On this page we share the memories of Maugersbury residents past and present: From Tony Sumner - 25 August 2011 I had prepared the following memoir to read at Dennis Anderson’s funeral but time
did not allow for this and so with the encouragement of Dennis’s family I have
redrafted it for posting on the Maugersbury 21 web site, if you would be so
kind.  “I first met Dennis & Kathleen at one of Diana Heber Percy’s famous
‘sweep offs’. Diana always used to host a Sunday morning drinks ‘do’ whenever
new people moved into the village, a far less frequent event then than now, to
introduce them to others in the community. It was clear from the start that
Dennis & Kathleen were going to be an asset.
What we did not know then was that they had been at the centre of their
previous neighbourhood within the local Conservative Association and were hoping
for a quieter life in their retirement. Sadly Kathleen died all too soon after
their arrival in Maugersbury. Kathleen had worked at the BBC, as had my
partner Victor, and although they had not met there they would have an immediate
bond through common colleagues and acquaintances.
My next recollection of Dennis was through the intermediary of Frank
Daniels whose energies as a gardener Dennis had inherited from the previous
occupant of Maugersbury Park House, Mrs Instone, and a very loyal and rewarding
inheritance it was to prove to be. Frank was the local gardener du jour, who also worked for Victor and me
as well as many others in the village and so news of each was spread. I learned
from him of Dennis’s tireless work for the North Cotswold Voluntary Health
Centre, driving people here, there and everywhere when they were no longer able
to do so for themselves. And next through the Residents’ Association Committee
where as Treasurer and Social Secretary respectively, we worked closely together
on village activities.
Several years ago, when Dennis heard that I had lost a home for
overwintering my tender garden plants, he very generously offered to share space
in his conservatory. I am not sure he realised the extent of his gesture until
I first arrived with a car full to bursting with pots, announcing that there was
a second similar load to follow.
However this led to winter after winter when the same procedure was
followed and each winter these pots required watering and so frequent visits to
the conservatory were necessary. These provided opportunities for conversations
and discussions when we were able to discover common interests and put both the
world and the village to right.
Entering Dennis’s conservatory on a cold winters day was a sensuous
experience. The humid warmth and the smell of the earth, plus the scents of
the flowers and the vegetation always reminded me of the hot houses at Kew
Gardens and like there was conducive to lingering long after the watering was
done and so our friendship grew. His memories of his annual holiday drive to
the south of France in his beloved sports car, following the same route that he
and Kathleen had made, I believe on their honeymoon and his numerous mention of
their happy times together were a testament to the love and strength within
their marriage. I will miss our chats together and his dry sense of humour
which brightened many a dark winter day.
The village too will miss his accountancy experience as treasurer and
bookkeeper, always eager to find the best deal for the village funds, although
even he could not find decent interest rates in recent years!
His final gesture was to request that any surplus profits from one of our
village functions be given to the NCVHC and fortunately we were able to agree to
this before Dennis died but the donation was only made afterwards but a fitting tribute. We will all miss Dennis very much but hope that
his family will continue to visit and attend our social functions, as they did
for our recent summer lunch, and whose presence always gave him so much pleasure
and our links will not be broken.” From Peter Carne – 29 July 2010
"I was looking at the Maugersbury web site today and in answer to the request for information I may have a little to contribute. I was born in 1922 in the lodge which is shown in the top LH comer of the map. I lived there until 1942 when I went into the army. My father was in WW1 but was not a well man. He took a job about 1920 in Maugersbury running two paraffin powered plants to make electricity and pump water. Looking back it was very early for a village to have "mains water and electricity" in those days. Stow had mains water. In my early days it was supplied from within the town and turned off in the afternoons. As a child I was often told to "let the air out" which meant opening the tap and let it splutter until it ran fully. Later a mains system was installed by the North Cotswold RDC supplying water from Blockley. Electricity did not come to Stow until after I went into the army, I think probably 1943. The town did have gas which was made in a plant in Back Walls run by a Mr Gould. He also collected the money from the house meters tipping it from the meter box into a wheel barrow which he pushed from house to house and left in the street! The Maugersbury generating plant was on the other side of the lane from the Manor garage yard. It only ran in the day charging batteries which kept the supply going for 24 hours. The water was pumped from a well in a field