Conversation with Mrs. Eileen Coles of Standlake, on 9th May 2007

PB Eileen, were you born in the village, and have you always lived here?

EC Well, born here and lived here until I left school when I went to Oxford to serve an apprenticeship. However I was soon back, so I have been here nearly all my life.

PB So when were you born, and who were your parents?

EC Born in 1919 to Lewis and Elsie Tuckey.

PB I understand that the Tuckeys were the village bakers, but had they been long in Standlake?

EC Yes, as far as I know the family go back in Standlake to the 1600's when a Tuckey married one of the Rectors daughters, so we must be one of the oldest families in the village I should think.

PB Originally farmers, as so many were?

EC No, shoemakers I think, and then it was my grandfather who took up baking. He originally lived in a house which was sited where Woodlands is now. Then, Magdalen College put up this house for sale (the Old Bakery on High St.), and he moved the family in and started the baking business in the bakehouse which he had built onto the rear of the property.

PB And your father joined the family business?

EC Yes, although that might not have been the case, as he was one of 6 sons. Anyway, two went to work in London, and two were killed in the Great War. My father couldn't go to war on medical grounds, so he stayed and helped in the business.

PB Well, I want to ask much more about the business, but for the moment let's concentrate on you. Did you have any brothers or sisters?

EC Yes, a younger brother who is dead now.

PB And what are your earliest memories of the village?

EC I suppose the village school. I particularly remember the Christmas Party, because father would make big slabs of fruit cake. Also, an uncle who worked with my father, used to give a big box of apples and oranges to the children.

PB And outside school? I suppose that with many fewer houses and cars you had lots of room to play in.

EC Yes, although there were lots of small farms as I think Gordon Costar told you, and I remember much more in the way of livestock. Certainly there weren't many cars in the 1920's. I remember only Mr. Belcher with one - he was a church warden and lived in Rack End.

PB Any "characters" that you remember in the village?

EC Well, there were a couple of old men that the boys used to call names. There was a chap who lived close to here called "Fatty Green" and another who lived in a shed next to the Black Horse. I remember the road sweepers too, cutting the grass verges with scythes. But I don't have a lot of early memories, I best remember life after I started at Witney Grammar School at 11 years old.

PB What subjects did you excel at?

EC Well, I wasn't terribly academic, but I was aiming towards a future in Domestic Science teaching when my mother became ill. Well, I wouldn't consider moving away then, however she recovered her health somewhat, so I decided to take up an apprenticeship in hairdressing in Oxford.

PB And how old were you then?

EC I was 18 I think.

PB So, as a teenager, what was there for you to do in the village?

EC Well there was a youth club, and I used to help Isabel Douglas to run it (she was also a teacher at the school). Actually, the youth club was very go-ahead, and after the war we arranged trips abroad. I remember a trip to Luxemburg when we all stayed in a convent for a week at a total cost of £10! Also, we raised funds and had the Youth Hut built, and it was opened by Bob Arnold (Tom Forrest in The Archers). By the way, he used to work for the council painting white lines on the road, and I remember the boys playing him up no end on their bikes when he was working along the Ducklington Road!

PB Well, back to hairdressing, and how long did your apprenticeship last?

EC Three years, and then I worked in Oxford for some time. When we had a bad winter I stayed in town with friends, and then I would stay all week and come home for weekends.

PB Commuting daily would be hard in the war anyway I suppose.

EC Yes, and actually my father couldn't get enough fuel for his deliveries, so he had to use the horse and van instead.

PB So, you were hairdressing, but were you ever called up for the war?

EC Yes, but I was excused because my mother fell ill and I was able then to combine caring for her with helping my father in the bakery.

PB So your younger brother didn't work in the family business?

EC No, Cecil was a mechanic, and he had just become service manager at City Motors when he was called up. I remember, when he was on leave one time, he was delivering for my father in Linch Hill when a German bomber came over, so he jumped in a ditch! My father saw the same bomber from the garden, and apparently it bombed a farm near Stanton Harcourt airfield, but there wasn't much damage.

PB Were there boyfriends?

EC Well, I met my husband through a friend after the war. He was a Surrey (Weybridge) boy and was in the RAF Volunteer Reserve and posted to Stanton Harcourt and Abingdon. We were engaged for a couple of years, then married in St. Giles. Speaking of St. Giles, I remember when Mr. Lovett was the Rector and he used to come and chat with my father. He was of "the gentry" and used to give dinner parties at the Rectory. King Edward VIII (when Prince of Wales and at Oxford) used to come occasionally for weekend parties I believe. Mr. Lovett used to ride around in a pony and trap, and he was very nice, although I remember as a 5 year old being nervous in Church, because if children made a noise he would be very displeased and look sternly down at us! Also, if we missed Sunday School, he would often visit to find out why!

