

82 Boots 130B Broadway Tel: 01235 813107

142 Holland and Barrett The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 519003

151 Body Shop The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 512958

156 Superdrug The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 813522

Clothes and fashion 46 Peacocks

170 Broadway Tel: 01235 811174

126 Next The Orchard Centre Tel: 0844 8445466

129 New Look The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 750570

130 Store 21 The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 511927

134 Claire’s Accessories The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 813288

146 M&Co The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 759216

150 Select The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 815787

DVD rental 55 Blockbuster

156 Broadway Tel: 01235 819863

Electrical and computing goods 102 Cartridge UK

110 Broadway Tel: 01235 810200

122 Didcot Electical Wholesalers 66-68 Broadway Tel: 01235 819181

127 Currys/PC World The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 519014

137 EE The Orchard Centre Tel: 0845 0971372

138 Carphone Warehouse The Orchard Centre Tel: 0800 0491307

154 Game The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 810783

Flooring 166 Station Flooring

The Old Garrick Building Station Road Tel: 01235 815788

Furniture and home furnishings 125 Sainsbury’s

The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 814159

126 Next The Orchard Centre Tel: 0844 8445466

147 Cargo The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 811275

General 65 Wilkinsons

Market Place Tel: 01235 818096

125 Sainsbury’s The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 814159

128 Argos The Orchard Centre Tel: 0845 1657819

131 Poundstretcher The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 819832

148 99p Store The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 813906

157 Robert Dyas The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 813019

Gifts 22 No Two Things

208 Broadway Tel: 01235 511550

Groceries 25 Co-operative

202 Broadway Tel: 01235 759329

40 Broadway Butchers 182A Broadway Tel: 01235 812238

47 Balbinka (Polish food shop) 168 Broadway Tel: 01235 510077


140 Greggs The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 511954

191 Calnan Brothers Butchers 5 Hagbourne Road Tel: 01235 813270

Memorials 169 Hamel’s Memorials

Rich’s Siding, Broadway Tel: 01235 812222

Mobility supplies 60 True Mobility

Unit 2, Market Place Tel: 01235 519777

Newsagents, stationery and cards 35 WHSmith and Post Office

188 Broadway Tel: 01235 814329

101 Vivak News and Off Licence 112 Broadway Tel: 01235 210111

132 Heart to Heart and Thorntons The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 811847

133 The Works The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 816427

141 Card Factory The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 818702

Off-licence 28 Kay Gees Off-Licence

196 Broadway Tel: 01235 813225

Prints and picture frames 87 The Framing Studio

126B Broadway Tel: 01235 815934

Shoes 139 Clarks

The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 817325

143 Shoe Zone The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 818817


69

Shoe repairs, key cutting, signs, trophies, jewellery and bags 116 Re-Vamp Multiserve Ltd shoe repairs

and key cutting 78 Broadway Tel: 01235 816189

Sweets 53 Sweet Temptations

160 Broadway Tel: 07525 002557

Toys 52 Toys UK

162-164 Broadway Tel: 01235 759450

152 The Entertainer The Orchard Centre

Wool 49 Knit Knacks Wool Shop

2A Edinburgh Drive Tel: 01235 816997

Shops currently empty 21 117 31 123 39 136 51 155 62 164 90 98

165 Due for demolition

100 185 103 187 109 200 114

Places to eat and drink Restaurants 11 Sunkoshi Tandoori Restaurant

226A Broadway Tel: 01235 812796

15 Kolkata restaurant 222 Broadway Tel: 01235 812206

17 Aroma Grill restaurant 218 Broadway Tel: 01235 510627

57 Salinas 2 café and restaurant 152 Broadway Tel: 01235 512800

66 Prezzo 8 Market Place 01235 511271

80 Wildwood Kitchen restaurant 8 Station Road Tel: 01235 519968

88 Chopsticks Chinese restaurant 126 Broadway Tel: 01235 813333

Cafés 34 Camara’s café

190 Broadway Tel: 01235 815520

57 Salinas 2 café and restaurant 152 Broadway Tel: 01235 512800

56 Subway café 154 Broadway Tel: 01235 814777

72 Café Bar @ Cornerstone 25 Station Road Tel: 01235 515144


144 Boswells The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 810653

Takeaways 10 Smarts Fish and Chips

226B Broadway Tel: 01235 812898

12

China Garden 226 Broadway Tel: 01235 811206

24 Istanbul Kebab House 204 Broadway Tel: 01235 814210

32 Dominos Pizza 194 The Broadway Tel: 01235 511999

33 The Chippy 192 Broadway Tel: 01235 811071

50 Prince of India 2B Edinburgh Drive Tel: 01235 819555

68 Sal’s Snack Bar Market Place Tel: 01235 811317

69 The Sandwich Shop Market Place Tel: 01235 815268

70 U.S.A. Fried Chicken Market Place Tel: 01235 519019

104 Choi’s 106 Broadway Tel: 01235 813729

107 Delight 2 kebab and pizza 100 Broadway Tel: 01235 810700

110 Broadway Spice (Indian) 92 Broadway Tel: 01235 817728

111 Youngs House (Chinese) 90 Broadway Tel: 01235 812524

Pubs 81 Broadways public house

132 Broadway Tel: 01235 814924

159 The Prince of Wales pub 113 Station Road Tel: 01235 511888

160 The Queens Arms pub 2 Manor Road Tel: 01235 813371

Places of entertainment and sport

1 Didcot Bowls Club Britwell Road Tel: 07525 975101

2 Civic Hall Britwell Road Tel: 01235 512436

5 New Coronet Bingo Broadway Tel: 01235 812038

14 Exercise Lounge 224 Broadway Tel: 01235 512111

44 Iron Works Gym 174 Broadway Tel: 07747 563643

72 Cornerstone Arts Centre 25 Station Road Tel: 01235 515144

145 Cineworld 27 Station Road Tel: 0871 2002000

198 GWRSA Club Station Road Tel: 01235 813135

Businesses

Accountants 9 Brayshaw’s Accountants

228 Broadway Tel: 01235 812284

118 A1 Financials 76 Broadway Tel: 01235 819320

197 K. Dunn Accountants 144A Broadway Tel: 01235 819525

Banks and building societies 36 HSBC

186 Broadway Tel: 08457 404404

67 Lloyds TSB Market Place Tel: 0845 3000000

73 Santander 146 Broadway Tel: 0845 7654321

77 Newbury Building Society 136 Broadway Tel: 01235 813431

89 NatWest 124 Broadway Tel: 0845 6002803

95 Nationwide Building Society 131 Broadway Tel: 0845 2661265

97 Barclays 125 Broadway Tel: 0845 7555555

149 Halifax The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 701000

Bookmakers 18 Stan James

206 Broadway Tel: 01235 811845

75 William Hill 140 Broadway Tel: 0800 223311

79 Ladbrokes 12 Station Road Tel: 0800 0223454

Business and job centres 59(b) Jennings Business Centre

Market Place Tel: 01235 468418

84 Jobcentre Plus 130A Broadway Tel: 0845 6043719


70

178 Recruitment Solutions

125A Broadway Tel: 01235 811544

59(a) Job Pertemps/Drivers Pertemps 5/6 Market Place 01235 819190

Car sales and repairs 162 Julian’s (Ford) garage

Station Road Tel: 01235 818181

173 TC Motors used cars Broadway Tel: 01235 813286

181 Rex Garage Vicarage Road Tel: 01235 813227

168 Didcot Tyre and Exhaust Centre Rich’s Siding, Broadway Tel: 01235 816661

194 Draycott Engineering Rich’s Sidings, Broadway Tel: 01235 819966

196 Figaro Shop Rich’s Sidings, Broadway Tel: 0800 9173119

Cheque cashing 23 Cheque Changers

206 Broadway Tel: 01235 811118

Computer consultants 186 Blue Grit Computers

5 Mereland Road Tel: 01235 210354

Conference facilities 180 Baptist House

129 Broadway Tel: 01235 517700

Dry Cleaners 74 Neater Dry Cleaners

144 Broadway Tel: 01235 812955

125 Sainsbury’s (Johnson Cleaners) The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 814159

Engineering components 195 Allenfield Precision Engineering

Richs Sidings, Broadway Tel: 01235 816880

Estate and lettings agents 16

Hodson’s 220 Broadway Tel: 01235 511406

19 Chancellors

212 Broadway Tel: 01235 811921

20 William Jones 210 Broadway Tel: 01235 812229

38 Lansborough Lettings 184 Broadway Tel: 01235 519393

93 Allen & Harris 135 Broadway Tel: 01235 812333

108 Maxwell Daly 98 Broadway Tel: 01235 811020

120 Lester’s Sales and Lettings 72 Broadway Tel: 01235 519888

172 Barlow Webster Lettings 65A Broadway Tel: 01235 851152

174 Thomas Merrifield 103 Broadway Tel: 01235 813777

Funeral directors 64 Co-operative Funeralcare

6 Market Place Tel: 01235 512266

Hairdressers and beauticians 41 The Gentleman’s Club

180A Broadway Tel: 01235 810035

42 Segais Hairdressers 180 Broadway Tel: 01235 223826

45 Premier Beauty 174 Broadway Tel: 01235 814488

76 Katie’s Nails 138 Broadway Tel: 01235 815400

78 Bladez Hair 3-5 Station Road Tel: 01235 814455

86 Loft Hair 126A Broadway Tel: 01235 815441

105 Spirit 2 Hair 104 Broadway Tel: 01235 811630

106 Gareth Clark 102 Broadway Tel: 01235 811630

112 The Barber Shop 90A Broadway Tel: 01235 811629

113 Tanning Experience

88A Broadway Tel: 01235 810444

135 The Cutting Bar The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 810128

188 Upper Cutz Hair 135A Broadway 01235 519965

Insurance 184 Tower Gate Risk Solutions

81-83 Broadway Tel: 0844 7368326

Opticians 43 Scrivens Optician

172A Broadway Tel: 01235 813305

82 Boots Opticians 130B Broadway Tel: 01235 818695

153 Specsavers The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 517100

Security suppliers 121 AVG Security (burglar alarms)

70 Broadway 01235 815920

Solicitors 92 Slade Legal

137 Broadway Tel: 01235 511211

189 Hedges Solicitors 6 Station Road Tel: 01235 811888

Taxis 179 Pryor’s Taxis

3 Mereland Road Tel: 01235 812345

Travel agents 58 Thomson

150 Broadway Tel: 01235 819994

71 Thomas Cook Market Place Tel: 0844 3357226

85 John Allan Travel 128 Broadway Tel: 01235 819121

Other 4 Didcot Health Centre

Britwell Road Tel: 01235 512288

6 Library and Registration Office 197 Broadway Tel: (library) 01235 813103 (registration office) 0845 1295900

7 Ambulance station Broadway

8 Fire station Broadway

26 Smile Dental Practice 200 Broadway Tel: 01235 817450

29 The Chiropractic Clinic 198A Broadway Tel: 01235 510097

83 Royal Mail Delivery/Sorting/Collections 130 Broadway Tel: 0843 2588865

96 Methodist church Broadway Tel: 01235 813242

99 Train (youth work on Didcot’s streets) 118 Broadway Tel: 01235 519315

158 Sainsbury’s petrol The Orchard Centre Tel: 01235 814159

161 Police station Mereland Road Tel: 0845 8505505

163 SOHA Housing 99 Station Road Tel: 01235 515900

167 South and Vale Carers Centre 5 Lydalls Road Tel: 01235 510212

170 Self Store Depot Rich’s Sidings, Broadway Tel: 01235 815043

171 The House on the Corner bed and breakfast 2C Hagbourne Road Tel: 01235 812806

175 Citizens Advice Bureau 9-15 High St Tel: 0844 4111444

176 Northbourne Centre Church Street Tel: 01235 812516

177 Tree House Play Centre Off Broadway & High Street Tel: 01235 819320

182 Rex Dental Practice 1A Vicarage Road Tel: 0844 5769280

183 Lydalls Nursery School Lydalls Road Tel: 01235 813137

193 Eurodrive Vehicle Hire Rich’s Sidings, Broadway Tel: 01235 819700


71

OTHER SHOPS, TAKEAWAYS AND BUSINESSES OUT OF THE TOWN CENTRE

See the numbers in the coloured circles on the map on page 72 for location.

