Carol Burke is another reader with fond memories of living at Slade Park, the former Army camp in Oxford.
She spent four years there with her parents, Joan and Evan Hopkins, living in one of the wooden huts at Headington, which had housed soldiers during the Second World War.
She writes: “Mum, Dad and I moved from my grandparents’ house to 12 First Avenue in 1952 when I was nine. The hut was newly painted inside and smelt fresh and clean.
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“We had two bedrooms, bathroom and toilet, kitchen and living room with a stove which burned coal. It was cosy and warm in winter.
“I quickly got used to living there and found it a happy place to be, surrounded by open land and woods, with easy access to Shotover. The huts were spaced nicely and each had garden back, front and side.
“I could go to the end of our garden, climb up a little grassy bank and hop across a stream and be in Brasenose Wood. In spring, the wood was dotted with celandine, wood anemone, bluebells and trees full of bird song.
“All the children were friendly and we got along well. In winter, we made slides of sheer ice and lined up one at a time running and sliding. We played in deep snow, popping indoors every so often to warm our feet and hands before going out again.
(Image: Oxford Mail) “In the school summer holidays, we would take a sandwich and spend many hours on Shotover where there was a sandy area with a spring or water tap, where we made streams and dams, or just ran around in freedom.
“There were ferns and wildflowers and all the countryside smells. Horses and riders would trot by.
“The Army parade ground was still there and we would walk across it daily to catch a bus in Hollow Way to school in Temple Road, firstly St Christopher’s and then Temple Cowley School
“When my parents bought me a bike, I was able to cycle fast down First Avenue and then wiz across the parade ground.
“Once, after going to Shotover, we walked home through the woods on a dark wet evening. Dad had a torch and we had to step carefully as the path through the wood was covered by toads and frogs crossing and hopping around.”
The family lived at Slade Camp for nearly four years and then moved to Rose Hill.
As we have recalled, the site off Horspath Driftway, The Slade and the Eastern Bypass housed an important military barracks during the Second World War.
When hostilities ended and the soldiers moved out, the huts they lived in were used to house city families.
Mrs Burke, of Hazeldene Close, Eynsham, whose father was a carpenter after leaving the RAF, tells me: “It was so rural and I was a perfectly happy child there. I am now 81 and look back on that time with thankfulness for childhood friendships, the freedom to roam and play and the closeness to nature.”
Guided tours of Slade Camp will be offered to visitors during Oxford’s ‘Open Doors’ Day from 12.30 to 4pm on Sunday, September 15.
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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.
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