Page 23 - Moreton Village Only Book

Moreton Village Only 23

In 1927, Mr. Lawrence moved in to No. 7 The Furlongs with his adoptive parents (Mr. &
Mrs. Beaumont), who were the first tenants. He lived in the village until 1937 and has some
vivid memories today of his childhood days in Moreton. One recollection is of the well, which
was dug in the garden of No. 7 to serve four houses. The water was pumped into the house
and when the fire was lit under the copper (a large boiler in the kitchen or scullery used for
washing clothes, kids and perhaps other things as well) hot water could again be pumped into
the bath upstairs by means of a “click-clack” hand pump with a wooden handle.
He also clearly remembers the Walls ice-cream man who came to Moreton on a tricycle,
and the joy of having half of a one penny ice lolly. Pennies were hard to come by in those times!
Smiths’ Crisps were available from the Royal Oak pub also at one penny for a bag of broken
bits. Only the relatively wealthy could afford the ordinary bag at two pennies.

In 1934, Mr. Lawrence’s house was struck by lightning which brought down the
ceilings and burnt the taps, pipes and the cast iron bath. Fortunately, no one was injured.
He remembers also having the job of taking the accumulator (battery) to Thame once a
week to be charged up for the wireless.
Mention earlier of the well in the back
garden of No. 7 The Furlongs reminds us
that there were quite a number of shared
wells in use throughout this period. Springs
occur naturally here and there around the
village, so it has never been too difficult to
access water. If anything, the local water
table is too high and given that much of the
land is heavy clay, networks of land drains
have been installed in most of the meadows
in and around the village. Folly Cottage,
Prospect Cottage and The Old Bakery still
have wells in their gardens and who knows,
the publication of this narrative might well
result in a search for more wells which have
previously been covered in, or simply just
overgrown.

In the late 1920’s Moreton had its own
Arthur, Thomas & Edgar Mott building a well. football team but sadly this lasted for just a
few seasons. The team had the use of
Backsides Field which is behind Brook Cottage. The team photograph below, was taken
outside the hut on the recreation ground. Most, if not all the players have been identified,
and it is clear that the team contained a fair number of “foreigners” as well as Moretonians.

Moreton Football Team – late 1920’s.