Shops Takeaway food Businesses

Shops Angling supplies A Acorn Angling

133 Brasenose Road Tel: 01235 816132

C Didcot Angling Centre 36 Wantage Road Tel: 01235 817005

Blinds and shutters F Sure Shutters and Blinds

2A Colborne Road Tel: 01235 519099

Car supplies K Halfords

Unit 3, Wallingford Road Tel: 01235 511643

Chemist N Boots

5 Lostock Place Tel: 01235 811428

Doors and windows O Didcot Windows

Unit 1, Harrier Park, Hawksworth, Southmead Industrial Estate Tel: 01235 811558

Electrical goods P Domestiserve Domestic Appliances

48 Wantage Road Tel: 01235 812777

Flooring R Carpetright

Unit 2, Wallingford Road Tel: 0844 2485777

Florist D Freemans Flowers


General store V Strawberries Discount Store

10 Cockcroft Road Tel: 01235 815511

Groceries W Co-operative

4 Lostock Place Tel: 01235 810867

X Co-operative 62 Wantage Road Tel: 01235 811222

Y Tesco Superstore Wallingford Road Tel: 0845 6779220

Z Tesco Express 18-20 Cockcroft Road

Hi-Fi and audio-visual equipment A7 Henley Designs

Unit 11, Moorbrook, Southmead Industrial Estate Tel: 01235 511166

Lighting A8 DC Lighting Ltd

Unit 11, Harrier Park, Southmead Industrial Estate Tel: 01235 511003

Newsagents A9 K & K News


A10 Cockcroft Stores and post office 2 Cockcroft Road

Pet supplies B Angel Aquarium and Pet Centre


Plumbing supplies A12 Truvalue


Schoolwear A13 Trutex Schoolwear

14 Cockcroft Road Tel: 01235 211011

Second-hand books E The Parlour Bookshop


Takeaway food A15 All Spice

3 Park Road Tel: 01235 813928

A16 Chinese Cottage 7 Park Road Tel: 01235 519838

A17 Crispy Duck 4 Lostock Place Tel: 01235 818088

A18 Golden Bamboo 16 Cockcroft Road Tel: 01235 813642

A19 Ladygrove Fish Bar 6 Lostock Place Tel: 01235 519077

A20 New Beijing 42 Wantage Road Tel: 01235 510606

A21 Smarts Fish and Chips 129 Brasenose Road Tel: 01235 510242

A22 Tahira Tandoori 118 Abbott Road Tel: 01235 759444

A23 Thai Garden 50 Wantage Road Tel: 01235 811995

Businesses Bookmakers G Betfred

12 Cockcroft Road H Stan James Betting Shop

38 Wantage Road Car, motorbike and bicyle parts, sales and repairs I ATS Euromaster

1 Park Road Tel: 01235 812389

J Didcot Auto Centre 5 Cobden Centre, Hawksworth, Southmead Industrial Estate Tel: 01235 816192

L Premier Bikes 6 Park Road Tel: 01235 519195

M SC Car Centre Wantage Road Tel: 01235 511040

Estate agent Q Church Robinson

The Old Post Office, 6 Foxhall Road Tel: 01235 816222

Funeral directors T R & H Barker Funeral Directors


U M & J Didcock Funeral Service 17 Park Road Tel: 01235 510292

Hairdressers A1 Ahead of Hair

44 Park Road Tel: 01235 817429

A2 Andy’s and Jacqui’s Hair 8 Cockcroft Road Tel: 01235 812132

A3 Reflections Men and Women’s Hairdressing 122-124 Abbott Road Tel: 01235 818724

A4 Refresh Hair Design 44 Wantage Road Tel: 01235 818391

A5 Unique Hair Design 7 Lostock Place Tel: 01235 816445

A6 Vivien’s Hair Salon 120 Abbott Road Tel: 01235 812 419

Plant and tool hire A11 Didcot Plant

Basil Hill Road Tel: 01235 814000

Tattoo studio A14 Zoddy Tattoo



72

Cockcroft Road shops Lostock Place shops

SHOPPING

73

SHOPPING

While there is no denying that people come from other towns and villages in Oxfordshire to shop in the big-name chain stores in the Orchard Centre, such as Currys PC World, Next, Sainsbury’s and Argos, there are still some independent shops on Broadway and the surrounding streets and some in the small shopping parades in other parts of Didcot which are worth a trip to (see pages 68, 69 and 71 for a full list of shops). Map references: for town centre shops please see the map of the centre of town showing shops (numbered in red circles) on pages 66–67; for other shops please see the map showing shops (lettered in red circles) on page 72.

A SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT SHOPS

Angling Acorn Angling A 133 Brasenose Road; Tel: 01235 816132 One of the two angling shops in this part of Didcot selling angling equipment and fishing permits and licences. Free parking.

Didcot Angling Centre C 36 Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 817005 The other angling shop, it also sells angling equipment and fishing permits and licences. Free parking.

Cycles Mountain Mania Cycles 115 80-82 Broadway; Tel: 01235 759366; Website: www.mountainmaniacycles.co.uk A wide range of road, mountain and trial bikes, components and accessories. It also has a workshop for servicing, repairs and wheel building.

Delicatessen Balbinka 47 168 Broadway; Tel: 01235 510077; Website: www.balbinka.co.uk A Polish food store and delicatessen. Very popular with the local Polish community.

Fish and aquatic equipment Coxwell Aquatics 13 224 Broadway; Tel: 01235 519502; Website: www.coxwellaquatics.co.uk A surprisingly large shop, hidden in a parade of restaurants and takeaways at the quieter end of Broadway, selling fish, aquariums, aquatic plants, fish food and accessories. Free parking.

Florist Freemans Flowers D 137 Brasenose Road; Tel: 01235 814479; Website: www.freemansflowers.org.uk The only florist’s shop in Didcot. It has flowers for all occasions and also has an online ordering service. Free parking.

Gifts and craft items No Two Things 22 208 Broadway; Tel: 01235 511550; Website: www.notwothings.co.uk Selling beautiful hand-made, artistan craft items, many locally made. It also runs very popular craft workshops.

Meat products Broadway Butchers 40 182A Broadway; Tel: 01235 812238 With its distinctive red and white awning, this traditional butcher’s is very popular. As well as the usual cuts of meat it also sells homemade sausages and freshly-roasted meat, which can be seen in the oven outside the shop and smelt from down the road.

Currys PC World and Sainsbury’s – two of the big-name shops in the Orchard Centre

http://www.balbinka.co.uk/

http://www.coxwellaquatics.co.uk/

http://www.notwothings.co.uk/

SHOPPING

74

Calnan Brothers Butchers 191 5 Hagbourne Road; Tel: 01235 813270; Website: www.calnanbros.com A family-run high-class butcher’s selling meat and meat products, including award-winning homemade sausages, and luxury cheeses. It offers a home-delivery service.

Printer accessories Cartridge UK 102 110 Broadway; Tel: 01235 810200; Website: www.cartridgeuk.com Sells printer cartridges (including refills), paper, printers and PC accessories and offers printing and faxing services. It has so far managed to survive despite the opening of PC World.

Prints and frames The Framing Studio 87 126B Broadway; Tel: 01235 815934; Website: www.framingstudiodidcot.co.uk Sells ready-made frames, mirrors and prints, including prints by local artists such as Linda Benton. It also offers a framing service for photos and paintings.

Second-hand books The Parlour Bookshop E 30 Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 818989 Selling second-hand and rare books. Free parking. Limited

opening hours.

Shoe repairs, key cutting and miscellaneous items Re-Vamp Multiserve Ltd 116 78 Broadway; Tel: 01235 816189 A real treasure trove hidden away at the quieter end of Broadway. Although it is advertised as a shoe-repair and key-cutting shop, it also fits watch batteries, sells signs, trophies, jewellery and bags.

Sweets Sweet Temptations 53 160 Broadway; Tel: 07525 002557; Website: www.sweettemptationsdidcot.com There is a touch of nostalgia in this family-run old-fashioned sweet shop which sells loose sweets, which people of a certain age will remember from their childhood, in jars or as pick and mix. Sweets include timeless favourites such as lemon sherbets, rhubarb and custard, sweet peanuts, milk bottles and sweet tobacco. It also does beautifully presented gift packs.

Toys Toys UK 52 162-164 Broadway; Tel: 01235 759450; Website: www.toys-uk.co.uk A toy shop, selling both traditional toys and games and the latest crazes, which will have to compete with the recently opened The Entertainer toy shop in The Orchard Centre.

Wool Knit Knacks Wool Shop 49 2A Edinburgh Drive; Tel: 01235 816997 The only shop in town selling wools and knitting accessories.

http://www.calnanbros.com/

http://www.cartridgeuk.com/

http://www.framingstudiodidcot.co.uk/

http://www.sweettemptationsdidcot.com/

FOOD AND DRINK

75

FOOD AND DRINK

For the best local produce it is advisable to go to the monthly Didcot Farmers Market or to a farm shop. There are several farm shops in the area, some of which have ‘pick you own’ days where you pick your own produce from the field and pay for what you have picked. Harwell has been associated with fruit growing for centuries and the famous Harwell cherry is still grown at Q Gardens in Steventon.

Local food and drink products to look out for include beef, lamb, pork, sausages, chicken, trout, crayfish, eggs, honey, apples, pears, cherries, plums, damsons, apricots, strawberries, raspberries, black, red and white currants, gooseberries, blackberries, tayberries, greengages, tomatoes, beetroot, cabbage, marrow, pumpkin, asparagus, carrots, corn on the cob, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, meat, fruit pies, bread, cakes, jam, chutney, pickle, cheese, fruit juices, cider and perry.

Brookleas Fish Farm (1), Ludbridge Mill, East Hendred has a shop selling fresh and smoked trout, trout pâté and crayfish and offers ‘catch your own’ facilities. Tel: 01235 820500; Website: www.brookleas.co.uk

The Old Farm Shop (2), Milton Hill, Harwell sells lamb, beef and pork that is raised on the farm. It delivers vegetable boxes containing seasonal fruit and vegetables grown on the farm and offers ‘pick your own’ during the soft fruit season. Tel: 01235 831247; Website: www.theoldfarmshop.co.uk

The Old Farmhouse Bakery (3), by The Meadow Farm, Steventon sells freshly-baked bread ranging from cottage loaves to black olive, pecan and bay plaits, sweet and savoury pastries and cakes. It sells its produce directly from the farm shop which is open from Wednesday to Saturday and at Didcot Farmers Market. Tel: 01235 831230; Website: www.theoldfarmhousebakery.co.uk

Q Gardens (4), Abingdon Road, Milton Hill raises its own lamb and beef and grows the Harwell cherry. It produces its own apple and pear juices and sells bread made with flour from the Wessex Mill in Wantage. It also offers ‘pick your own’ during the soft fruit season. Tel: 01235 820988; Website: www.qgardensfarmshop.co.uk

Didcot has a microbrewery, a cider maker and a vineyard on its doorstep.

Appleford Brewery (5), Highlands Farm, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell produces two ales named after places in the area, Brightwell Gold and Power Station. Brightwell Gold is a light blond beer made with wheat. Power Station is a copper-coloured beer with a malty bitterness. The brewery also periodically produces a third bitter called River Crossing. Bottles can be bought from local stockists including Didcot Farmers Market and Q Gardens (Steventon). Tel: 01235 848055; Website: www.applefordbrewery.co.uk

Hendred Vineyard and Winery (6), Allins Lane, East Hendred grows Seyval Blanc, Madeleine Angevine and Pinot Noir vines which produce still and sparkling white and rosé wines. It occasionally hosts wine tasting days. Bottles and cases can be bought directly from the winery by prior arrangement and also from local stockists including Hendred Stores (East Hendred) and Q Gardens (Steventon). Website: www.hendredvineyard.co.uk

Upton Cider Company (7), Upton Fruit Farm, Upton uses apples grown in the farm’s orchard to produce organic cider in the traditional way. Bottles can be bought from the farm’s shop which is open at weekends from April to September. Tel: 01235 850808; Website: www.uptoncider.co.uk

http://www.brookleas.co.uk/

http://www.theoldfarmshop.co.uk/

http://www.qgardensfarmshop.co.uk/

http://www.applefordbrewery.co.uk/

http://www.hendredvineyard.co.uk/

http://www.uptoncider.co.uk/

EATING AND DRINKING

76

Map references: for town centre restaurants, cafés and pubs please see the map of the centre of town showing restaurants, cafés and pubs (numbered in orange circles) on pages 66–67. The other restaurants, cafés and pubs are lettered.

RESTAURANTS

For a 3-course meal for one, including a half bottle of house wine and a 10% tip: £ = under £20 ££ = £20–£30 £££ = £30–£40 ££££ = £40–£50 £££££ = over £50

Chinese Chopsticks 88 ££ 126 Broadway; Tel: 01235 813333; Website: www.chopsticks-restaurant.co.uk A large, nicely decorated Chinese restaurant. The food is good and excellent value for money and the restaurant is very popular. There is an à la carte menu and an ‘eat as much as you want’ menu, which is a slightly confusing system of having as much appetiser as you want brought to you until you ask for the second course, which again they will keep bringing until you say you are ready for the main course. The crispy duck with pancakes is a very popular second course and you may find you don’t move onto the main course! The ‘eat as much as you want’ menu has a good choice of dishes on it and costs only £15 per person. Open at lunchtime between 12 pm and 2 pm (3 pm on Sunday) and in the evening between 6 pm and 11.30 pm (midnight on Friday and Saturday).

Indian Aroma Grill 17 ££ 218 Broadway; Tel: 01235 510627; Website: www.aromagrill.co.uk This restaurant opened in 2011 and is located close to the Kolkata and Sunkoshi restaurants, but it has proved to be a worthy rival. It is a beautifully decorated large restaurant offering Thai and Chinese dishes as well as Indian. It employs both an Indian and Thai chef. The desserts are disappointingly out of the freezer, but the main courses are authentic and well-prepared. It has entertainment on some nights. Open between 12 pm and 2.30 pm for lunch and between 6 pm and 11 pm (11.30 pm Friday and Saturday). On Sunday there is an eat-as-much-as-you-want buffet.

Indian Dream A ££ 32-34 Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 817711; Website: www.indiandreams.co.uk This restaurant is slightly out of the town centre in an unprepossessing area, but the interior is sophisticated. The manager, Anwar, has created two signature dishes, railway lamb and rosemary tawa. The menu has the usual Indian fare, with Bangladeshi specialities. It has entertainment on some evenings, including an Elvis impersonator and a Michael Jackson tribute performer. Open between 12 pm and 2 pm for lunch (closed Friday) and between 5.30 pm and 11 pm.