between the village and the Stow-Oddington road. The water was pumped to two tanks, one in the Griffins farm yard and the other in the Manor grounds. The "turnover cock" was in the field between the two and as a teenager I often had to do the switch. The estate landowner was a Mrs Hewitt who preferred to live in London and the Manor was let to a Mr Ransford Collet. He was either in insurance or the stock exchange and worked in London coming down to the Manor from Friday night to Monday morning. My father usually met and returned him to Moreton or Kingham station. During the week the Manor was occupied by Mr Collet's sister and aunt. I went to the infants school in Oddington Road and the school in Union Lane. In 1933 I took "the scholarship" and went to Westwoods Grammar school in Northleach. All this is remembered from many years ago as I never went back to Stow to live when I left the army in 1947. My father died in 1946 and is buried in the Stow cemetery." From Janet Bartlett – 30 July 2010 "My husband Rob can remember Mr Carne senior, he used to walk from the Lodge down the Park Drive into Pound Lane and in at the gate on the bend and then down to a building known as the pump house in the valley below Sycamore House. This was done twice a day, he carried the fuel for the generators in two cans on a yoke over his shoulders. The water collected ran off the banks in the valley into tanks before being pumped up to the Manor. The pump house and the tanks still remains in position today. As far as Rob is aware the pulleys used still remain in the pump house." From Peter Carne – 30 July 2010 "At 88 nostalgia is one of my main occupations so I am very interested in this subject! I remember the Bartlett family, the other farms were the Griffins and Fisher families. At one time one of the retired Bartletts lived at the bottom of Park Street in Stow. I remember that when you went to the Fisher's front door, straight opposite was a picture of the Judgement Day with corpses coming up out of the graves. As a youngster I was fascinated but rather scared! At one time Frank Fisher was our milkman. He came to the door with the milk in a bucket and two scoops, you answered the door with a jug and you got a scoop and a tiny "topper up". I think Frank Fisher lived in Wraggs Row near the Stow cemetery. He called very late in the evening and my mother dubbed him The Midnight Milkman. My father originally had a pony, Dolly for carting the paraffin down to the water pumping plant. He used to take it to be shoed in Church Lane, right on the corner directly opposite the Stow parish church gates, now yet another antique shop. I don't know what happened to Dolly but when she went, he had to carry the two cans with a yoke. The water was pumped up to the storage tanks by paraffin engines not the ram. There were rams but I think they supplied the water troughs in the fields. When my father went on holiday the two engines were run by Pearces Garage, opposite the Stow Cemetery. A family who lived in Maugersbury were Col. and Mrs Dorothy Bailey. She was the sister of the mother of the Mitford girls, I think the only survivor is Debbo, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. At first they lived in the Dower House and Mrs Bailey ran the Cubs. We used to meet in one of the outbuildings and one special occasion was to visit other scouts or cubs camping in a field near Bourton-on-the-Hill on the Dugdale estate. Later the Baileys moved into The Forge in the lane alongside the Dower House. The Dower House was then occupied by a Mr Dickenson. During WW2 Col. Bailey and Mr Dickenson and the butler/cum major domo, Withey, did ARP duty in the Council Offices in Moreton- in-Marsh. A London girl, Doris Turton, who came out from the intense bombing and who lived in Longborough did duty with them. Through Withey who was butler to Col Edwards at Eyford, she joined the RNVAD serving at HMS Raleigh at Torpoint and Haslar in Gosport. I married her in 1946 and now after 64 years and three children, we live in our 10th married home in Bath! We do visit Stow from time to time and intend to come this Summer. My father is buried in Stow Cemetery and we come up to look after the grave. I will try to remember to contact you when our next visit is planned." From Peter Carne – 02 August 2010 "I remember that the man who was adminster/controller of the Maugersbury estate, Major Wickens, sang in the St Edwards Church choir. Major Wickens was a solicitor and lived almost opposite the Fisher farmhouse. His office was in the Square, Francis & Son I think. His Chief Clerk was Raymond Hicks who lived in "Claremont" in Park Street. I think that was the name of their house. It was two properties below the shop operated by Mrs Summersbee. They had two children, Kathleen and John. John, the younger, took the scholarship exam for Westwoods GS with me and we started together. I lost track of him after school and although I traced Kathleen who was living near me some years ago, in the East Midlands, they were not keen on any contact. Peter (Hon.Maugersburyite)" |
 For Sale: A booklet recording John Fisher's memories of life in Maugersbury from the early 1900s. No. of page downloads since the last reset on 9 April 2012: More detail about our visitors can be found in the Attachment at the bottom of the Home page. It is best viewed after downloading. |
Maugersbury Memories |