Kineton & District Local History Group

A number of members felt as they left thevillage hall after Chris Upton’s talk entitled ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ that they had seldom learned so much and laughed so much! This talk on life above and below stairs in Victorian England was perfectly balanced and, while they were all laughing at some of the stories he had extracted from contemporary newspapers, they learned at the same time about the wages and conditions of work of the servants of Victorian England.

Many remarked afterwards on thethoroughness of Mr Upton’s research through the old documents and in libraries, particularly in the newspapers that gave details of the kind of ”sober andindustrious” servants that were required. Often “girls from the country” were asked for as they were often not only of better character than their town bred sisters, but also asked for lessmoney!

Insobriety was not the prerogative of young girls however: many older people drank heavily to mitigate the hardships upon their lives.  One story Mr Upton told from a press report at the time: a middle-aged woman, much the worse for drink, was apprehended by the police while she was dancing with abandon to the musicof a barrel organ.  After being taken to the police station and charged, she was observed to have returned to the barrel organ and was dancing in such a way “that the colours of her garters was no well-kept secret”.

The evening was over far too soon for most of the audience and they look forward to a return visit from Chris Upton.

When Andrew Hamilton began browsing through his Grandfather's diaries, which he had kept throughout his longlife, he found them at first rather dull.  Then he found one volume different from the rest, which proved to be an account of his Grandfather's lifein the trenches in the First World War.  As he read on, he realised that it was a rare thing, a first-hand account of the so-called 'Christmas truce' of December 1914 - a truce in which Captain Robert Hamilton had played a majorpart.  It was this diary that formed the basis of the recently published book by Andrew Hamilton and Alan Reed and on which Sir Andrew's talk was based.

Another packed audience listened enthralled as he told the story of how hostilities had been set aside for a short while as the men on both sides met in no-man's land, exchanged small gifts and even played football.  It is a story that one would dismiss as fiction were it not for the fact that here was the evidence of one who had witnessed it and even promoted it.

It was griping, moving and also deeply humorous as Sir Andrew told it, helped by a fine collection of photographs and the drawings of one of the men in Capt. Hamilton's troop, the famous cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather.  It was Bairnsfather's creation 'Old Bill', familiar to many of the older members of the audience, who familiarised the life of 'Tommy' of the First World War, with all its hardshipand its humour.

The subject of the February meeting of the Kineton and District Local History Group, was Tysoe and the history of its red horses.  It must have intrigued many people as Mr Kevin Wyles' talk attracted the largest audience in recent memory. 

Why the plural 'horses'? Did anyone know where were they had been sited? The answers to these and many other questions were answered in Mr Wyles' lively and spontaneous talk.  He told of the ancient red horse, carved into the hill above Tysoe in a time beyond our records and concealed by a plantation of trees, maybe in the 18th century.  Then there were at least three others, carved to the west of the original about 300 years ago.  All had now vanished but are recalled in folk memory and in the name by which the area is still known as 'The vale of the red horse'.

Mr Wyles passed around the audience many artefacts, largely pottery, which he himself had excavated in the area,many dating from Roman times.  It was a real treat to handle these; to hold in one's hand a fragment of a Roman pot shaped by a hand that had died nearly 2,000 years ago.  A fascinating and rewarding evening giving the audience a fresh insight into their local history.

It is unusual to hear members of a group say that they are really looking forward to the AGM, but it often happens among members of Kineton and District Local History Group, not only because the meeting itself is often dispatched with speed and humour by theChairman, David Freke, but also because it is followed by a delicious supper prepared by caterer Isobel Gill.

This year, theChairman reported a most successful and active year for the group; there had been a very good attendance of the monthly meetings and at the three summeroutings, which included a most interesting visit to Shugborough Hall, with its varied rural museums as well as the Hall itself.  The year had concludedwith a very satisfactory balance in the bank.

Mr Freke wasre-elected as Chairman and the other members of the committee were re-elected en-bloc.  Next year's programme of lectures, prepared by the ProgrammeSecretary, Claire Roberts was greeted enthusiastically and it was understood that the Outing Secretary Margaret Moore, would present details of these at ameeting in the near future.

It was noted that theambitious scheme to list all the legible graves in the parish churchyard had attracted much interest and co-operation, under the capable hands of GillAshley-Smith and that work could continue as soon as weather permitted.

After the aforementioned supper, there was a most interesting talk by Linda Synge, the Director of the Warwickshire documentary play recently seen in the VillageHall, about how the play was devised and put on.  Richard Acton then entertained with three monologues, which were once again vastly enjoyed by members.

All gave thanks thatthe snow had dispersed in time to allow this evening, to which members had all looked forward so much.