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Kolkata 15 ££ 222 Broadway; Tel: 01235 812206; Website: www.kolkatacuisine.co.uk A large restaurant which has recently changed hands and been refurbished with modern decor and furniture. The menu has a good selection of the traditional Indian fare, including tandoori specialities. Time will tell if it can succeed against its more established neighbours, Sunkoshi and Aroma Grill. Open between 12 pm and 2.30 pm for lunch (closed Friday) and between 5.30 pm and 11 pm. On Tuesday there is an eat-as-much-as-you-want buffet.

Sunkoshi Tandoori 11 ££ 226A Broadway; Tel: 01235 812796; Website: sites.google.com/site/sunkoshirestaurant A small restaurant, which is very popular. The tables are a bit too close together when the restaurant is busy. Its popularity is due to the quality of the food and the friendliness of the proprietor, Roshan, and his staff. The menu offers a good choice of traditional Indian dishes and a few Nepalese dishes. Tried and tested dishes include tandoori chicken, chicken or lamb bhuna, karai lamb and mixed vegetable chatpat. Open from 6 pm in the evening. On Sunday there is the option of a lunchtime buffet.

Italian Prezzo 66 £££ 8 Market Place; 01235 511271; Website: www.prezzorestaurants.co.uk/restaurant/didcot Part of a chain of Italian restaurants. It is located in the centre of town between the cinema and the arts centre. The decor is sophisticated, with a terrace overlooking the Orchard Centre. The restaurant is very popular, partly due to the fact that it often has voucher offers where you can get substantial discounts. The menu offers a wide variety of pizza, pasta and meat dishes, plus a mixture of Italian and English desserts. Open all day from 12 pm to 11.30 pm (11 pm on Sunday).

Wildwood Kitchen 80 £££ 8 Station Road; Tel: 01235 519968; Website: www.wildwoodkitchen.co.uk This recently opened restaurant, which is part of a chain, serves Italian food and burgers. It is located in the centre of town opposite the arts centre. The menu includes a variety of pizza, pasta and grilled meat dishes. Desserts include cheesecake and tiramisu. Time will tell if this restaurant can compete with its nearest rival, Prezzo. Open 12 pm to 11 pm (10.30 pm Sunday).

Lebanese Salinas 2 57 ££ 152 Broadway; Tel: 01235 512800; Website: www.salinasdidcot.co.uk An unassuming restaurant, which is a café during the day. There is a good selection of Middle Eastern dishes, including hummus, haloumi, stuffed vine leaves, falafel, kebab and meatballs. The set menus are good value for money. Open between 7.30 am and 5 pm as a café and between 6 pm and 11 pm for dinner on certain nights of the week.

A selection of restaurants outside of Didcot Eyston Arms B ££££ High Street, East Hendred; Tel: 01235 833320; Website: www.eystons.co.uk The historic Eyston Arms pub has been modernised inside to give it a sophisticated look. The chef specialises in fish and has inshore fishermen contacts, so fish dishes are often featured on the specials list. The menu includes cock-a-leekie pie, duck, ribeye steak and vegetarian pad thai. Desserts include sticky toffee pudding and gin and tonic jelly. The wine list features wines from around the world.

The Fish C ££££ 4 Appleford Road, Sutton Courtenay; Tel: 01235 848242; Website: www.thefishatsuttoncourtenay.co.uk Located in a pretty village, this above-average restaurant has a nice conservatory area. It is run by two French chefs and has traditional and modern items with a French feel on the menu. There is a menu du jour and an à la carte menu. Dishes include a cassoulet of Toulouse sausage, duck and pork, sea bass, ribeye steak and vegetable tartlet. There is a good selection of hot and cold desserts, including tarte fine aux pommes flavoured with calvados and hot treacle sponge. Wines from around the world are on the extensive wine menu.

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The Hart of Harwell D £££ High Street, Harwell; Tel: 01235 834511; Website: www.hartofharwell.com The former White Hart pub has recently changed hands and undergone a renovation. The dining area now has a modern light atmosphere and the food is good quality with large portions. Dishes include Barbary duck breast, salmon fillet, rump of lamb and vegetarian wellington, as well as a choice of Sunday roasts. Desserts include chocolate fudge cake, lemon tart, sticky toffee pudding and a selection of British cheeses. The wine list features wines from around the world.

Steventon House Hotel E £££ Milton Hill, Steventon; Tel: 01235 831223; Website: www.steventonhousehotel.co.uk The nicely-decorated brasserie is located in the late-ninetenth-century main building of the former home of both the Singer family and the Eyston family. It is open to non-residents. The home-cooked dishes, using locally-produced ingredients, include fillet of beef, duck breast, fillet of salmon and aubergine cannelloni. Desserts include crème brulée, banoffee Eton mess and rhubarb and plum crumble.

The Sweet Olive F ££££ Baker Street, Aston Tirrold; Tel: 01235 851272; Website: www.sweet-olive.com Run by a French chef, this restaurant has been included in the Egon Ronay Guide to the Best Restaurants and Gastro Pubs (2006), the Michelin Pub Guide and the Good Pub Guide (2010). It offers seasonal dishes cooked with locally-sourced ingredients, which means that the menu evolves daily. French dishes and English dishes sit comfortably beside each other on the blackboard menu. Dishes may include escalope of venison, pan-fried onglet of beef and slow-cooked Moroccan lamb. Although vegetarian dishes are not listed on the main course menu they are on offer if you ask. Desserts include crème brulée, chocolate mess and treacle sponge. The wine list predominantly has French wines, although there are some from other countries listed.

The Vine & Spice G £££ High Street, Long Wittenham; Tel: 01865 409900; Website: www.thevineandspice.co.uk This Indian restaurant is located in an attractive listed building in the centre of the village and has been modernised inside. The garden is a pleasant place to sit on a warm day. It has a good choice of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes which are more inventive than the average Indian restaurant and come thoughtfully presented. This makes it more expensive than an average Indian meal. The wine list features a good selection of wines which start at reasonable prices.

CAFÉS Boswells 144 The Orchard Centre; Tel: 01235 810653; Website: boswellsgroup.com A very popular café in the centre of Didcot that serves breakfast, toasted sandwiches and paninis, burgers, baked potatoes, salads, hot food with chips, cakes and ice cream. It has an outdoor seating area. Open all day Monday to Sunday. Closed in the evening.

Café Bar @ Cornerstone 72 25 Station Road; Tel: 01235 515144; Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org The café in the arts centre offers breakfast, salads, baked potatoes, sandwiches on a variety of breads, plus cakes, pastries, ice creams and afternoon tea. Slightly more expensive than the other cafés in Didcot, but it uses fresh locally-sourced ingredients. There is an outdoor seating area. Open all day and in the evening. Closed on Monday.

Camara’s 34 190 Broadway; Tel: 01235 815520 A small café with friendly staff. It serves breakfast, hot food throughout the day, mainly served with chips, plus burgers, sandwiches, baguettes, paninis, toasted sandwiches and baked potatoes. Open all day. Closed in the evening and all day Sunday.

Sainsbury’s 125 The Orchard Centre; Tel: 01235 814159 A café in the supermarket offering breakfast, hot meals, sandwiches, paninis, baked potatoes and afternoon tea. In a convenient location, but lacking atmosphere. Open all day Monday to Sunday and in the early evening Monday to Saturday.

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Salinas 2 57 152 Broadway; Tel: 01235 512800; Website: www.salinasdidcot.co.uk A small pleasant café which serves breakfast, has a lunchtime menu of paninis, baguettes, wraps and baked potatoes with a Lebanese influence (including hummus, falafel and mezze selections), cakes and pastries and it does the best cappuccino in Didcot. Michael, the manager, is very welcoming and makes all his customers feel special. Open all day. It is open as a Lebanese restaurant on some evenings.

Subway 56 154 Broadway; Tel: 01235 814777; Website: www.subway.co.uk This chain sandwich shop, serving subs, salads and wraps, is very popular with the teenagers of Didcot. Open all day and in the evenings.

PUBS There are nine pubs in Didcot and the general consensus is that they are mediocre at best. Three of them are part of the Greene King chain, which doesn’t offer a large choice of ales and tends to serve pre-cooked food. Broadways and The Wallingford Arms tend to attract groups of drunken youths in the evenings at weekends and are best avoided. While none of the pubs in Didcot are terrible neither is there one that stands out as ‘the place’ to go.

CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale): an organisation, with local groups around the country, which campaigns for pubs to sell traditional ale which has been fermented in the cask. CAMRA produces an annual beer and pub guide, the Good Beer Guide, listing all the pubs that sell the best real ale. The local groups for the Didcot area are the South Oxfordshire branch (Soxon CAMRA) Website: www.soxoncamra.org.uk and the White Horse branch Website: www.whitehorsecamra.org.uk.

Aunt Sally: this is a traditional game played in Oxfordshire, mainly in pub gardens. A ball, also known as a ‘dolly’, is placed on a spike (historically it was a representation of an old woman’s head smoking a clay pipe – the Aunt Sally). Players throw pieces of wood at the ball and try to knock it off without hitting the spike. If a player is successful they score a ‘doll’.

Broadways 81 132 Broadway; Tel: 01235 814924; Website: www.broadwayspub.co.uk Located in a desirable spot in the centre of the town near the Orchard Centre. Satellite sports, home-cooked food, real ales, free WiFi, dartboards, karaoke nights, quiz nights and disco at weekends, outside seating.

The Crown H 187 Queensway; Tel: 01235 210743 Located in a residential area. Real ale, Indian food, satellite TV, pool table and dartboard, karaoke nights, live music, beer garden with Aunt Sally, car park.

The Ladygrove I 23 Cow Lane; Tel: 01235 519218 Located on the Ladygrove estate. Part of the Greene King chain. Sports bar with TV screen and gaming machines and family bar, food (Hungry Horse chain), free WiFi, beer garden, car park.

The Prince of Wales 159 113 Station Road; Tel: 01235 511380 Ideally located opposite the train station. Part of the Greene King chain. Real ale, screens showing train departure and arrival times, quiz nights, open-mic nights, food, WiFi, beer garden, car park.

The Queens Arms 160 2 Manor Road; Tel: 01235 813371 Located in Old Didcot not far from the train station, it is the oldest surviving pub in Didcot. Real ale, bar snacks, karaoke, live music, quiz nights, satellite TV, pool table, dartboard, jukebox, beer garden, car park. It also offers accommodation.

The Royal Oak J 118 Park Road; Tel: 01235 815992 Located in a residential area towards the south-western outskirts of Didcot, not far from Edmonds Park. Part of the Greene King chain. Real ale, food, WiFi, pool table, satellite sports, quiz nights, beer garden, car park.

The Sprat K 24 Hagbourne Road; Tel: 01235 210837 This was the first pub built in Northbourne and is in a residential area on the south-eastern side of Didcot. TV screens, karaoke, disco, quiz nights, pool table, jukebox, beer garden, car park.

The Wallingford Arms L 237 Broadway; Tel: 01235 812282; Website: www.wallyarms.com Located away from the town centre on the crossroads where Foxhall Road, Park Road, Wantage Road and Broadway meet. The pub is very popular at weekends with the younger residents of Didcot. Real ale, food, WiFi, TV screens plus projector screen, pool table, dartboard, gaming machines, beer garden, disco or live band and karaoke at weekends, car park.

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The Wheatsheaf M Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 519114; Website: www.wheatsheafdidcot.co.uk Located in the west of Didcot in a residential area. It is listed in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide. Real ale (often 6 choices), WiFi, jukebox, TV screen, pool table, dartboard, pinball machine, beer garden with children’s play area and Aunt Sally, car park.

There are also some private members clubs with a bar, function room and regular entertainment.

Conservative Sports and Social Club N Foxhall Road; Tel: 01235 210563; Website: www.dicotconservativeclub.co.uk This club meets in a restored barn of the former Morrell’s Farm. Annual membership is £25.

GWRSA Club 198 Station Road; Tel: 01235 813135 This club was the railway workers staff club until the privatisation of the railways. Annual membership is £12.50.

Marlborough Club O 227 Broadway; Tel: 01235 812266; Website: www.marlboroughclubdidcot.co.uk This club dates back to 1928 when it was a brewery with a club for the railway workers and RAOC depot personnel. Annual membership is £21.

Pubs outside of Didcot For a more traditional country pub it is worth going to one of the outlying villages. A few recommendations are:

The Barley Mow Y London Road, Blewbury; Tel: 01235 850296 Real ale, food, beer garden, dartboard, pool table, jukebox, monthly quiz nights, car park.

The Bear at Home Inn P High Street, North Moreton; Tel: 01235 811311; Website: www.bear-at-home.co.uk Originally a fifteenth-century coaching inn. Named Soxon CAMRA pub of the year 2011. Real ale (local and guest ales), freshly-prepared food, real fire, WiFi, quiz nights, dartboard, beer garden with Aunt Sally, car park. It runs an annual beer and cricket festival in July.

The Cherry Tree Inn AC 33 High Street, Steventon; Tel: 01235 831222 Website: www.cherrytreesteventon.co.uk A Wadsworth pub in an 18th-century building. Real ale (7 choices), food, real fire, quiz nights, courtyard garden, car park. Offers accommodation.

The Crown AB High Street, South Moreton; Tel: 01235 759289 A recently reopened Wadsworth pub. Food, live music nights, quiz nights, beer garden, car park.

The Fleur de Lys Q 30 Main Road, East Hagbourne, Tel: 01235 813247; Website: www.thefleurdelyspub.com The pub originates from the seventeenth century. Home-cooked food, monthly themed-food evenings, live folk music nights, quiz nights, dartboard, beer garden with Aunt Sally, car park.