PB So, after you married, did you set up home ?

EC He came and lived here and I carried on in the bakery. Then, after 10 years we decided to part and were divorced.

PB Meanwhile, you went back into hairdressing I believe?

EC Yes, I didn't fancy commuting to Oxford, so I set up on my own upstairs here and continued to help in the bakery.

PB Successful?

EC Yes, I did very well and was very busy. The business continued for, I suppose, 20 years until the late 1970's when hip problems forced me to give up.

PB Your parents were retired by this time?

EC My mother died, aged 62, in 1967, and of course that badly affected my father for a time. However, he recovered and wouldn't retire until he was 74, and then he died at 84 years old.

PB Like your retirement from hairdressing, this also would be in the 1970's?

EC In 1980 actually, and my father always said that whoever was living in the house when he died would inherit, and that was me and it was my home, so that was only right.

PB But the Bakehouse part of the premises is now a separate dwelling isn't it (no. 18a High St.).

EC Yes, after father died I decided to sell the Bakehouse and had alterations carried out to this house to bring it up to date. Actually, the baking equipment was given to the Museum Store in Standlake, and I assume it is all still there - perhaps gathering dust!

PB Well, Eileen, you have been retired since then, so I suppose that gets us pretty well up to date. However, the baking business was of great importance to the village for a long time, and is of great interest to today's villagers as well. So, I wonder if we can finish by concentrating on your memories of the business, how it was carried out and any small details that you can bring to mind that you think might be of interest.

EC Well as we have said, what is now 18a (at the back of the property) was the Bakehouse, and the room we are sitting in was the shop. Apart from that, my father had a horse and van before the war and that was used to carry out the delivery round. Actually, my grandfather was very fond of horses and my father inherited his enthusiasm, and kept one in a field at the back.

PB What was written on the van?

EC On the side "L.F. Tuckey, Bakers & Confectioners, Standlake", and on the back " You can butter our bread, but you can't better it!"

PB That is wonderful, catchy and to the point, I love it.

EC Yes, it's quite good isn't it? Well, my father had two men working for him and they shared the delivery duties, because it was quite a big round which included Northmoor and Kingston Bagpuize. Of course, in the Second World War, petrol was hard to get so my father also ran a pony and trap then, and I remember going in that on the Bablock Hythe ferry to visit an aunt in Cumnor.

PB So, how about the baking itself between the wars, where did the flour come from and what did the ovens burn?

EC The flour came from merchants, Holtoms who were a Ducklington firm and St. Helens of Abingdon. But their flour wasn't strong enough on its own for bread making, so we bought in Canadian wheat via an agent who called on us, and he would tell us when the next ship load was due to dock so we could plan our supplies. The ovens were fuelled by coal and Marriotts brought it by the truckload from Witney station. You should have seen the great piles of coal outside here just after a delivery! But also pre-war, all the mixing and kneading was done by hand, so you can imagine what hard work that was. Also, when local farmers like the Costars lopped their willow trees, father would split the logs and use them as kindling. Mrs. Costar (Gordon's mother) made butter, and we bought that too.

PB Was anything other than bread baked?

EC Yes, in the early morning the bread was baked and then a variety of cakes were baked, including donuts and lardy cake. But there were no savouries like sausage rolls. Two things occur to me regarding cakes. At Christmas, quite a few ladies would mix their Christmas cake at home then my father would collect them on his delivery round, bake them overnight and deliver them back on the following day. Also, at Easter, we baked Hot Cross buns through the night so that villagers could buy them at 7 a.m. on Good Friday to be able to have them for their breakfast. In addition, of course, we baked the bread for the Little Loaves childrens service at St. Giles.

PB Well, that's what you call proper customer service! You have mentioned the World War once or twice; apart from petrol shortage (and your brother diving in a ditch!), what other effects were there?

EC There was a lot of administration involved with the coupons, but we tried to make sure everyone had everything they needed. It got a bit complicated though because you could only buy bread with ration coupons, not cakes. But we did have one advantage in that we had electricity by this time. Most people in the village didn't have it by 1939 unless you paid to have it installed, but this part of the High St. had it and of course it was a great help. For example, we got electric dough mixers, and that took a lot of hard work away. By the way, I can remember some of the prices of things from those days. It was for 4 pence for a 1lb loaf, and 7 and a half pence for a large one. Dough cakes, sponge sandwiches and lardy cakes were 1 shilling each, and bread rolls a halfpenny each. Donuts were 7 for sixpence.

PB What particular work were you involved in?

EC Well all sorts, but I was particularly proud of my cake decoration. I took a course, and ended up decorating no end of wedding cakes for people. I think the last one I did was for Robin Kermode's wedding a few years ago.

PB Eileen, thank you very much for your time and for your interesting recollections.