Geoff Orman is another reader with fond memories of growing up on the Slade Camp at Headington, Oxford, in the post-war years.

“It was an amazing place to live and to play,” he tells me. “I look back at the time as the most enjoyable part of my childhood.”

He moved into one of the wooden huts on the former Army base at the age of eight in 1955 with his parents, Rene and Bert, and two younger brothers, Nigel and David.

READ MORE: Two cars stolen during early morning burglaries 

He writes: “It was a semi-detached hut at 53 First Avenue. It was fairly basic, the only heating from a stove in the living room.

“The camp covered a large area and huts were spaced well apart in most cases.

“The site was roughly divided into two with what we called the barracks square separating the two halves.

“We were in the half behind the square and a good walk to the main gate.

“The square came complete with a tank ramp and a nearby firing range, where we dug for spent bullets and occasionally a brass cartridge case.

“There were no shops on the camp but there were deliveries of milk and bread and what we called the travelling shop, a converted coach which came around several times a week.

“Just outside the camp were a few shops in Cinnaminta Road, but for anything more than basic groceries, we had to travel by bus to Headington or Cowley.

“The nearest public house was the Corner House, opposite the main entrance. I sometimes cycled there, with the bribe of a lemonade, to buy for my father three bottles of light ale from the off-licence - all quite legal in those days!”

Geoff, of Brashfield Road, Bicester, recalls how he and other children enjoyed roaming across Shotover and through Brasenose Woods and preparing every year for Guy Fawkes’ Night.

“Every autumn, we would build a large bonfire in the field behind our hut ready for November 5.

We would scavenge branches, scrap wood, old tyres and any other flammable material we could find, occasionally raiding other kids’ bonfires for extra material.

Of course, they would do the same to us!

“In the middle of the field was an old tank full of water and I remember one day a child nearly drowned there and had to be rescued. Men from the council filled in the tank.to prevent further incidents.

“Men from the council were also called when a leg of my bed went through the floorboards one night and they replaced the floor that had rotted.”

This ‘idyllic existence’ didn’t last, however, and in 1958, the family moved to a new house at Blackbird Leys.

Like many other children, he was sad to leave Slade Camp.

He was delighted to join many other former residents on a walk around the former camp recently and “stand on the site of our old home for the first time in 65 years”.

Help support trusted local news 

Sign up for a digital subscription now: oxfordmail.co.uk/subscribe 

As a digital subscriber you will get:      

          
  • Unlimited access to the Oxford Mail website   
    •       
  • Advert-light access       
    •       
  • Reader rewards       
    •       
  • Full access to our app 

About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.