The Fox Inn AD 29 High Street, Steventon; Tel: 01235 821228 Website: www.thefoxatsteventon.co.uk Locally-sourced food, beer garden with Aunt Sally, car park. Offers accommodation.

The George and Dragon Z 4 Church Street, Sutton Courtenay; Tel: 01235 848142 Real ale, food, beer garden, quiz nights, car park.

The George and Dragon R Reading Road, Upton; Tel: 01235 850723; Website: www.uptonpub.moonfruit.com Real ale, homemade food, pool table, free WiFi, beer garden with Aunt Sally, car park.

Hart of Harwell D High Street, Harwell; Tel: 01235 834511; Website: www.hartofharwell.com Real ale, food, free WiFi, beer garden, car park.

The Horse and Harrow S Main Street, West Hagbourne; Tel: 01235 850223 Real ale, food, TV screens, bar-billiards table, pool table, golf machine, jukebox, beer garden with children’s play area, car park.

The Plough Inn T High Street, Long Wittenham; Tel: 01865 407738 A riverside pub in a seventeenth-century listed building. In June it hosts the music festival, Wittfest. Real ale, food, weekly live folk music, riverside beer garden, car park.

The Red Lion V Chapel Lane, Blewbury; Tel: 01235 850403; Website: www.redlionblewbury.co.uk Real ale, food, real fire, locally-sourced, freshly-prepared food, free WiFi, beer garden, car park. The pub also offers accommodation.

The Red Lion U The Street, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell; Tel: 01491 837373; Website: www.redlion.biz A traditional sixteenth-century inn. Named Soxon CAMRA pub of the year 2009, listed in CAMRA Good Beer Guide. Real ale (including beer from the Appleford Brewery), locally-sourced, freshly-prepared food, beer garden, car park.

The Rose and Crown W Main Street, Chilton; Tel: 01235 862992 Locally-sourced, freshly-prepared food, free WiFi, TV screens, quiz nights, dartboard, beer garden with Aunt Sally, car park.

The Swan AA The Green, Sutton Courtenay; Tel: 01235 847446; Website: www.theswanfoodhouse.co.uk A nice location in the centre of the village. It offers food, including fresh fish on Friday and Sunday lunch.

The Wheatsheaf X Chapel Square, East Hendred; Tel: 01235 833229; Website: www.wheatsheafeasthendred.co.uk A traditional sixteenth-century pub. Real ale, locally-sourced, freshly-prepared food, real fire, WiFi, beer garden, car park.

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LIVE MUSIC

Didcot doesn’t have an exciting night scene. There are no trendy nightclubs and fashionable musicans don’t tend to come here. For this type of entertainment you will have to go to Oxford or even London. However, there is a thriving live music scene, largely amateur, with a few professional musicians playing at the Cornerstone and the Civic Hall. A few of the local pubs and clubs have weekend discos. Map references: see the maps on pages 66–67 and 76.

Broadways (81) has a disco every Friday and Saturday. 132 Broadway; Tel: 01235 814924; Website: www.broadwayspub.co.uk

Club Rio at Loop Meadow Stadium (see page 83 – map reference 20) is a disco for anyone over 30, with music from the late 1970s to the current day. It is held on the first Friday of each month. The Didcot Venue at Loop Meadow Stadium also organises live music from tribute bands. Didcot Town Football Club, Loop Meadow Stadium, Bowmont Water; Tel: 01235 813138; Website: www.didcotvenue.co.uk

The Cornerstone Art Centre (72) has performances by professional musicians of all genres in the auditorium, including Juan Martin, Clare Teal and Fairport Acoustic Convention. Ticket prices range from £14 to £17.50. There are also free bar gigs and open-mic nights on the second Tuesday of each month. 25 Station Road; Tel: 01235 515144; Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org

Didcot Civic Hall (2) has occasional live music from bands that were successful in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as other entertainers. Broadway; Tel: 01235 512436; Website: www.didcot.gov.uk/ Whats-on-at-the-Civic-Hall.aspx

The Marlborough Club (O) has occasional live entertainment. 227 Broadway; Tel: 01235 812266; Website: www.marlboroughclubdidcot.co.uk

The Northbourne Centre (see page 24) holds classical and brass band concerts and choral performances. Didcot Arts and Community Association, Church Street; Tel: 01235 812516

The Prince of Wales (159) has an open-mic night on Wednesdays. 113 Station Road; Tel: 01235 511380

The Queens Arms (160) has regular live music including blues and Irish folk. 2 Manor Road; Tel: 01235 813371

Red Hot Blues Club in the GWRSA Club (198). There is live blues music on the third Friday of each month. Entrance costs £5 – pay on the door. Station Road; Tel: 0778 8645989

The Wallingford Arms (L) has a disco at the weekend and guest DJs on Thursday evening. 237 Broadway; Tel: 01235 812282; Website: www.wallyarms.com

The Wheatsheaf (M) has regular live music and open-mic nights. Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 51138; Website: www.wheatsheafdidcot.co.uk

Live music in the Orchard Centre at the Didcot Christmas street fair

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DAYS OUT WITH CHILDREN

Day Out with Thomas at Didcot Railway Centre These days are held several times during the year. On these days the coaches are pulled by characters from the Thomas the Tank Engine stories. An actor playing the Fat Controller oversees proceedings. During the day there are also other activities specifically for children, including a magic show and a Punch and Judy show. (See pages 34–37.) Tel: 01235 817200; Website: www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/ events/thomas.html

Cushion Concerts for Little Ones at Cornerstone Arts Centre These concerts introduce children to classical music and the instruments in a fun way. (See pages 32–33.) Tel: 01235 515144; Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org

Pendon Museum, Long Wittenham The museum shows children how the Vale of the White Horse looked in the 1930s and also shows working models of trains from that period. (See page 47.) Tel: 01865 408143; Website: www.pendonmuseum.com

Activities organised by the Earth Trust The Earth Trust organises outdoor activities for children of all ages, ranging from sensory buggy walks for babies and toddlers to a summer club for 8–12 year olds. (See pages 40–42.) Tel: 01865 407792; Website: www.earthtrust.org.uk

Didcot Wave The Didcot Wave swimming pool has a wave machine, an indoor flume ride and a beach area which are popular with both children and adults. (See page 84.) Newlands Avenue, Tel: 01235 819888; Website: www.better.org.uk/leisure/ didcot-wave-leisure-pool

Milton Manor House, Milton Children will enjoy being in close contact with the ponies, donkey, llamas and hens that roam freely around the grounds. Pony rides around the grounds are also on offer. (See pages 44–46.) Tel: 01235 831287

Didcot Railway Centre

Pendon Museum

Milton Manor House

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SPORTS

Map references: the numbers are given in brackets in the text.

Didcot Town Football Club Didcot has had its own football team since 1907. The present team, Didcot Town Football Club, is nicknamed the ‘Railwaymen’, a nod to the importance of the railway in the history of the town. The team, which wears a red and white shirt, is sponsored by npower, the owners of the Didcot Power Stations. Didcot Town FC plays in the Southern League, alongside Abingdon United, Hungerford Town, Poole Town, Bridgwater Town and Taunton Town, among others. The home ground is the Loop Meadow Stadium, Bowmont Water, Ladygrove (20). It has a main pitch and a training pitch (with plans to build a floodlit all-weather pitch), a seating terrace and two standing terraces. An average crowd of 270 attends League matches. Website: www.didcottownfc.com

In addition to being a spectator at Didcot Town Football Club, there are plenty of opportunities to take part in sports and do exercise in Didcot. Here is a selection.

Adventure Park Culham Adventure Park (4) is a park with high ropes, a tree-top course, a parachute-jump simulator, lasergames, zip slides and archery. Furze Brake Woodland (rear of Culham No 1 Site, off the A415 – 11 km (7 miles) from Didcot); Tel: 01865 727378; Website: www.highropesoxford.com

Basketball The Didcot Devils Basketball Club is a club for children aged 6-18. It meets at Didcot Girls’ School (36). Website: didcotdevils.org

There are basketball courts at Edmonds Park (11) and at Ladygrove Park (19).

Bowls Didcot Bowls Club (5), Britwell Road. Website: www.didcotbowlsclub.co.uk

Cheerleading Didcot has its own cheerleading club, the Didcot Diamonds. Website: www.didcotdiamonds.co.uk

Cricket Didcot Cricket Club plays at Didcot Power Station sports ground (7) where there are 12 pitches. Website: didcotcc.co.uk

Cycling Didcot Phoenix Cycling Club takes part in touring, racing, Audax and off-road events. It holds runs every Sunday. Website: www.didcotphoenix.co.uk

http://www.highropesoxford.com/

http://www.didcotdiamonds.co.uk/

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Football The Didcot Casuals is an amateur football club for children and adults. The teams play in various local leagues and use pitches at Loyd Recreation Ground (21), St Birinus School Playing Field (30), Ladygrove Park (19) and use the Didcot Town FC training pitch (20). Website: www.didcotcasuals.co.uk

Golf Hadden Hill Golf Club (17) is on the eastern outskirts of Didcot. The full-length course overlooks the Downs. It is well drained allowing play for 12 months of the year. The prices listed below give both the weekday price and the weekend price for non-members: 18 holes (£20 or £25) or 9 holes (£12 or £15); 12 holes (£9 or £10) or 6-hole par 3 short course (£5 or £6). Tuition is available. It has open competitions. There is a shop, a clubhouse with a bar serving snacks and meals, a function room and buggy, trolley and electric trolley hire is available. Wallingford Road; Tel: 01235 510410; Website: www.haddenhillgolf.co.uk

Drayton Park Golf Club (10) is between Didcot and Abingdon, just north of Milton. There is a challenging 18-hole course, a par 3 mini 9-hole course and a floodlit covered driving range. Visitors are welcome. There is a clubhouse and a pro shop which hires trolleys, buggies and golf clubs. The prices listed below give both the weekday price and the weekend price for non-members: 18 holes (£20 or £26) or 11 holes (£15 or £18). Steventon Road, Drayton; Tel: 01235 528989; Website: www.draytonparkgolfclubabingdon.co.uk

Gymnastics Grove and Didcot Gymnastics Club holds classes at Didcot Leisure Centre for children aged 2–16. Tel: 07870 486256; Website: www.groveanddidcotgymnastics.co.uk

Indoor play centre Treehouse Play Centre (33) is a soft-play centre for children aged between 0 and 10 years old. 76 Broadway; Tel: 01235 819320; Website: www.thetreehouseplaycentre.co.uk

Judo Didcot Judo Club meets at Fleet Meadow Community Hall, Sandringham Road (14). Tel: 01235 211175; Website: www.kyushindo.info

Karate Didcot Karate School runs classes for children and adults. It meets at Fleet Meadow Community Hall, Sandringham Road (14). Website: www.didcotkarateschool.co.uk

Korfball Korfball is a team game that combines elements of basketball and netball. The Didcot Dragons Korfball Club trains at Willowbrook Leisure Centre (34). Website: www.didcot.korfball.com

Netball Netball sessions are held at Didcot Leisure Centre (8). Tel: 07540 126596; Email: [email protected]

There is also a Didcot Netball Club. Email: [email protected]

Orienteering The Thames Valley Orienteering Club organises an annual Didcot Urban Race on the Ladygrove estate in late August. Website: www.tvoc.org.uk

Pilates Pilates classes are held at Didcot Civic Hall (6), St Birinus School (31), the Conservative Club (2) and the Cornerstone Arts Centre (3).

Rugby

Didcot Rugby Union Football Club trains at St Birinus playing field (30) and plays at Edmonds Park (11). Website: www.pitchero.com/clubs/didcotrufc

Running The 4 km (2.5 mile) Ladygrove Loop is a perfect place to run. If you prefer running with a club the local running club is the Didcot Runners. Website: didcotrunners.co.uk

If you prefer drinking along with running, there is a Didcot branch of the Hash House Harriers. Website: www.didcoth3.org

Skate park The skate park in Ladygrove Park (19) is popular with children and teenagers with BMX bikes and scooters, as well as skateboards.

Squash Didcot Squash Club meets at Didcot Leisure Centre (8). Website: www.didcotsquash.talktalk.net

http://www.haddenhillgolf.co.uk/

http://www.thetreehouseplaycentre.co.uk/

http://www.didcotkarateschool.co.uk/

http://www.didcot.korfball.com/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.tvoc.org.uk/

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Swimming Didcot Wave (9) The indoor swimming pool has a beach area, waves and a flume. As well as general swimming, it offers adult-only and women-only swimming sessions, aqua aerobics classes, swimming lessons and hosts children's birthday parties. Newlands Avenue; Tel: 01235 819888; Website: www.better.org.uk/ leisure/didcot-wave-leisure-pool

Didcot Barramundi Swim Club is a competitive club which trains at Didcot Wave. Website: www.barramundi-swimclub.com

Table tennis Ladygrove Table Tennis Club meets at Willowbrook Leisure Centre (34).

Taekwon-Do Classes are held at the Cornerstone Arts Centre (3), Didcot Leisure Centre (8), Willowbrook Leisure Centre (34) and Fleet Meadow Community Hall (14).

Miller Schools of Taekwon_Do Website: www.millertkd.com

Oxfordshire Taekwon-Do Tel: 07831 950 850; Website: www.oxfordshiretkd.co.uk

Phoenix Tae Kwon Do Club Tel: 0751 541 0428; Website: [email protected]

Tae Kwon-Do Association of Great Britain Tel: 07968 242231; Website: www.self-defence.org.uk

T’ai chi Classes are held in Didcot Methodist Church Hall, Broadway (35). Tel: 01491 200471; Website: www.threetreasurestaiji.co.uk and at Didcot Leisure Centre (8).

