It inevitably happens at some point during your travels – you miss home. For me, it’s today.
Home is a small village just south of Oxford called Warborough. The ‘Parish’ includes the hamlet of Shillingford, which has the river Thames running through it. If you drive through Warborough it probably doesn’t stand out as being particularly special; it’s undeniably pretty but it’s similar to many other villages in the area. So what makes Warborough special?
The Warborough community
I think it would be unfair to begin with anything else. I don’t believe there’s any other place in the world where the sense of community is so strong. It’s hard to portray the true ambiance but I think Sunday afternoons might best explain.
Sunday afternoon during summer is when we have cricket on the Green. The men (and some women) play while wives and children ensure that cake, tea and lunch are taken care of. Some locals come to watch, perhaps having stopped at the pub to pick up a pint of ‘Brakespears’ (we’ll get onto that) or a white wine spritza. As you sit and lounge in the sun watching cricket you can see children playing in the park and dog walkers passing by. Often, someone comes over from the allotments to see if anyone would like some produce from their wheelbarrow because they ‘couldn’t possibly eat all these aubergines alone’. The head of the parish might wonder over to complain about the way the cricket pavilion was left by the children’s party the day before. If the weather is really lovely the vicar might choose to hold the evening service outside just next to the Green. Exercise classes are often known to take place at this time and if you’re really lucky, a hot air balloon might take off too.
Having such a central community means that, if you allow it, your life is intertwined with everyone else’s. If you don’t allow it, your life is still everyone else’s business but the gossip about you might have a more suspicious edge. If you don’t believe me, just check out our Facebook page ‘Friends of Warborough’!
Midsomer Murders of Warborough
You might be thinking that so far, this all sounds like something from Midsomer Murders. Well, yes it is, quite literally. Warborough is one of the villages they film in and Inspector Barnaby (the original, of course) has been known to pop by for a drink at the pub every now and then. We’re all very proud of this fact, but catch any resident at a time when it’s actually being filmed and we will whinge about the inconvenience of the caravans, lights at night and the tourists it brings. We get coach loads of Scandinavians visiting the village. I was once persuaded to sing a ‘traditional English song’ to a group of Swedes for a tenner (I was working behind the bar at the time). Having a shameful knowledge of English folk songs I sang the first verse of Scarborough Fair two times and pocketed the money. They seemed pleased enough!
The Six Bells on the Green
This is the hub- the place to be on a Friday night. It’s where gossip starts and where it is often scandalously confirmed. The Six Bells is owned by a local brewery called Brakespears and all the real (male) villagers’ token drink is a ‘pint of ordinary’, perhaps straying to an ‘Oxford Gold’ in summer. The pub hosts a classic cars meet on Tuesda
ys, pub quiz on Wednesdays, Aunt Sally on Fridays (this is a game where you throw large sticks at a thing on another stick and if you lose you buy someone on the other team a beer) and often live music on a Sunday. The Bells always has some form of life in it… often in the form of my mother doing flaming sambuca shots. One thing to note however, is if you are not a local and you walk in at the wrong moment, you will feel the eyes of the entire pub on you with faces that say “they’re not from round ‘ere”.
Warborough’s village events
My earliest memories of village events comes from ‘The Warborough Weekend’ which has now grown into ‘Warborough Festival’. This is a weekend of music, discos, theatre, fun runs, rounders, talent shows, teen drinking and much more. Every vill
ager has embarrassed themselves multiple times during the Warborough Festival and hopefully, will continue to do so.
We also have ‘village shows’. These are shows made up of little ‘skits’ that add up to an overall story. Previous acts have included The Full Monty (thank you for that Dad), a lusty Women’s Institute, Bugsy Malone, Dad’s Army and much more. The most recent one was a play inspired by Scotland’s referendum on leaving Britain, portrayed as Shillingford leaving Warborough.
My favourite event however, is the Big Bash. This is a fundraiser comprising of a fun cricket match during the day with much outrageous commentary, a hog roast, live music in the early evening and DJ Karen until the early hours. DJ Karen is my friend’s mum who is probably the best DJ I’ve ever had the honour of dancing to. From The Prodigy to Marvin Gaye to an inevitable Take That finale, she’s got it down.
Wallingford and surrounding areas
The surrounding area is indeed very beautiful with the Wittenham Clumps being a particular favourite of mine. Some of the best countryside walks will be found in Warborough with little pubs dotted around on the way. However, if you feel yourself desiring more substantial civilisation, there is the historic town of Wallingford just 10 minutes away. Wallingford has a few ok pubs, one ok bar, some ok restaurants and some ok shops. On a Friday you will find the majority of Warborough mums doing their weekly shop in Waitrose.
Venture further and you can go to Oxford, Reading, Henley or Didcot. Warborough is lucky because we are on the A4074 meaning we get a bus service. I have friends in other villages who are not so fortunate.
Some Warborough fun facts
- Warborough has many little groups and societies. We have a tennis club, two cycling clubs (on and off road), a WI, a lunch club for the silver threads and of course, The Challenge. ‘What is The Challenge?’ I hear you ask. Well, it’s a group of men who found themselves in need of organised fun. Every month it is up to one of them to organise a secret activity or ‘challenge’ if you will. They congregate at the pub at 7 o’clock on the
first Friday of every month dressed in the attire they have been previously instructed to wear. The Challenge has been running for over 15 years. Past activities include Capoeira, knitting, pole dancing, hot yoga, flower arranging, sheep herding, space hopper races and the list goes on. Once a year they have the AGM where they go away for a weekend and vote for winners of silly awards and organise next year’s itinerary. They also have an annual ladies’ night, ski trip and sailing trip. - Warborough has also had a longstanding debate as to whether we should have street lights or not. I fear that this will never be resolved but what I will say is that everyone knows somebody who has taken a late night stumble into the ditch.
- We have a village shop that used to be called ‘Pat’s Shop’ named after the lovely lady who owned it. It is now ‘Aisha Stores’ named after the new owner’s daughter. Here we can get fresh croissants and pick up our prescriptions.
- We also proudly house the local MP for our constituency … I did the village paper round for many years and so I know that about 97% of the village probably voted in his favour.
- It must also be mentioned that there is good reason to believe that a ‘swinging club’ exists and I have my suspicions on who frequents it.
There’s so much more I would like to write about Warborough -it truly is straight out of a novel- but out of fear of being ostracized I’ll wait until I have an anonymous pen name! Warborough is beautiful and tranquil by day but often scandalous by night; it’s probably a good thing it’s pitch black! I’m incredibly lucky to call Warborough my home, but it certainly isn’t for the faint hearted!
Debauchery means to have immoral conduct or be practicing harmful things or doing offensive things and could include activities like drunkenness, drug abuse, and sexual immorality or all three.