Page 33 - Moreton Village Only Book

Moreton Village Only 33

to cattle and disease eliminated. In 1960 Alan
and Hilda Stevens bought Chestnut Farm
when the Hurst family moved away.

Also in that year, Oswald Tite acquired
the land and property on Moreton Lane
known as Hopelands, where he proceeded
to run a business selling a wide range of
clothing and other paraphernalia. The
property consisted of a series of single story
sheds and Nissen huts, which were built in
the early part of the last century by the order
of the council as relief isolation hospital
accommodation should the need arise, the
council having acquired the land in 1905 Chestnut Farm
from the Estate of the Earl of Abingdon.
In fact the units the local authority built were never commissioned into use for their
originally intended purpose, and the council disposed of the freehold in the 1930’s, though
it was a further 30 years before Oswald Tite acquired the property and put it to use as a
shop. Oswald’s stock in hand was indeed vast, with the Nissen Huts resembling an Aladdin’s
cave, brimming with all manner of country wears and accoutrements from boots to brooms
and especially surplus stores supplies. Oswald was not entirely conventional and it was
generally thought that he kept money all over the property in shoeboxes and the like. He
obviously did not have much faith in banks though his view may have changed after he
suffered a fire at his premises!
Winters were certainly colder forty years ago and it was usual for thick ice to be
formed on the village ponds at least once each winter, in addition to more snow in those
days, adding a seasonal touch which has been sadly lacking in recent years. Many will
remember the very severe winter of 1962/63, when blizzards began on Christmas Day and
sub-zero temperatures endured until early March. There was probably less snow that year
than in 1947, but even so the village was temporarily cut off with six-foot drifts which Allan
Wynn eventually managed to clear with a tractor to allow the milk lorry into the village.

In 1963 the Beeching axe fell on the Oxford to Princes Risborough railway line,
depriving the district of its railway facilities and the station at Thame, which had been
opened in 1862. This was indeed the end of an era, as the roads soon became unpleasant
and congested and it was not long before a new breed of worker known as “the commuter”
was to dearly wish back the trains on the old branch lines.
For 100 years, trains had trundled along the north perimeter of Moreton, with the
lines scarcely more than half a mile from the centre of the village. But the village lads
would no longer stand by the track, spellbound by the magic of locomotion and the
animation of steam. No more would the village folk hear the whistle and regular rhythm
of the trains in the distance. No more would the farm labourers break for lunch at the
sound of the ten to twelve to Oxford.
Since the closure of the railway, though not necessarily connected with it, the profile
of the village residents has changed quite distinctly from what was a population of farmers
and farm labourers to a broad mixture of people engaged in a variety of professional jobs.
Some villagers retired and were joined by others who retired to Moreton. The attraction
for all was the perception of a quiet and peaceful backwater with the benefits of rural life,
but with quick and easy access to the greater world.

By 1965 regular Methodist services at Moreton Chapel had ceased and the chapel fell
into disrepair. For a time, a small Sunday school continued to meet and there were four
services each year to celebrate Christmas with a Carol service, an Easter Day service with
Holy Communion, the Sunday school anniversary at Pentecost and the Harvest Festival
in September. These latter arrangements too were discontinued upon the death of May
Mott in 1969. Miss Mott had lived most of her life at Elmfield House, which her parents
had built when she was an infant. She was very well respected and had been a committed
Methodist and the last Society Steward in the village. On her demise the house was sold,
along with a couple of acres of land which had been in the Mott family for 109 years.