Tennis There are public courts at Edmonds Park (11) and at Ladygrove Park (19).

Didcot Community Tennis Club is an affordable club which accepts members of all abilities. It offers a coaching programme. Tel: 01235 841542; Website: www.didcotctc.co.uk

Walking groups Didcot and Wallingford Ramblers Group organises walks on the South Chilterns, Thames Path and Berkshire Downs. Website: www.ramblers-oxon.org.uk/DW.htm

Walking for Health organises health walks on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The start point is detailed on the website. Tel: 01235 835358; Website: www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/ walkfinder/south-east/didcot-health-walks

Yoga Yoga classes are held at Didcot Civic Hall (6), All Saints Youth and Community Hall (1), Didcot Town football club (20), Didcot Leisure Centre (8), Iron Works Gym (18), Ladygrove Community Centre (37), St Birinus School (31), King Alfred Drive Community Centre (38) and the Cornerstone Arts Centre (3).

Zumba® Zumba® classes are held at St Birinus School (31), Manor School (22), Didcot Town football club (20), Didcot Civic Hall (6), Willowbrook Leisure Centre (34), All Saints Youth and Community Hall (1), GWRSA Club (16), the Conservative Club (2) and the Marlborough Club (23).

Sports centres There are three council-run leisure centres offering a variety of exercise classes and sporting activities:

Didcot Leisure Centre (8) offers workout classes, has a sports hall for ball games, racquet games, trampolining and gymnastics and squash courts. Hosts children’s birthday parties. Has sunbeds and a bar. Mereland Road; Tel: 01235 811250; Website: www.better.org.uk/leisure/ didcot-leisure-centre

Didcot Wave (9) in addition to the swimming pool, it has a gym with equipment and a café. Newlands Avenue; Tel: 01235 819888; Website: www.better.org.uk/ leisure/didcot-wave-leisure-pool

Willowbrook Leisure Centre (34) offers workout classes, spinning classes, has gym equipment, a sports hall for ball games, racquet sports and gymnastics and a café. Organises school holiday activities. Bowmont Water, Ladygrove; Tel: 01235 812058; Website: www.soll-leisure.co.uk/ didcot-sollutions.html

There are also privately-run gyms. Prices range from £21–£48 depending on the facilities. Classes are also held at other buildings in the town.

The Cornerstone Arts Centre (3) offers many different types of dance classes, plus yoga and pilates classes. Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org

http://www.oxfordshiretkd.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]

http://mma-clubs.com/www.self-defence.org.uk

http://www.threetreasurestaiji.co.uk/

http://www.ramblers-oxon.org.uk/DW.htm

http://www.cornerstone-arts.org/

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Didcot Civic Hall (6) holds classes in yoga, pilates, ballroom dancing, line dancing, Egyptian dance, Zumba®

and Ceroc. Website: www.didcot.gov.uk/ Whats-on-at-the-Civic-Hall.aspx

The Exercise Lounge (12) has fitness equipment, a beautician and sun beds and runs a few classes. Cheaper than many of the other gyms, but smaller. 224 Broadway; Tel: 01235 512111; Website: www.theexerciselounge.co.uk

Iron Works Gym (18) is a body-building gym. It also runs spin classes and yoga classes. Suite 2, 174 Broadway; Tel: 07747 563643

The Park Club (27) is a well-maintained gym popular with Milton Park employees. It has a sports hall, a gym with a good selection of equipment, two studios and a 20 m pool. It also has therapy rooms offering massage and beauty treatments and a café. Located out of Didcot on the Milton Park business estate. 17 Milton Park, Abingdon; Tel: 01235 206777; Website: www.parkclub.co.uk

RE:DEFINED (28) has fitness equipment, three studios, a solarium, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. Also houses RE:TREAT beauty and spa. Lower Broadway; Tel: 01235 811007; Website: WWW.REDEFINEDOXFORD.CO.UK (RE:TREAT beauty and spa: Tel: 01235 810328; Website: WWW.RETREATOXFORD.CO.UK)

Various exercise classes are also held at the Conservative Club (2), St Birinus School (31), Loop Meadow Stadium (20), All Saints Youth and Community Hall (1), Ladygrove Community Centre (37), GWRSA Club (16), the Marlborough Club (23) and King Alfred Drive Community Centre (38).

Public gardens and parks Edmonds Park, Park Road (11)

Fleet Meadow Community Garden, Sandringham Road (13)

Loyd Recreation Ground, Brasenose Road (21)

Mowbray Fields, Mowbray Road (26)

Stubbings Land, Collingwood Avenue (32)

Children’s playgrounds Edmonds Park, Park Road (11)

Great Western Drive Park, Great Western Drive (15)

Ladygrove Park (19)

Loyd Recreation Ground, Brasenose Road (21)

Marsh Recreation Ground, Fleet Way (24)

Mendip Heights Play Area, Mendip Heights (25)

Smallbone Recreation Park, Britwell Road (29)

Edmonds Park

Loyd Recreation Ground

http://www.theexerciselounge.co.uk/

http://www.redefinedoxford.co.uk/

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DIRECTORY

Adult education Abingdon & Witney College; Tel: 01235 555585; Website: www.abingdon-witney.ac.uk Offers vocational, A-level and higher education courses. The two campuses, in Abingdon and Witney, also offer evening classes.

Learn Direct, Unit 1, The Allen Building, Lower Broadway; Tel: 01235 515375; Website: www.learndirect.co.uk Offers qualifications in IT, English, maths and business skills.

Oxfordshire Adult Learning; Tel: 0845 3510646; Website: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/ public-site/adult-learning-courses Courses are held at various locations across Oxfordshire. Courses on offer in Didcot vary from year to year, but can include courses as diverse as drawing and painting, GCSE English, working as a teaching assistant and exercise to music. The courses are held at various venues in Didcot, including the Didcot Conservative Club, the Civic Hall, King Alfred Drive Community Centre and St Birinus Boys’ School.

University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education; Tel: 01865 280892; Website: www.conted.ox.ac.uk As you would expect from the University of Oxford, courses on academic subjects are on offer, from the departments of archaeology, architectural history, art history, classics, computing and mathematics, creative writing, economics, film studies, history and politics, language studies and languages, literature, local and social history, music, philosophy, physical sciences, psychology and counselling and religious studies. Courses are mainly held at Rewley House in the centre of Oxford and Ewert House in Summertown, Oxford.

Allotments There are five allotment sites in Didcot owned by Didcot Town Council; Tel: 01235 812637 Broadway Cockcroft Road Mereland Road New Road Wantage Road

Arts centre Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road; Tel: 01235 515144; Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org

Arts society Didcot Arts Society meets at the Civic Hall on the last Tuesday evening of each month.

Awards Didcot First and Didcot Chamber of Commerce Business and Community Awards (BACAs) are awarded annually to local businesses who excel in categories including positive promotion, community involvement, ethical stance and customer service. The ceremony is held in October at the Cornerstone Arts Centre.

The John Eldridge Award is given annually for outstanding voluntary or charity work. The ceremony is held in December at the Civic Hall.

Bingo New Coronet Bingo Club holds bingo sessions every evening and on some afternoons every week. The art-deco building (dating from 1933) was originally a cinema. It has been a bingo hall since the 1980s. Broadway; Tel 01235 812038; Website: www.coronetbingo.com

Blood donation sessions These are held at the Civic Hall and Didcot Town football club. See www.didcot.com/info/donateblood.cgi for a list of dates and venues.

Car and van rental Hotsons Eurodrive, Rich’s Sidings, Broadway; Tel: 01235 819700; Website: www.eurodriveuk.com

Rabbits Vehicle Hire, Unit 4, Building A, Lower Broadway; Tel: 01235 511889; Website: www.rabbitsvehiclehire.co.uk/didcot.php

Sixt Didcot, Unit 4, Building A, Lower Broadway; Tel: 0844 2486620; Website: www.sixt.com/ car-rental/united-kingdom/didcot-oxfordshire

Cashpoint machines in town centre Barclays Bank, Broadway

Halifax Building Society, Orchard Centre

HSBC Bank, Broadway

Lloyds TSB Bank, Market Place

Nationwide Building Society, Broadway

NatWest Bank, Broadway

Sainsbury’s, Orchard Centre

Santander Bank, Broadway

Cemetery Kynaston Road – managed by Didcot Town Council.

Chemists Chemists are available on a rota to make up prescriptions outside their normal opening hours. Check The Didcot Herald, where there is a list of the chemists’ rota for that week.

Boots, 5 Lostock Place, Ladygrove; Tel: 01235 811428

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Lloyds Pharmacy, Didcot Health Centre, Britwell Road; Tel: 01235 812116

Lloyds Pharmacy, Woodlands Health Centre, Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 812242

Sainsbury’s Pharmacy, The Orchard Centre; Tel: 01235 814159

Tesco In-store Pharmacy, Wallingford Road; Tel: 01235 707549

Chiropractors The Chiropractic Clinic, 198a Broadway; Tel: 01235 510097; Website: www.thechiropractic-clinic.co.uk

Didcot Chiropractic Clinic, Didcot Health Centre, Britwell Rd; Tel: 01235 554435; Website: www.didcotchiropractic.co.uk

Cinema Cineworld, 27 Station Road; Tel: 0871 2002000; Website: www.cineworld.co.uk/cinemas/17 Shows mainly blockbusters and children’s films. Art house films are shown in Oxford.

Didcot Film Club meets once a month at the Cornerstone Arts Centre showing Hollywood classics, foreign language and British independent films. Membership is £5 per person per year. Email: [email protected] or contact the Cornerstone Arts Centre; Tel: 01235 515144; Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org

Citizens Advice Bureau Dales, 9-15 High Street; Tel: 08444 111444; Website: www.adviceguide.org.uk

Community centres Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road; Tel: 01235 512436; Website: www.didcot.gov.uk/Didcot-Civic-Hall.aspx

Fleet Meadow Community Hall, Sandringham Road; Tel: 01235 511985

King Alfred Drive Community Centre, King Alfred Drive (near the Edinburgh Drive car park); Tel: 01235 816745

Ladygrove Community Centre, Tamar Way; Tel: 01235 813048

Council offices and resident information Didcot Angle – a website with useful information for residents, including weekly listings of what is happening in the area and a forum for residents. Website: www.didcot.com

Didcot First – works to promote Didcot in a positive way. The Orchard Centre; Tel: 01235 815 856; Website: www.didcotfirst.org.uk

Didcot Town Council, Britwell Road; Tel: 01235 812637; Website: www.didcot.gov.uk

Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, New Road, Oxford; Tel: 01865 792422; Website: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk

South Oxfordshire District Council, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford; Tel: 01491 823000; Website: www.southoxon.gov.uk

Dance and stage schools Bernadine Soul School of Dance runs classes in ballet, tap and modern jazz at various venues. Tel: 01235 510710

The Cornerstone Arts Centre runs singing and dancing classes. Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org

Enchanted Players, GWRSA Club, Station Road. Drama classes for 4–18 year olds. Tel: 07950 298720; Website: www.enchantedplayers.co.uk

Forbes Theatre Arts Oxford, Ladygrove Community Centre. Classes in dancing, singing and acting for 6–18 year olds on Saturday morning. Tel: 07802 531459; www.forbestheatreartsoxford.com

Performing Angels & Stars Stage School, St Birinus Boys’ School. Classes in dance, drama and singing for 2–14 year olds. Tel: 01235 819439; Website: www.performingangelsstageschooldidcot.co.uk

Step in Time, Didcot Leisure Centre. Classes for children in tap, modern theatre and ballet. Tel: 07921 525114

Dentists Busby House Dental Centre, 13 Hagbourne Road; Tel: 01235 816486; Website: www.busbyhouse.co.uk

Ladygrove Dental Practice, 8 Lostock Place; Tel: 01235 815000; Website: www.didcotdentist.co.uk

Rex Dental Practice, 1A Vicarage Road; Tel: 0844 5769280; Website: www.rexdentalpracticedidcot.co.uk

The Smile Practice, 200A Broadway; Tel: 01235 813245; Website: www.thesmilepractice.com

DIY shops B&Q, 11 Nuffield Way, Abingdon; Tel: 01235 550022; Website: www.diy.com

Homebase, Fairacres, Marcham Road, Abingdon; Tel: 0845 6407620; Website: www.homebase.co.uk

Dog Training Didcot & District Dog Training Club holds classes at different levels and hosts events. Meets on Sundays at Steventon village hall. Website: www.didcotanddistrictdogtrainingclub.co.uk

Garden centres Savages is a garden centre and farm shop selling plants, fruit and vegetables. It has a café. London Road, Blewbury; Tel: 01235 850352

St Peter’s Nursery & Farm Shop, St Peters Farm, Bear Lane, North Moreton; Tel: 01235 511 348 (Closed Mondays, except bank holidays.)

Wyevale Garden Centre, Newbury Road, Chilton; Tel: 01235 833900; Website: www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/ garden-centres/Chilton-Garden-Centre/B

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Health centres and hospitals Didcot Community Hospital, Wantage Road (minor casualty only, out of surgery hours); Tel: 01235 205860

Didcot Health Centre, Britwell Road; Tel: 01235 512288; Website: www.didcothealthcentre.com

John Radcliffe Hospital Emergency Department, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford; Tel: 01865 741166

Oak Tree Health Centre, Tyne Avenue; Tel: 01235 810099; Website: www.oaktreehc.co.uk

Woodlands Medical Centre, Woodlands Road; Tel: 0844 4778664; Website: www.woodlandsmedicalcentre.com

Horticultural Association Didcot and District Horticultural Association has a small gardening shop in a hut in Laburnum Grove, off Mereland Road. Open on Saturdays 10 am–12 pm.

