New Addition to Charlbury

Fri 3 Nov 2006, 16:51

I like the idea of an "I stole" topic, all in the strictest of confidence of course. At the end of the day we have all stolen something - have a look in your top drawer, a pen from work etc etc.....
PS, Who would like a picture of the Mona Lisa, but keep it quiet and don't tell anyone, nudge nudge, wink wink

Fri 3 Nov 2006, 14:51

Dave, don't get me wrong i wasn't having a go. just pointing out that people get hot under the collar about stuff when they have propably done the same themselves in by gone years.
I remember prcuring a yellow contrete marker for a fire hydrant that had just be put int he ground. not something i would do now that I know the implications of my actions.

Perhaps we should have a 'I stole...' topic !!

Fri 3 Nov 2006, 13:23

Whoa!Down boys. I wasn't condoning what went on regarding the theft of cigarettes just remembering what happened.
"Them were the days" just meant I agreed with John H just how much I enjoyed the times in Mrs Manners shop. Unfortunately, like today, some people would go too far.

Fri 3 Nov 2006, 11:11

I read Dave G's post the same way Graham.

It is amazing how stealing back in the days of old is okay and in a way funny when recounted.

Perhaps the individuals that stole the pumpkins think it equally as funny, and as shown below they might just be right.

Thu 2 Nov 2006, 18:12

And what was the other thread saying (Stolen Jack O' Lanterns)about the YOUF of 2day.

It seems that nothing has changed, only the way is reported

Thu 2 Nov 2006, 11:25

I knew you would come up trumps John! It was like a mini youth club with kids sitting on the floor & the counter. I seem to remember my favourite "seat" was a Smiths crisps tin box!
I also remember that she sold cigarettes which were in a draw behind the counter and certain people would lean over to help themselves whilst she was distracted!
As you say, "Them was the days!"

Tue 31 Oct 2006, 23:04

Dave
It was indeed Mrs Manners shop, also known as "Mets". It was a gathering place for a gang of us youngsters then.
You could buy a bottle of pop and Met would put in on a shelf for the next visit. Her Husband was Bill and ran a bakery at the rear of the building.She was also very handy with a broom if you should upset her. More like a youth club than a shop, if memory serves me right! I believe Her Grandson still runs a business from the property. "Ahh them was the days"

Tue 31 Oct 2006, 09:02

The wool shop in Market Street, was it Miss Vincents? I think it is now a book shop.
Stuart you sure sound like you are a local. Just one small matter of playing cricket for Stonesfield!!!!LOL:)

Mon 30 Oct 2006, 21:22

Hi John; re granny+great granny buried in Charlbury, how about me then? As you know I could take you to the resting places for Queenie and Emma (my g/nan), both in Charlbury, but I only moved here, as you know, after Nan's death...does that make me local? Half Local? Or just plain mad for wondering? he!he!
Graham and Julie, my late Nan always said 'Chorbre' and if you said Charl... you were not saying it correctly! This was even mentioned at her funeral in St. Mary's :-)
But at the end of the day, if you feel local,at home, are friendly and polite (after all manners cost nothing, mean everything and maketh the man (sorry to the P.C. brigade but I wont say 'person' it sounds odd, and you must be daft to not know that the term can be universal as well as gender specific...sorry....rant over... :-))then you are local in my book!
God (or which ever deity you pray to)bless Charlbury/Cherlebury (circa 1605 spelling)and all who live here.
P.S. To all Monty Python fans out there...I went to see the musical 'Spamalot' recently...very good! Go see it, well worth it!

Mon 30 Oct 2006, 20:15

The shop on the way to the White Hart used to be a very small shop that sold a mixture of toys and knitting patterns/wool - I can't recall the name of the lady that ran it but maybe it will come back to me sometime. I think the shop became a bookshop later but not having been back for a few years and sadly being only an irregular visitor before for a few years I can't recall too much.

I do remember Mrs Lay and her shop, also the Boltons who were on the corner opposite and if memory serves me right took over Mrs Lay's shop for a while.

Like many before the one place I remember a lot is Pete's hairdressers and it is only since I moved to France three years ago that I have not had my hair cut there - for 18 years I did an eighty mile round trip for a haircu.

Mon 30 Oct 2006, 13:49

Hi Susie-thanks for that. I couldn't remember if it was Lay or Day.
I do remember my parents when they were the wardens of the youth hostel buying the bulk of the groceries from her.
I bet the chewing gum machine on the wall between her shop & the Bull has now been removed! When the arrow on the handle pointed forward, you got two packets for the price of one! Happy days.
You wont remember the other shop-it was the early 60s. I imagine it closed soon after-I expect John H will confirm that.

