THERE was plenty of rivalry between youngsters at Barton, Oxford.

The estate was divided into East and West Barton, with Bayswater Road between them, and there was mutual distrust.

Roger Thomas, in a book recalling his childhood there, writes: “We West kids had to be very careful where we went on the east side.

“If we did venture on to the East, we went in numbers or, if we were visiting a friend on our own, we would make a beeline straight for their house and the same coming home.

“Even on our side of the estate, we had different gangs, although compared with today, there was nothing really sinister in it.”

One flashpoint was often the run-up to Guy Fawkes’ Night.

Mr Thomas recalls: “My little gang and Barry Davies and his gang built large bonfires over several days in readiness for November 5, about 25 yards apart on spare ground at the bottom of our garden.

“One year, they were bragging that their bonfire was going to be much larger than ours, so we settled that one by burning theirs down on November 4.

“There was hell to pay. We never owned up, but they knew who had done it. We had to guard ours as they would have done the same, but we were OK.”

Mr Thomas has vivid memories of the harsh winter of 1947, with snow and ice gripping the country from mid-January until mid-March.

He writes: “One morning, the snow had piled so high against our front door that dad couldn‘t open it – if he had done so, we would have had a hallway full of it.

“I can still see him now digging his way round the side of the house to clear all the snow away from the front.”

Like many families, all they had to heat their home was a coal fire in the living room and a paraffin heater.

Conditions were particularly tough for him and other boys at Barton Junior School, as they wore short trousers.

“I remember walking to school on freezing cold mornings with my knees getting redder and redder with the cold.

“We would wear a balaclava, knitted by mum, with just the eyes and the mouth cut out.”

  • Tales of an Oxford Lad is available at Blackwell’s bookshop, Broad Street, Oxford; Pen to Paper, 95 London Road, Headington; the Model Shop at The Roundway, Headington; at the Spar shop, Barton Centre and at Barton Chippy, or send a cheque for £8.95 to Roger Thomas at 29 Ripley Avenue, Minster Lovell, Witney, OX29 0RP, call 01993 703474 or send an email to rog.thomas@btinternet.com