Internet and computer access Didcot library has computers with Internet access upstairs. It is free to use a computer but charges are made for printing. There is a time-limit for computer usage. 197 Broadway; Tel: 01235 813103; Website: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/didcotlibrary

WiFi is available in various places in Didcot: Didcot library, Café Bar @ Cornerstone, Boswells, Broadways, The Ladygrove, The Prince of Wales, The Royal Oak, The Wallingford Arms, The Wheatsheaf and Didcot Parkway station.

Job centre Jobcentre Plus, 130A Broadway; Tel: 01235 703800; Website: www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk

Launderette and dry cleaners Didcot Laundrette, 4 Cockcroft Road; Tel: 01235 813667

Johnson Cleaners, Sainsbury’s, The Orchard Centre; Tel: 01235 814159

Neater Dry Cleaners, 144 Broadway; Tel: 01235 812955

Library Didcot library, 197 Broadway; Tel: 01235 813103; Website: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/didcotlibrary It holds a fortnightly ‘rhymetime’ session for children under five on alternate Fridays and an adult reading group meets there once a month.

Local history Didcot and District Archaeological and Historical Society meets at 7.30 pm on the second Thursday of each month (October to June). Website: www.ddahs.org.uk

Modelling club Didcot Miniature Marvels is a dolls house club which meets monthly in King Alfred Drive Community Centre. Tel: 01235 814194

Newspapers and other publications The Didcot Herald comes out every Wednesday (45p). It is part of the Herald Series of newspapers, of which there is one for several of the towns (Abingdon, Wallingford and Wantage and Grove) in the area. This means that although the front-page story and the sports pages are specific to Didcot, the rest of the news in the paper is repeated from the other papers and isn’t of relevance to Didcot residents. As well as local news it has local classified ads and announcements and a property section.

The Oxfordshire Guardian (South Oxfordshire & Vale of White Horse) is a free weekly newspaper which is published on Thursdays). It has news from Oxfordshire with some local news and sport from the towns and villages in the area, classified ads and a Property Weekly section. Copies are delivered to some local residents and are also available from Sainsbury’s, the Cornerstone Arts Centre, Cineworld and from outside many estate agents.

For news about Oxford and Oxfordshire read The Oxford Times (published on Fridays).

News and traffic reports for Oxfordshire can also be heard on the following Oxford-based radio stations:

BBC Radio Oxford 95.2

Heart Oxford 102.6 & 97.4

Jack fm 106

Other free publications containing news about local events include:

Didcot Diary – an online magazine published by Didcot Town Council with news about the different projects the council is involved in and upcoming events. Published several times a year. Website: www.didcot.gov.uk/Didcot-Diary.aspx

The Didcot Review Magazine – this A4 black and white magazine is produced by a group of local people and it focuses on news and events in Didcot, with regular features, including interviews with residents, a word from the local MP and an update from the local police. Published monthly.

Pick South Oxfordshire – a bimonthly A5 glossy magazine which includes local news and information about events in Didcot, Abingdon, Wantage, Wallingford, Faringdon and Stanford in the Vale. It is available from some local shops and businesses.

Round & About – this A5 magazine is based around small notices for local non-profit events, with lots of adverts for local businesses. Published monthly.

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Opticians Boots Opticians, 130B Broadway; Tel: 01235 818695; Website: www.boots.com

Scrivens Optician, 172A Broadway; Tel: 01235 813305; Website: www.scrivens.com

Specsavers, The Orchard Centre; Tel: 01235 517100; Website: www.specsavers.co.uk

Orchestra The Didcot and Wallingford Orchestra meets at the Northbourne Centre on Monday evenings. Tel: 01865 276738; Website: www.didcotorchestra.org.uk

Osteopaths Osteopathy Didcot, Market Place; Tel: 01235 519700; Website: www.osteopathydidcot.co.uk

Woodlands Medical Centre, Woodlands Road; Tel: 07771 640860; Website: elizabeth-hardy.co.uk

Petrol stations BP, Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 814714

Sainsbury’s, Central Drive; Tel: 01235 814159

Shell, Broadway; Tel: 01235 515040

Tesco, Wallingford Road; Tel: 01235 819393

Places of worship Although Didcot is becoming a multi-cultural town, the religious emphasis is still on Christianity.

Anglican/Baptist Ladygrove Church, Ladygrove Community Centre, Tamar Way; Tel: 01235 819036; Website: www.theladygrovechurch.org.uk

Baptist Didcot Baptist Church, Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 813187; Website: www.didcotbaptist.org.uk

Fleet Meadow Baptist Church, Fleet Meadow Community Hall, Sandringham Road; Tel: 01235 819012; Website: www.fmbc.org.uk

Catholic English Martyrs Catholic Church, Manor Crescent; Tel: 01235 812338; Website: www.thamesisis.org.uk/churches/ emsj/english_martyrs/index.html

Church of England All Saints’ Church, Lydalls Road; Tel: 01235 813244; Website: www.didcotallsaints.org.uk

St Peter’s Church, Newlands Avenue; Tel: 01235 812114; Website: www.stpeters-didcot.org.uk

Methodist Didcot Methodist Church, Broadway; Tel: 01235 813242

Muslim Didcot Muslim Society organises Friday prayers at 1.20 pm at Fleet Meadow Community Hall, Sandringham Road

Other Christian Brethren Meeting Room, Foxhall Road; Tel: 01235 519660

Didcot Community Church, Barnes Road; Tel: 07541 028588; Website: www.didcotcommunitychurch.org.uk

Jehovah’s Witnesses, 55 Edinburgh Drive; Tel: 01235 814008

The King’s Church, St Birinus School, Mereland Road; Tel: 01235 848422; Website: www.occ.org.uk/didcot

Ridgeway Community Church, The Vibe Youth Centre, Park Road; Tel: 01491 832718; Website: www.didcotchurch.org.uk

Political parties At the time of writing the MP for the Wantage & Didcot constituency is Ed Vaizey (Conservative). Email: [email protected]; Website: www.vaizey.com

Oxfordshire Green Party Website: www.oxford.greenparty.org.uk

Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats Website: www.wantagelibdems.org.uk

Wantage Constituency Conservative Party Website: www.oxfordshireconservatives.com

Wantage Constituency Labour Party Website: www.wantlabour.org.uk

Post offices Cockcroft Road Post Office (in the newsagent’s), 2 Cockcroft Road; Tel: 01235 812696

Didcot Post Office (in WHSmith), 188 Broadway; Tel: 01235 812442

Georgetown Post Office (in Co-operative), 52-60 Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 812286

Public toilets There are public toilets in the Orchard Centre by the bus stops on High Street. There are also toilets in Sainsbury’s and the Cornerstone Arts Centre.

Recycling banks Ambulance station: clothing, shoes and textiles.

Broadway (outside Co-operative, outside Subway and opposite Salinas 2): cans, paper, card, plastic and glass.

Cash for Clothes (Orchard Centre car park) – pays cash for clothes and shoes (50p per kilo).

Conservative Club car park: clothing and shoes.

Didcot Wave car park: glass.

Edinburgh Drive car park: clothing, shoes, textiles, books, videos, DVDs, CDs and video games.

Fire station: clothing, linen, handbags and shoes.

Marlborough Club car park: clothing and shoes.

Orchard Centre car park: clothing, shoes and textiles.

Tesco car park: paper, cardboard, tins, cans, juice cartons, glass, household plastic packaging, aerosols, books, clothing, shoes and textiles and small electrical items.

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Waste Recycling Centre, Steventon Road, Drayton (between Steventon and Abingdon): glass, engine oil, cardboard, paper, garden waste, scrap metal, car batteries and domestic appliances.

Registration office 197 Broadway; Tel: 0845 1295900; Website: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/ content/registration-offices

Residential homes and supported housing Amber House III, 4 King Walk; Tel: 01235 813454; Website: www.alliedcare.co.uk/ amber_house3_oxfordshire.htm

Amber House, 25/27 Norreys Road; Tel: 01235 512509

Brook House Residential Care Home, 19 Ockley Brook; Tel: 01235 818926

Hanover Court (housing with support), Craven Way; Website: www.hanover.org.uk

Marlborough Court Private Retirement Home (housing with support), Fairacres Road; Tel: 01235 510285

The Meadows, Britwell Road; Tel: 01235 518440

Rymans Court (housing with support), Britwell Road; Tel: 0845 8805560

Woodview, 97 Wantage Road; Tel: 01235 814939

Schools Pre-school, Nursery and Primary All Saints C E Primary, Tamar Way; Tel: 01235 819143; Website: www.all-saints.oxon.sch.uk

Greenmere Primary, Mereland Road; Tel: 01235 813304

Hadden Hill Nursery and Pre-school, Hadden Hill; Tel: 01235 813202; Website: www.oxfordshirenurseries.co.uk/haddenhill

Ladybird Pre-school, Manor School Grounds, Lydalls Close; Tel: 01235 519990

Ladygrove Day Nursery and Nursery School, 1 Lostock Place; Tel: 01235 519218

Ladygrove Park Primary, Avon Way; Tel: 01235 519235; Website: www.ladygrove-park.oxon.sch.uk

Lydalls Nursery, Lydalls Road; Tel: 01235 813137; Website: www.lydallsnurseryschool.co.uk

Manor Primary, Lydalls Close; Tel: 01235 812762; Website: public.klp.rm.com/establishments/ 9312597/PublicpageManorSchool/Pages/default.aspx

Northbourne C E Primary, Cockcroft Road; Tel: 01235 817744; Website: www.northbourne-school.org.uk

Stephen Freeman Children’s Centre, Freeman Road; Tel: 01235 814718; Website: www.stephen-freeman.oxon.sch.uk

Stephen Freeman Community Primary, Freeman Road; Tel: 01235 814718; Website: www.stephen-freeman.oxon.sch.uk

Stepping Stones Pre-school (associated with Didcot Baptist Church), Northbourne School; Tel: 07983 622521; Website: www.didcotbaptist.org.uk/ regular-activities/preschool/

Willowcroft Community School, Mereland Road; Tel: 01235 813304; Website: www.willowcroft.org.uk

The Willows Pre-school, Willowbrook Leisure Centre, Bowmont Water; Tel: 01235 81036; Website: www.thewillowspreschool.org

Secondary Didcot Girls’ School, Sherwood Road; Tel: 01235 812092; Website: www.didcotgirls.oxon.sch.uk

Didcot Sixth Form College, a partnership between Didcot Girls’ School and St Birinus Boys’ School; Website: www.didcotsixthformcollege.co.uk

St Birinus Boys’ School, Mereland Road; Tel: 01235 814444; Website: www.st-birinus-school.org.uk

Scouts, Guides, Girls’ Brigade, Air Cadets and St John Ambulance There are several Scouting groups in Didcot divided up into Beavers, Cubs and Scouts: 2nd Didcot Methodist Scouts; Website: www.didcotscouts.co.uk

12th Didcot (Ladygrove) Scouts; Website: www.12thdidcotscouts.org.uk

15th Didcot Scout Group; Website: www.15thdidcotscoutgroup.co.uk

23rd Didcot (All Saints) Sea Scouts; Website: www.didcotscouts.co.uk

There are two Guiding packs in Didcot, one Rainbow pack and three Brownie packs: 1st Didcot Guides; Website: www.didcotguiding.org/ 1st_didcot_guides.shtml

2nd Didcot Downs Guides; Website: www.didcotguiding.org/ 2nd_didcot_downs_guides.shtml

1st Didcot Girls’ Brigade, Didcot Baptist Church Centre, Wantage Road; Website: www.didcotbaptist.org.uk/ regular-activities/girls-brigade/

Air Cadets – 2410 (Didcot) Squadron meet in Trenchard Hall, Newlands Road; Website: www.aircadets.tv/2410

St John Ambulance, St Birinus School, Mereland Road; Tel: 01865 378228

Social groups for adults Didcot and District University of the Third Age (U3A) – a group for retired people to share learning experiences for fun. It meets on the third Tuesday of each month at Didcot Civic Hall. Tel: 01235 211291; Website: www.u3a.org.uk

Didcot Day Centre – a meeting place for people over 65 which offers lunch and activities. Britwell Road; Tel: 01235 518444

Didcot Ladies Afternoon Group – a group for women interested in arts, crafts and the sciences. The group meets on the third Wednesday of each month at Didcot Civic Hall.

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Didcot Plus – a group for 18–35 year olds (part of the National Federation of Plus Areas) which organises activities throughout the year. It meets every Thursday at The Fleur-De-Lys, 30 Main Road, East Hagbourne. Website: www.plusgroups.org.uk/plus/ntca/didcot/

Didcot United Services Association – a social group for former members of the armed services, meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday evening of each month in King Alfred Drive Community Centre.

Didcot Women’s Institute – meets in the evening on the third Wednesday of each month at Didcot Civic Hall. Website: www.thewi.org.uk

Hand of Friendship support group – meets in the afternoon on the first Tuesday of the month (October to May) at Didcot Civic Hall.

The Rotary Club of Didcot – a group made up of retired professionals and business people who do voluntary service work (part of the Rotary International organisation). The group organises the Loyd Recreation Ground fireworks in November. They meet every Thursday lunchtime at the Steventon House Hotel, Milton Hill, Steventon. Website: www.didcotrotary.org.uk

South Oxfordshire Probus Club – a club for retired and semi-retired senior professional and business people who live in rural areas of South Oxfordshire. It holds monthly lunches, talks and social activities. Meetings are held at the White Hart Hotel, Dorchester-on-Thames.

