IT WAS known as the ‘Bladon Beat’.
After wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill was buried at Bladon in 1965, thousands of people descended on the village to see his grave, leading to severe traffic congestion, particularly at weekends.
Oxfordshire Police set up a special team of male officers to tackle the problem.
But Chief Constable David Holdsworth stepped in and decided that women officers should share the burden, taking over from their male colleagues one weekend a month.
They patrolled the village and the neighbouring town of Woodstock, controlling traffic, advising motorists where to park and helping people cross roads.
The women’s team, under Sergeant Margaret McCue, was WPcs Mavis Slaymaker, Patricia Harris, Myra Hall, Jennie Wilkins and Janet Hopcraft.
These pictures were taken on their first shift, in July 1965.
The motto of the Bladon Beat officers was ‘courtesy, consideration and cheerfulness”.
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