Mon 30 Oct 2006, 12:08

Hi Dave - was it Mrs Lay you were thinking of next to the Bull? Dont know of a shop on the way to the White Hart - not in my time - we've been here 23 years!

Mon 30 Oct 2006, 10:44

As I've mentioned before, I only spent two & a half years in Charlbury in the early sixties but I have always claimed that they were the the happiest couple of years of my childhood. (Apart from two or three incidents with the local constabulary!!)
It is interesting to think that John H is probably the only person on these boards actually born & still living in Charlbury.
Incidentally John, can you remind me who was the lady who owned the grocers next to the Bull & also who were the elderly couple who ran a "tatty" little shop on the way to the White Hart? The name "Met" Manners seems to ring a bell.

Sat 28 Oct 2006, 22:12

PS. JULIE do you know a gent called Rob, if so I know you gran!

Sat 28 Oct 2006, 22:09

hi julie, I am born and bred in Charlbury , not quite dead yet ,have seen many changes in the "ol" town ,in the last 60 odd years but still love it!! . by the way who is granny?? . you can contact me on hrrjhn@aol.com. Legend has it, unlees you have a granny & great granny in the cemetary you 'you aint local'

Fri 27 Oct 2006, 22:30

Hi Graham, according to my Granny an original Charlbarian is Born, Raised and Died in the town......not many of them posting here!!!
I' m afaid I moved away when I turned 18 many years ago.
So can' t claim that status.
I just enjoy following whats happening back Home!
Granny on the other hand turns 93 in the New Year, was born in "The Bull" and has always lived in Chorbre.(pronounced)
Haven' t managed to get her on the internet though.....

Fri 27 Oct 2006, 18:38

Just wondering here- As an outsider originally (from 1980) How many of you who are (what would say) genuine Charlbarians (Cheorlbarains)?

Fri 27 Oct 2006, 18:18

So you want to know what my thoughts are following the exchanges on this thread.....well, as the moderator of another online mailing list I know all about flaming and abuse and misunderstandings....what I have seen in this thread is nothing!
Sorry to disappoint, but you won't be seeing a 'For Sale' sign going up in Shilson Lane as a result - Lesley and I fall into the catagory of new residents who have found the vast majority of people friendly and happy to say 'good morning/afternoon/evening' as you pass in the street! We have also been made extremely welcome in The Bull, but maybe that is because we keep spending money there! :-)
We moved from a small village close to Southampton and Winchester and despite living there for over 6 years, we have got to know more people here in just 10 months!

Fri 27 Oct 2006, 15:43

I wonder what Shawn Obrien and John Munro are thinking about Charlbury after these bizarre exchanges. Will we see the "For Sale" notices going up again in Park Street and Shilson Lane!?
For the record, I've been here thirty odd years and I think I know the place well enough to know that Charlbury can't be summed up in simple terms like friendly/unfriendly-it's much move complex than that.Just when you begin to think you know everyone , you find there are whole swathes of people and activities you know nothing about. Mind you, this website bears out Douglas Hurd's valedictory letter to the people of Charlbury when he ceased to be its MP. He described it as the most argumentative place he'd ever represented. Long may it remain so.

Wed 25 Oct 2006, 12:30

OK, I admit 'parochial, conformist agenda' over states the case.

Wed 25 Oct 2006, 09:54

That's OK, imo.
Everyone is entitled to be acknowledged.

But please don't think I'm 'taking your side'.
I'm acknowledging you as an example of how less than exemplary the social scene in Charlbury can be sometimes, especially for the so-called 'outsiders'.

There is an unacknowledged criteria for acceptance in this community that can be quite cruel to the uinitiated, the unaware and the vulnerable.

A criteria that goes beyond the simple legal fact that anyone who lives in Charlbury and pays their rates is perfectly entitled to live here without interference or having to submit to some parochial, conformist agenda.

'Community' means Everyone, not just the people you approve of.

Tue 24 Oct 2006, 23:14

Thankyou for acnowledging me Igor.
Sorry if I mistook you for someone else Paul.
Oh, I don't hate Charlbury. It's a beautiful looking place.

Tue 24 Oct 2006, 05:45

why imo have you directed your last comment at Me no frends of mine would do that get your facts right before you point your finger at people hope your happy in Bristol please stay there and use their forums and leave us alone

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 21:04

Thank you Graham.
I'm glad I'm not wasting my breath here.
This is not an oversimplified issue of Charlbury-GOOD vs Charlbury-BAD.