Sustainable Didcot – meets to discuss a greener lifestyle. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday evening of the month in the SOHA West Wing Hall, Lydalls Road. Website: www.sustainabledidcot.org

Townswomen’s Guild – meets in the afternoon on the first Monday of each month at Didcot Civic Hall.

Supermarkets Sainsbury’s, The Orchard Centre; Tel: 01235 814159; Website: www.sainsburys.co.uk

Tesco, Wallingford Road – open 24 hours Tuesday to Friday; Tel: 0845 6779220, Website: www.tesco.com

Theatrical groups and choirs Abingdon Operatic Society Based in Abingdon. It puts on two musical shows a year. Website: www.abingdonoperatic.co.uk

Didcot Choral Society A mixed-voice choir of over 60 singers which performs three concerts a year. Website: www.didcot-choral-society.org.uk

Didcot Festival Chorus An adult choir that performs with the St Birinus school choir, professional soloists and the Oxford Symphony Orchestra. Email: [email protected]

Didcot Community Gospel Choir Formed in 2009, the choir puts on occasional performances. Website: www.didcot-gospel.co.uk

The Didcot Phoenix Drama Group It puts on three shows a year, including a pantomime. Website: www.didcotphoenixdrama.co.uk

Rock ChoirTM The Didcot branch of the national Rock ChoirTM meets weekly on Thursday evenings at Ladygrove Community Centre. Website: www.rockchoir.com

Synergy A variety group based in Didcot. Tel: 01235 511515

Wantage Stage Musical Company Based in Wantage. It usually puts on one musical and one or two variety shows a year. Website: www.wantagestagemusical.co.uk

Tourist information Didcot Town Council, Britwell Road; Tel: 01235 812637; Website: www.didcot.gov.uk

For tourist information about the southern Oxfordshire area, from Henley-on-Thames to Uffington, see: www.southernoxfordshire.com

Twin-town association Didcot-Meylan and Didcot-Planegg Twinning Association; Website: www.didcottwinning.org.uk

Vets Hadden Hill Veterinary Surgery, Wallingford Road; Tel: 01235 511553; Website: www.abivale.com/didcot.html

Larkmead Veterinary Group, 111–113 Park Road; Tel: 01235 814991; Website: www.larkmead.co.uk

Volunteer groups Didcot Good Neighbour Scheme, Didcot Day Centre, Britwell Road; Tel: 07592 326777; Website: www.dgns.org.uk

Didcot Volunteer Centre, Rear of Methodist Church, Broadway; Tel: 01235 816709; Website: localgiving.com/DidcotVolunteerCentre

League of Friends of Didcot Hospital; Tel: 01235 815298

Writing groups A Creative Writing Course is held at Cornerstone Arts Centre; Tel: 01235 515144; Website: www.cornerstone-arts.org

Didcot Writers for Pleasure; Tel: 01235 818574; Email: [email protected]

Youth clubs Didcot Early Intervention Hub, The Vibe Youth Centre, Park Road; Tel: 01865 328480; Website: www.oxme.info

Ladygrove Youth Club, Willowbrook Leisure Centre. Held on Friday nights for 13–17 year olds.

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INDEX

A Abbot of Dorchester (see people of note, de Dudcote, Ralph) Abingdon 3 accent (see North Berkshire, accent) accommodation 65 bed and breakfasts 65 hotel 65 All Saints’ Church 3, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23 Betjamin, John 23 graveyard 51 allotments 11, 12, 14 Appleford 4, 49, 50, 51 St Peter and St Paul’s Church 50 army 17 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment (see bomb disposal regiment) barracks 14 bomb disposal regiment 17, 18 Felix Fund 58 civilian personnel 16 depot 4, 14, 15, 16, 46 general stores 14 Pimlico Depot 16 Woolwich Arsenal 14 workforce 17 First World War 14 military personnel 16 officers’ houses 15 presence 16 Royal Army Ordnance Corp 2, 17 Royal Logistic Corp 17 troops 14 Vauxhall Barracks 15, 17, 18, 20 arts centre (see Cornerstone Arts Centre) Aston Tirrold 4 Aston Upthorpe 4 autumn 6, 8

B Baptist church, Wantage Road 15 Berkshire Downs 3, 4, 28, 41, 52, 53 Blewbury 4, 7, 52 Blewbury Players 53 Boham’s House 53 Churn Hill 52 Churn Knob 7, 52 Cleve, the 53 cob walls 53 Francis, Dick 53 Gallops, the 52 Grahame, Kenneth 53 Wind in the Willows, The 53 Orchard Dene house 53 open-air theatre 53 St Michael and All Angels’ Church 53 theatrical productions (see Orchard Dene house) watercress beds 53 Brightwell Barrow 41 Iron Age burial site 41 Brightwell-cum-Sotwell 4, 7 Bristol 12, 37 Bronze Age 10 pond barrow 10 businesses 69, 70, 71

C cafés (see eating and drinking) car boot sale 8 Catholic church, Manor Crescent 15 Catholics 12 in the eighteenth century 45

cemetery 15, 23 Central Ordnance Depot, Didcot (see army, depot) charter 1155 10 children, days out with 82 Chilton 4 Citizens Advice Bureau 25 Civic Hall (see entertainment, Didcot Civic Hall) civil war 1135–1154 11 clubs, private members 80 Conservative Club 16, 20 Marlborough Club 14 coat of arms 2 common lands 12 common meadow 11 Corn Exchange 13 Coronet Ballroom 16 NAAFI canteen 16 councillors 16 Culham Science Centre 4

D Didcot and Northbourne Sports Ground 15 Didcot centre 4, 18, 32, 66–70 amenities 66–72 lack of 16 Didcot depot (see army, depot) Didcot hospital 8, 15 fete (see events) Didcot Junction 12, 13 Didcot Labour Club 16, 18 Co-operative Stores 16 Didcot Parish Council 16 Didcot Parkway station (see railway, station) Didcot Power Stations 3, 17, 18, 20, 38–39, 41, 46, 49, 50, 52 biomass 39 branch-line railway 38 ‘Cathedral of the Vale, the’ 38 chimney 38, 39 climate campaigners 39 Friends of the Earth 39 Greenpeace 39 coal 38 combined-cycle gas turbines 39 cooling towers 17, 18, 31, 38, 39, 50 English Heritage 18 Country Life 38 Birmingham New Street station 38 wind farms 38 Didcot A 17, 18, 38, 39 Didcot B 18, 38, 39 European Parliament Large Combustion Plant Directive 39 gas 39 Gibberd, Frederick 39 Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral 39 Moore, Henry 39 nature reserve 39 Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust 39 pollutants 39 RWE npower 38, 39 tri-fuel 39 Wright, Kit 38 ‘Ode to Didcot Power Station’ 38 Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre 39, 50 Didcot Railway Centre 17, 34–37, 82

Awdry, the Revd W. 37 Thomas the Tank Engine 35, 37, 82 branch line 36, 37 waiting room 35 broad gauge 12, 36, 37 carriage shed 36 carriages 36 Churchill, Winston 36 coaches 34, 36, 37 coal stage 35 ‘day out with Thomas’ 37, 82 Didcot Halt 36 engine shed 36 as a location 36, 57 enhanced running days 35, 36, 37 Eynsham platform 35 Fire Fly 36, 37 Frome Mineral Junction signal cabin 36 Great Western Society 34, 36 Great Western Trust Museum 35 GWR main-line platform 35 locomotives 34, 35, 36, 37 main line 37 mixed gauge 36 Oxford Road station 35, 37 Paddington Station, as 37 platforms 34 Queen Mother, the 36 Radstock signal box and level crossing 36 railway lines 34 Railway Magazine 34 restaurant car 36 running days 35, 36, 37 science, learning and railways centre 35 Second World War air-raid shelter 35 signal boxes 36, 37 signalling equipment 34 standard gauge 12, 36, 37 station 37 tracks 36 transfer shed 37 as a location 37, 57 transhipping goods 37 travelling post office 35, 37 turntable 36, 37 wagons 34 Didcot Senior School 15 Didcot Girls’ School 15 girls’ grammar school 15 St Frideswide’s School 15 Didcot Town Council 17 Didcot Town Football Club 8, 15, 17, 83 Didcot Trades and Labour Council 16 as pressure group 16 Edmonds, Ernest 16 Watson, Arthur 16 Didcot Wave 17, 82 Didcottians 16 directory 87–92 discos 81 Dorchester-on-Thames 2, 41, 43, 52 Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul (see Dorchester Abbey) Abbey Guest House 43 Bishop of Dorchester Cathedral (see St Birinus) Dorchester Abbey 7, 41, 43 pilgrimage 43, 52 shrine 43

draper 25 Dales 25

E Earth Trust, the 9, 28, 41, 82 East Hagbourne 4, 16, 25, 28, 29, 48 Main Road 48 Parish Council 16 St Andrew’s Church 48 Upper and Lower End Fields 24 Upper Cross 48 East Hendred 4 eating and drinking 69, 76–80, 81 Aunt Sally 79 bakery 75 breweries 7, 33, 75 beer 7, 75 festival 7, 33 Broadways 13, 15 CAMRA 79 ‘catch your own’ 75 cider maker 75 drink 75 farm shops 75 farmers market 8, 75 food 75 Harwell cherry 75 ‘pick your own’ 75 Queens Arms, The 13, 21 Royal Oak, The 15 Sprat, The 25 vineyard 75 Wallingford Arms, The 15 White Hart, The, Foxhall Road 12 first pub in Didcot 12 White Hart, The, Station Road 13, 15 electricity 15 entertainment 69, 81 cinema 14, 18 Cornerstone Arts Centre 4, 7, 18, 32–33, 82 acting classes 33 art and craft activities 33 art exhibitions 33 art gallery 32, 33 auditorium 32, 33 café 32, 33 comedians 33 Brand, Jo 33 Dee, Jack 33 Manford, Jason 33 McIntyre, Michael 33

‘Cushion Concerts for Little Ones’ 33, 82 dance performances 32, 33 dance studio 33 dance classes 33

drawing classes 33 musicians 32, 33, 81 London Community Gospel Choir, the 33 Martin, Juan 33 McTell, Ralph 33 O’Connor, Hazel 33 Teal, Clare 33 photography exhibitions 33 scientific talks 33 speakers 32 theatrical productions 32 Berkoff, Steven 33 ‘window wall’ 32 Didcot Civic Hall 7, 8, 32, 81 art exhibitions 8 musical events 32, 33, 81 bands 7 concerts 81 live music 33, 81

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open-mic nights 81 New Coronet, The 14 bingo hall 14 events 6 Bonfire night 8 fireworks 8 Christmas carol service 8 Christmas Street Fair 6, 8 Civic Ball 7 Mayor, the 7 craft fair 8 Didcot hospital fete 8 Didcot Races 7 funfair 7 Remembrance Sunday 8 Garden of Remembrance 8

F factories 15 soap and toiletries manufacturer 15 vegetable cannery 15 farming 11 barley 11 corn 2, 13 farmers 2 labourers 4, 12 smallholders 12 smallholdings 12 tenant farmers 11 hay 13 landowners 11, 14, 16, 21 Enclosure Act 1836 12 wheat 11 windmill 11 Farmoor Reservoir 15 fields, on corner of Manor Road, Lydalls Road and Lydalls Close 21 films 57 fire station 15 further reading 54–57

G gardens, public 86 gas 13, 39 general information (see directory) getting around 60–64 buses 60–63 coach trips 64 park and ride 63 parking 64 taxis 63 trains 3, 60 train trips 64 Grove 17 growth 4 haphazard development 16 Gunpowder Plot 1605 12 GWR (see railway, Great Western Railway)

H Hagbourne Brook 28 Hagbourne Hill 15 Harwell 4, 7 Harwell Feast 7 houses 24, 25, 26 Blacksmith’s Cottage 20 Blagrave Farm 14, 21 Dixon’s Row 25 Elm Cottage 21 engine drivers, houses of 25, 26 farmhouses 19–21 GWR houses, Station Road 13, 26 house building 13, 14, 15, 17 housing crisis 17 Ladygrove Farm 11, 13, 16, 41 local authority houses 17 Manor Cottage 20 Manor Farm 13, 16, 20 Marsh Cottages 13 Morrell’s Farm 16, 20 Nook, The 21, 47

Old Rectory, The 12, 20 Jones Underwood, Henry 20 Oxford Botanic Garden Library 20 post-war private houses 17 Rectory Cottages 11, 13, 21 shops on Broadway, former houses 17 Smiths Farm 20 tenements 12, 21 Thorney Downe House 21 White Cottage 11, 21 working-class cottages 13

I Idler Book of Crap Towns, The 3 Jordison, Sam 3 Kieran, Dan 3 Iron Age roundhouses 10

J junction (see Didcot Junction)

