THESE were the choristers who led the singing at one of Oxford’s smallest churches.

St Michael and All Angels Church now occupies a central site in New Marston, at the corner of Marston Road and Jack Straw’s Lane.

But when this photograph was taken in 1935, it was based in a tiny building in Ferry Road.

Mary Tansley, of Arlington Drive, Old Marston, who sent in the picture, writes: “I am the third girl from the left and my brother, Terry Smith, is the little fellow, fifth boy from the left – nice shiny shoes but his feet not able to touch the ground!

“I was 10 and he was seven, and twice each Sunday, we ran along the country road to New Marston to sing in the choir.

“The Rev Beverley Davies was the vicar at that time.

“After the early morning service, we would go into the hall for a boiled egg, etc for breakfast.

“We loved it. I remember each one of the choristers so well – we were also at school together.”

Brother and sister might have been ‘little angels’ on Sunday, but Mrs Tansley has a confession – they weren’t on other days of the week.

She tells me: “On the way home from school, we would every day pull the big old bell on the house in Jack Straw’s Lane, where Mr Field lived. We called him ‘Old Daddy Field’.

“We would then run so fast across the fields, with him chasing us in his ‘Plus Fours’. But he never caught us.”

The small church in Ferry Road remained in use until 1955 when the new church was consecrated.

It was the first permanent post-war church to be built in the Oxford diocese.

New Marston was part of Old Marston parish until 1948, then became a Conventional District, with a priest-in-charge, Dr Con-stantin Hope, appointed.

It was his ambition to build a bigger church and for New Marston to become a separate parish.

A site was identified and TH Kingerlee and Sons, the Oxford builders, started work on the £22,000 project in the spring of 1954.

So many people wanted to attend the consecration by the Bishop of Oxford, Dr Harry Carpenter, the following year that the service had to be relayed to an overflow congregation outside.

It was another eight years, in 1963, before New Marston became a separate parish and Dr Hope was appointed its first vicar.

The old church, still with its tower, was later converted into a workshop and is currently undergoing renovation.

Does anyone recognise any of the other choristers in the picture? Let us know.