Memory Lane

Recalling sleepy village life in Oxfordshire

We’re in the market town of Burford, and it’s 1972… in colour!

Burford, Oxfordshire, 1972

Burford is a well-preserved old market town about 20 minutes west of Oxford, on the edge of the Cotswolds. If you turn north up the A361 off the roundabout with the A40, the view down the High Street is still very much like this. When the pollarded lime trees and grass verges give way to the shops and hotels, all the old buildings are still there, even if the names have changed. That charming high-street petrol station on the far right is now a kitchen shop, while further down on that side the House of Simon (dating back to 1582) is a private house and the Gay Adventure has become the Copper Kettle. Can’t think why.

Sign of the times

The black-and-white clock on the left is jutting out from the Tolsey Museum, another ancient building that’s been housing a collection of Burford-related ephemera since 1960. Under the Shell sign is a white Vauxhall Victor FD estate whose AD registration is a common sight within striking distance of Gloucester. Behind it is a thirsty-looking Humber Hawk Series II, beyond which we have a Herald convertible, a Mini MKI, a Hillman Avenger, an Anglia and a Cortina MKII.

Driving towards us is a Ford 100E 5cwt van and turning away from us is a Triumph 1500, a direct rival to the Avenger and launched the same year, 1970. To the left of the Triumph is

a Bedford CA van and behind the chap with the bicycle is a Jaguar Mk2. Then we have a maroon Hillman Super Minx (Series III?) estate with a white roof, then a Volkswagen 1600 ‘Type 3’, then finally a yellow Escort MKI and the tail of an MG 1100 or 1300. The Escort is a largely forgotten model called the Sport, with a 1300cc Escort GT engine and the shell and suspension from the Mexico.