L Ladygrove 3, 7, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 30–31, 49, 52 cycle path 31 exercise stations 31 football ground (see Loop Meadow Stadium) healthy-life expectancy 4, 31 labyrinth pathway 31 Lakes 6, 9, 30, 31 anglers 31 boardwalk 31 fish 31 fishing 31 Environment Agency 31 lessons 31 licence 31 permit 31 Loop 31, 49, 52 Loop Meadow Stadium 15, 31, 81, 83 mounds 31 Office for National Statistics 3 pylons 31 railway line 30 Sarsen stone 31 Knights Templar 31 Temple Estate 31 sledging 31 library 17, 54 Donlin, Martin 17 Didcot Window, The 17 Little Wittenham 4, 7, 41, 42, 43 Day’s Lock 41, 43 Dunch, Lady Mary 42 Dunch, Sir William 42 Little Wittenham Bridge 7, 43 World Pooh Sticks Championships 7, 43 Milne, A.A. 7 The House at Pooh Corner 7 lock-keeper’s house 43 St Peter’s Church 42 weir 43 Little Wittenham Nature Reserve 9, 28, 40–43 Broad Arboretum 9, 41, 42 shrubs 9, 42 trees 9, 42 Earth Trust Centre 7, 42, 43 Timescape Exhibition 42 great crested newt 42 guided walks 41 Hill Farm 7, 41, 42 lambing weekends 7, 41 Little Wittenham Wood 42 Neptune Wood 42 Battle of Trafalgar 42 oak trees 42 Paradise Wood 42

school-holiday activities 41, 82 Sinodun Hills 41 beech trees 41 ‘Berkshire Bubs’ 41 Castle Hill 40, 41 human sacrifices, rumours 41 Iron Age ramparts and ditches 41 poem tree 42 Tubb, Joseph 42 ‘Mother Dunch’s Buttocks’ 41 Nash, Paul 42 Round Hill 38, 41, 43 Wittenham Clumps 41, 42, 52 Special Area of Conservation 41 Time Team 41 wetland reserve 41, 42 wild flowers 41 wildlife 42 woods 42 workshops on country crafts 41 London 3, 4, 12, 37, 60 Long Wittenham 4, 7, 31, 47, 49 Cruck Cottage 49 Pendon Museum 47, 49, 82 Ahern, John 47 carriages, locomotives, wagons, miniature replicas of 47, 82 Dartmoor Scene 47 England, Roye 47 Madder Valley Railway 47, 82 models 47, 82 ‘Napper’s Row’ 47 Pendon Parva 47 Vale Scene 47 viaduct, model of 47 St Mary’s Church 49 Village Cross 49 Wittfest 7

M manor 10, 11, 13 lord of the manor 10, 13, 16 manor house 11, 12, 21 marshland 10, 11, 17, 30 Mesolithic period 10 hunting tools 10 Millennium Wood 9, 27, 29, 48 ephemeral pond 29 Hagbourne Triangle 29 shrubs 9, 29 stone circle 29 trees 9, 29 Milton 4, 14, 45, 46 Admiral Benbow pub 46 Benbow, Admiral 46 Calton family 45, 46 Calton, Catherine 46 Milton depot 15 bombing of 16 Milton Manor House 44–46, 82 Barrett, Bryant 45 lacemaker to King George III 45 boating lake 46 Challoner, Bishop Richard 45 chapel 45 Eyston family 45 Highmore, Joseph 45 Barrett Family, The 45 King George III 45 lakes 46 library 45 llamas 46, 82 Mockler, Anthony 45, 46 Mockler, Marjorie 46 pony rides 46, 82 Second World War 46 RAF, occupation by 46 stables 46 tearoom 46 teapot collection 46

Women’s Institute, the 46 ‘temple’ 46 Tsar Peter the Great 46 walled garden 46 William of Orange 46 St Blaise Church 46 Milton Park business estate 4, 14, 46, 50 Moor Ditch 10, 31, 49, 52 Mowbray Fields 9, 27, 28, 29, 41, 48 fill pond 28 orchids 9 common spotted orchid 9, 28 southern marsh orchid 9, 28 Sustrans Route 44 cycle path 28, 48 sculptures along 28 Rycotewood Furniture Centre 28 Woods, Rob 27 Spiralling Steam 27, 28

N natural habitats 28, 29, 39, 42 nature 6 Neolithic period 10 ceremonial artefacts 10 New Town (see Northbourne) Newbury 12, 17 Norman Conquest 10 North Berkshire 17 accent 18 Ayres, Pam 18 Hughes, Tom 18 Tom Brown’s School Days 18 North Hagbourne (see Northbourne) North Moreton 4 Northbourne 13, 14, 16, 24–26 Northbourne Centre 25–26 Didcot Arts and Community Association 26 GWR shareholders 25 King Edward VII, coronation 26 Railway Arms (See eating and drinking, Sprat, The)

O Old Didcot 10, 13, 14, 16, 19–21, 24 houses in (see houses) listed buildings 19 villagers 16 blacksmith 12 carpenter 12 shopkeeper 12 Ordnance Depot (see army depot) Oxford 3, 4 Ashmolean Museum 10 Brasenose College 12

P Parish Council 14 parks 86 Edmonds Park 8, 11, 15, 86 Loyd Recreation Ground 6, 8, 86 people of note 57–58 Baker family 12 Baker, the Revd W. 13 Baker, the Revd William 13 Baron Dacre of Glanton (see Trevor-Roper, Hugh) Benton, Linda 57 Berin (see St Birinus) Blake family 11 Blake, Richard 23 Bonham-Carter, Helena 58 Bradbery, William 57 Brunel, Isambard Kingdom 37, 47 Burton, Tim 58 de Albini family 10 de Albini, Nigel 10 de Dudcote family 23 de Dudcote, Ralph 2, 23

INDEX

96

de Ferrers, Henry 10 de Mara family 10 de Mara, Elena 10 de Mara, Hugh 10 Dixon, Stephen 24 Edward the Confessor 10 Evans, Maurice 57 Gladwell, Rodney 57 Griffin, Rice 12 Griffin, Edward 12 Harris, Bob 58 Henman, Tim 58 Jennings, Robert 23 King Cynegils of Wessex 7, 52 King Didan of Mercia 11 Dudcotte 10, 11 Dudda’s Cot 11 King Edward III 10 King Henry II 10 King James I 12 le Blunt family 10 le Blunt, Andrew 10 Lingham, Brian 10, 58 Lloyd, John 58 Loyd family 16 Loyd-Lindsay, Colonel (see Wantage, Lord) Lydall family 11, 21 Lydall, Robert 12, 23 Morrell, the Revd R. 13 Napper, Dennis 16 Overstone, Lord 13 Rich, Robert 14 Richardson, Matt 58

St Birinus /'bɪrɪnʌs/ 7, 22, 23,

43, 49, 52 Christianity, conversion of pagans to 22 pilgrimage 7 St Frideswide 11 Sayer family 11 Stonor family 10, 11 Stoner, Sir Francis 12 Stonor Estate 10, 23 Stonor land sales 12 feudal tenures, abolition of 12 Stonor, John 10 Stonor, Thomas 12 Thong Rangers, the 58 Trevor-Roper, Hugh 20, 57 ‘Hitler Diaries’ 20 Turchill 10 Wantage, Lady 16 Wantage, Lord 13, 26, 51 Wintour, Robert 12 playgrounds 86 police station 14 population 3, 4, 12, 14, 16 post office, Broadway 15–16 power stations (see Didcot Power Stations) Prince of Wales Hotel 13 private members clubs (see clubs, private members) Provender Store 13, 16 public transport (see getting around) pubs (see eating and drinking)

R railway 2, 4, 12, 14, 16, 17, 60 broad gauge 12, 36, 37 Didcot Motive Power Depot 17 Didcot to Southampton railway line, disused 12, 17, 28, 52 action group to reopen 17 Beeching report 17 Great Western Railway 12, 13, 26, 34, 37, 47 loopline 12 standard gauge 12, 36, 37 station 12, 14, 18, 20, 37, 60

fire 13 platforms 60 trains (see getting around) transfer shed 12, 37 workers 13, 16, 24 Reading 3, 4 republican government 1649–1660 12 reservoir 15 restaurants (see eating and drinking) Restoration, the 12 Rex Garage 15 Rich’s Sidings 14 Ridgeway, the 4, 52 River Thames 3, 49, 51 Thames Estuary 14 Thames Path 4 roads 3, 14 Abingdon Road 11, 31 Barnes Road 17 Bourne Street 25 Brasenose Road 17, 20 Broadway 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 25, 67 Church Street 13, 24, 25 Cockcroft Road 17 Cow Lane 11 bridge 31 Croft, The 17 East Street 25 Edinburgh Drive 17 Fairacres Road 17 Fleet Meadow estate 17 Foxhall Road 11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21 Freeman Road 10 Glebe Road 17 Glyn Avenue 15 Georgetown Garden City estate 15 Great Western Park estate 10, 17, 18 Hagbourne Road 15, 24, 25 High Street 24, 25 Kynaston Road 15 Loyd Road 17 Lydalls Road 3, 14, 19, 21 Manor Road 14, 19, 20 Market Place 32, 67–70, 77 Meadow Way 17 Mereland Road 24 Mowbray Road 28 New Road, East Hagbourne 29 Newlands Avenue 17 Ordnance Road 15 Oval, The 15 Park Road 11, 15 Portway 17 Queensway 17, 28 Royal Berkshire Court 29 Sinodun Road 17 Slade Road 10 Station Road 13, 14, 15, 26, 31, 48 Stonor Close 21 Tavistock Avenue 15 Vicarage Road 15 Wantage Road 11, 15 Wessex Road 15, 24, 25 Romans 10 Roman coins 10 Didcot Hoard, the 10 Ashmolean Museum 10 British Museum 10 Roman villa, remains of 10 Rural District Council 15, 16

S St Birinus School 15 Playing Field 29 St Peter’s Church, Newlands Avenue 26 St Peter’s Church, Northbourne (see Northbourne Centre)

Saxons 10 school-holiday activities 33, 41, 82 science-based businesses 4 Harwell Science and Innovation Campus 4, 16 Atomic Energy Authority 4 Rutherford Appleton Laboratory 4 Diamond Light Source 4 Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone 4 Second World War 16, 46 D-Day 16 evacuees 17 Harwell RAF airfield, bombing of 16 sewage works 14 shops 15, 17, 68, 69, 71–74 Broadway 14, 66–70, 73–74 Cockcroft Road 72 independent shops 73–74 Lostock Place 72 markets 8 Orchard Centre , the 8, 15, 18, 32, 67–70 South Moreton 4, 7 South Oxfordshire 3, 17 South Oxfordshire District Council 28 Southampton 12, 17 Southmead 10, 11 sports 69, 83–86 gyms 85, 86 sports centres 85, 86 spring 6, 7 Steventon 4, 7, 12 Hill Farm 7 Truck Festival 7 summer 6, 7, 8 Sutton Courtenay 4, 38, 50, 51 All Saints’ Church 50, 51 Asquith, Herbert Henry 51 Astor, David 51 Blair, Eric 51 Animal Farm 51 Nineteen Eighty-Four 51 Bryson, Bill 51 Notes from a Small Island 51 Church Street 51 Lindsay family 51 Lindsay, Norah 51 Manor House 51 National Gardens Scheme 52 Mill House 51 Millennium Common 51 Norman Hall 51 Orwell, George (see Blair, Eric) paper mill 51 Sutton Bridge 51 Sutton Courtenay Abbey, The 50 Sutton Pools 51 weir 51 Wharf, The 51 swimming pool (see Didcot Wave)

T

takeaways (see eating and drinking) town, Didcot becomes a 17 wards 16, 17 town centre (see Didcot centre) tradesmen 11 TV programmes 57 twin towns 4 Grenoble, France 4 Meylan, France 4 Munich, Germany 4 Planegg, Germany 4

U

Upton 4, 7, 17

V Vale of the White Horse 3, 47 village school 13, 21 Board elementary school 14, 20 Manor School 14, 20 villeins 11

W walks 48–53 Wallingford 3 Wantage 3 War Office 14 water pipes 15 weather 6 West Hagbourne 4, 16 West Hendred 4 where to stay (see accommodation) Wibaldeston (see Wibaldinton) Wibaldinton 10 Wigbald’s Farm 10 wild flowers 9, 28, 41 wildlife 28, 29, 39, 42 amphibians 31 birds 28 butterflies 28 Canada geese 9, 31 ducks 31 great crested newt 9, 39, 42 insects 28 invertebrates 31 red kites 9, 28 snipe 28 swans 31 William the Conquerer 10 Williams Grand Prix Engineering 17 Williams, Sir Frank 17 winter 6, 7 woods 29, 42

Index of maps bed and breakfasts and hotels 65 Blewbury walk 52 car parks 64 Didcot and East Hagbourne walk 48 Didcot and the surrounding villages 4 Didcot Power Stations 38 Didcot Railway Centre 34 Didcot town 5 Didcot town centre 66–67 Didcot, Long Wittenham and Appleford walk 49 Didcot, Sutton Courtenay and Appleford walk 50 Europe 3 farm shops and breweries 75 Ladygrove 30 Little Wittenham Nature Reserve 40 Long Wittenham 47 Milton 44 Mowbray Fields and Millennium Wood 27 Northbourne and Station Road areas 24 Old Didcot 19 other shops, takeaways and businesses out of the town centre 72 places to do sport 83 restaurants and pubs 76 United Kingdom 3

Did you know that in Didcot you can ...

ride on old steam trains at the railway museum?

walk around lakes, a nature reserve and a wood?

stroll through historic conservation areas?

photograph the iconic cooling towers?

see a big-name performer at the arts centre?

eat at a variety of restaurants?

be in the Berkshire Downs or by the River Thames in only a few minutes?

Didcot: The Essential Guide is a comprehensive guide to the town and surrounding area for both visitors and locals, highlighting the top attractions and giving practical information. It contains:

Full pictorial coverage of the town and surrounding area written by a local author

Detailed maps

An informative history section

An expansive section on places to visit

A selection of walks around the area

A complete list of shops

An extensive list of restaurants and pubs

A section of essential information, including public transport, places to stay, sports facilities and an exhaustive directory of local institutions and organisations