'Healthy' communities celebrate their positives while acknowledging and working towards ameliorating their problems.

But always emphasising the positive and then shooting down any voice that points out a negative is just a petty form of denial.

I don't know imo, tried to meet her once and never did.
Maybe I'd agree with her on particulars about how friendly Charlbury is, maybe I wouldn't; but her moans don't concern me as much as those who immediately jump to deny the validity of her experience.

Let her opinion stand for what it is: her opinion.
If she's wrong, so what? Let her be.
If others agree with her evaluations, why shouldn't they be permitted to without fear of personal attack or recrimination?

We might even learn something we didn't already know about living here.

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 20:09

Igor, I agree with you, at the end of the day a community is made from the people within and with outsiders coming in bringing new views and ideas it develops into a social utopia - hopefully. We have all see brochures of cities (all around the globe) depicting the ideal but they will never show the bad points, i.e Oxford' fantastic University with Ashmoleum Museum etc, but will not show the Blackbird Leys estate!

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 19:35

I think my point's being proven here.

Not everyone has had an aching arm of friendship proferred here.
Believing that one's own experience is the only valid one to the exclusion of all contradiction is precisely the exclusion problem I'm describing.

Personally, I don't find Charlbury any more or less friendly than the neighborhood I lived in North London. But the persistent self-congratulation about 'living in the best place on earth' does get tiresome after awhile. The word complacent comes to mind.

I don't know imo personally or whether or not her problems are of her own making or in collaboration of others, but I do think she's entitled to her express her opinion without being belittled or shouted down.

Or does 'community' mean only the people who agree with us?

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 18:14

I've been here in Charlbury for 26 years now (still dont know if I'm classed as a local though!)and think that it a great place to live, bring up my kids and the people are excellent. When I grew up in London the thought of of saying "Good morning / evening " as you walked down the road was unheard of, but here you are greeted by all, young, old, ladies or gentlemen. At the end of the day if you are polite than people are polite in return. Perhaps that POLITNESS should be on the school curriculm.

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 17:39

We all know that Imogen is talking rot. She has tested the patience of anyone who has ever tried to talk to her in a pub, or invite her to join a society and any problems she has with Charlbury are entirely of her own making.

The only few people I've ever heard say Charlbury is unwelcoming are usually people with chips on their shouler tiwce the size of Cheddar gorge. If you are rude, opinionated and have a habit of annoying local pub/club/society/website clientele then yes, you may find that Charlburians don't suffer fools. The hand of friendship can only be extended so many times before the arm begins to ache and one feels inclined to give up.

Kate

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 16:26

I have to interject here just to say that this insistence on praising all things Charlbury accompanied by the overt hostility towards those who might not totally agree with that judgement reflects exactly the kind of attitude some of us (both long term and short term residents), worry about.

Everyone's entitled to be proud of the good things in their village/manor/town/place.

That's healthy.

But to reject any possible criticism of the town or the community or deny the fact that some people don't have the same idylic, Cotswold postcard experience here that is consistently being paraded on this forum, without being targeted for personal attack and denied a voice is most certainly unhealthy.

If anything, it masks the deepest insecurities.

To pretend that there are no social problems in Charlbury is disingenous and imo is not the only person I've heard of or known to express feelings of isolation and exclusion living here.

I don't know if that's any more or less true in any other small rural community around here, but I do know that trying to shut up people who don't necessarily agree with a utopian perspective doesn't shed any light for anyone.

If you want to fix problem you first have to acknowledge the possiblity it exists.

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 09:29

Richard don`t you think this is enough, Imo dosn`t like us, apparently Charlbury does not like her,so let her disspear into Bristol just hope they keep talking!!!!!!!

Mon 23 Oct 2006, 07:52

I'm very sorry Julie but I feel compelled to make one final comment.
To Paul.
Paul I feel very sad that I was kind, conciderate and generous to a friend of yours in Charlbury. Who went out of thier way to be publicly really nasty to me.
Who even came up to the hospital, while I was waiting for an operation to mend a fractured jaw, broken arm and broken hips.
To tell me that I was quote: "a tart and a slag and that no one in Charlbury gives a sh*t about me."
Was that really neccesary?
Paul. That you find it acceptable for your friends to treat people this badly suggests to me that the sadness is all yours.

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 22:01

You have no idea what this cost me Julie n.

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 21:56

I grew up in Bristol and yes we are a nice bunch. But Charlbury is the love of my life- everyone smiles back and folk generally look like they know they live somewhere special. Wish everyone could feel the same but then it might get a bit crowded...

