People
Thomas Higgs - the builder and his house (Alan J Brookes and Janet Hurst, Journal 2018)
A history of the Higgs family, including Thomas Higgs who lived in South Stoke in the 18th century, William Higgs who moved to Goring in the mid-19th century, and his son Thomas who took over the family business. Thomas was very successful and at one time owned 24 properties in Goring. He lived in a house which is now split into Beams End and Sprimont House in Station Road, and the article describes how that building has changed over the years.
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Mark Wickens: a Victorian police constable (Janet Hurst, Journal 2017)
Mark Wickens was a police constable in Goring, North Stoke and Crowmarsh in the last quarter of the 19th century. He had previously been in the Grenadier Guards. Over the years various newspapers recorded him dealing with matters such as capturing an escaped prisoner, returning a deserter to the military, and even taking on a JP who had been accused of cruelty to a horse.
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Doctors in the Goring Gap (Michael Brodie, Journal 2017)
The article details many doctors who worked in the Goring Gap from 1891 to the opening of the Medical Centre in 1981. Doctors used to have surgeries in their own homes, and of course patients had to pay. The two World Wars brought about new challenges, with some doctors going off to serve in the Armed Forces, and returning soldiers needing medical treatment. Many of the doctors had interests outside of medicine - golf, bird-watching and rowing among them - some becoming experts in their field.
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The Walters family (Gill Cranshaw, Journal 2016)
The Walters family has lived in the Goring area for over 200 years. The article describes the lives of various members, including Police Constable Walters who worked in Goring in the late 19th century, Sidney Walters, who worked as a plate layer on the railways, and Rosamund Walters, who at one time was a Bluebell Girl at the Lido, Champs-Elysees.
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Major Patrick Rance: the story of a Streatley turologist (Alan Winchcomb, Journal 2014)
At one time Wells' Store was famous as a cheese store far beyond Streatley, and people would travel many miles to visit it. At a time when cheese marketing was centred on processed cheeses, Major Rance travelled around the country to find traditional cheeses. He and his wife bought Wells' Store (named after three sisters) in 1954, and turned it into a traditional cheese store that people would visit from many miles away. Patrick wrote The Great British Cheese Book and later The French Cheese Book. His son Hugh later took over the store, but in 1990 was forced to close it because of new business rates.
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The Stone Coal Charity (Michael Brodie, Journal 2013)
Emily Morrell, of the Oxford brewery family, married William Stone, a wealthy London barrister, who owned a lot of property ion Streatley and Moulsford. On her death a charity was set up to give coal to the deserving poor of the parish of Streatley. A average of 71 families each year received coal between 1905 and 1923, though deliveries were disrupted during the First World War, and later in the Second World War. Gradually the number of families receiving coal reduced, and in 1995 the charity was merged with the Streatley Consolidated Charities.
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The Morrell Estate wills (Michael Brodie, Journal 2012)
The article goes through the wills of four members of the Morrell family. James Morrell was the owner of the largest brewery in Oxford. He had a sister, Emily Stone, and one daughter, Emily Alicia, who had two sons, one of whom was George Mark Morrell. James died in 1863 when Emily Alicia was only nine years old. So a trust had to set up on behalf of the girl. Emily Stone brought up the child. She and her husband owned many properties in Streatley and Moulsford, all of which were left to Emily Alicia. The latter married her third cousin, George Herbert Morrell. Their son James inherited the brewery, her other son, George Mark inherited Streatley House and the properties. However, George Mark died only three months after his mother, leaving crippling death duties.
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Patrick Chalmers, Thames angling writer (Robert Harrington, Journal 2012)
Patrick Chalmers was one of the best-loved sporting writers of the early 20th century. His best-known work was At the Tail of the Weir (1932) about Thames angling. He moved to Goring on his retirement, where he is probably best known as the author of a poem about the train journey to Goring and Streatley (but no further!) which was published in Punch.
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Squire Gardiner goes to sea (Janet Hurst, Journal 2012)
Charles Lawrence Weare Gardiner owned much land in Goring, He became interested in voyages made by William Barentz, who in the 16th century tried to find a north-east passage to Asia. In 1876 Gardiner sailed in a schooner Glow-worm to Novaya Zemlya, and found on that island some relics of the earlier voyage. In spite of ice, fog and other hazards he managed to visit other locations in the same area, before heading home. He later donated the relics he collected to the Dutch nation in tribute to Barentz.
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Turning Back Time - Collecting Oral History in the Goring Gap (Alan Winchcomb, Journal 2012)
The article details various subjects about which information has been obtained by talking to Goring's oldest residents. The Village Shop gives some history of what we now call McColl's. The Brewery Owner is about Mrs Ann Gundry who owned Goring Brewery, and in particular about her giving a penny to children on May Day. The Eccentric Lady describes recollections of Mrs Josephine Leslie Moir, who lived in Glebe Cottage, kept many cats and often carried a kettle around with her - people assumed she kept her money in it. Different ways of Life describes villagers who lived in apparent poverty. Other paragraphs describe famous people who lived in the village - Marshall of the RAF Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, racing motorcyclist Mike Hailwood and theatre owner George Grossmith. The article ends with some amusing stories about life in Goring and Streatley in the first half of the 20th century.
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Village Trail - the Famous and Not-so-Famous of the Goring Gap (for children) Download