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 21:43

Quote "But I won't write again"
Leave it and move on...........life will be hard for it you keep reliving the moment.

Lets lighten the thread........see next posting

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 21:26

I've never met this way of comunication in Bristol.

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 19:50

He probably thought you would take it the wrong way!

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 18:27

How convienient Richard.

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 12:48

"Oh and Richard Fairhurst. When did you ever say. 'Hi Imogen how are you doing?' "

I don't think I've ever actually met you, have I?

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 10:57

I'm not seeking closure and I don't want to agree to disagree.
I just want to say that if you slam a person repeatedly it's not suprising they react badly. And the Cads slammed me on my 2nd night out in Charlbury. It got worse from there on.
But I won't write again. So you can sit back and gloat!

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 10:48

Did you try talking to them!!! or did you say hello and were totaly ignored,cant believe it.

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 10:22

Oh and John I havn't posted to this site since June last year.
Ask Friendly old Richard Fairhurst about the other comments in my name.

Sun 22 Oct 2006, 10:08

Actually I was very happy and positive when I arrived in Charlbury.
And it did take 9 months for a next door neighbour to speak to me.
I didn't go out for the first 9 months because it is quite hard to go out on your own in a new place and talk to people. I don't think being unconfident or shy is a good reason to call a person sad or ridicule them when they are clearly unhappy.
But between the Cads and the football club I recieved nothing but massive unkindness, slander and threats. I'd call it bullying.
I've never experianced anything like that living in Bristol.
Oh and Richard Fairhurst. When did you ever say.
"Hi Imogen how are you doing?"

Fri 20 Oct 2006, 14:19

imo think why you were completely alone? its because your a sad person. I have been here for 4 years people all seem to talk to one and other down the town in the pubs but with the chip on your shoulder who would speak to you

Fri 20 Oct 2006, 10:09

Perhaps "Imo" and Giro should start their own "We hate Charlbury" website where they can whinge to eachother about how awful the place is. I do find it odd though that they both choose to visit (and post on)this site given their clear animosity. Perhaps they are seeking what our American friends call closure.

Thu 19 Oct 2006, 17:02

I'm guessing 'Imo' is Imogen, who was the star of a forum thread way way back about how Charlbury was so hostile. With that in mind I think it's best if we agree to disagree again.

Thu 19 Oct 2006, 16:39

This must be another Charlbury, surely. It certainly doesn't sound like the place I live, and how anyone can live here and not get even a single "Hello" in 9 months I just cant beleive.

Thu 19 Oct 2006, 16:08

I lived in Charlbury for 9 months completely alone without a single hello from anybody. I then spent another 9 months frequenting the local establishments and recieved nothing but nasty comments from local people. (Whatever class.)
I have now moved to Bristol where people know how to interact.
Charlbury is the most hostile place I have ever lived.

Fri 19 May 2006, 05:42

Thanks to all for the information, it is very helpful!

Wed 17 May 2006, 23:58

And seeing you as said you "looked forward to being a member of the community" if you would like to help out at Street Fair in any way - please do contact me by email at susanna_finch@hotmail.com - look forward to hearing from you !

Wed 17 May 2006, 23:56

Hi Shawn, welcome to Charlbury. Can never get hold of a plumber so cant help you there. For electrician you can try Matthew Summers, Evenlode Electrical - in Chadlington. Not sure of number. Decorator you can try Terry Walker who lives in Hill Close. His number is in the phone book, and for a builder Steve Moss, who lives on Little Lees. His number is also in the book ! Both Steve and Terry I can fully recommend as have dealt with them quite recently. Not had anything done by Matthew for some time, but when I did he was very good. Hope this helps.

Wed 17 May 2006, 21:05

Shawn
Welcome to Charlbury. We looked at Church View when it first came on the market, but decided it wasn't for us. We have now purchased the house we were renting, just down the road from you, in Shilson Lane.

Wed 17 May 2006, 05:46

I know a good plumber! Carl Gorton, lives just up from Five Ways.
His number is bound to be in the Phone Book!
Good Luck!

Tue 16 May 2006, 18:57

Shawn check the directory on this web site, plumbers are as rare as hens teeth!!

Tue 16 May 2006, 12:27

My partner and I have just purchased Church View Cottage on Park Street. We are in the process of updating and wondered if anyone had a recommendation for any of the following: plumber for new boiler, electrician, decorator and general building contractor.

Appreciate any help and look forward to being a member of the community.

Shawn O'Brien