Jack Jarvis
Memories of the 1950s
Jack was brought up in Steventon and has many wonderful memories. He joined the Church Choir as a youngster in 1944 and was a bell ringer in the Church from 1946. These are some of his memories of the 1950s.
1951
In 1951, Steventon held a festival to coincide with the Festival of Britain. The village has always loved a good festival and in those days it was considered quite alright to have beauty competitions. On this occasion, it was to raise funds for a new Village Hall. In this photo, my twin sister Gillian is on the left. Did you know my real name is John but people have always called us Jack and Jill? The second photo is, believe it or not, myself and Pat, who I was courting at the time!
1952
I remember that the Queen came to the throne in February 1952. Pat and I used to go to the Regal Cinema in Abingdon every Saturday. We saw the death of the King and the Queen coming back from her holiday in Kenya on the Pathé News. I started courting Pat in 1950 and we married in 1956.
The village enjoyed the festival so much that we did it again in 1952. It was okay to advertise cigarettes in those days as you can see by the Players advert on the tractor in the procession.
I got my National Service call up papers in June 1952 and had to report to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry at the Cowley Barracks. I did six weeks of training and was then sent to Yorkshire for Jungle training! The plan was that we were off to Malaya but I was taken off for NCO training and was then sent to Taunton in Somerset to join their Light Infantry. The Ox and Bucks was in Egypt at this time.
1953 - 1954
The Ox and Bucks returned and we were then based in Chiselhampton. I don’t remember much about the Coronation as I would have been in the barracks but Pat told me about it in her letters. We wrote to each other just about every day. In this photo of the Coronation Celebrations, the ladies are (left to right): Christine Lane, Edna Smith & Jill Stevens.
In July 1953, the Ox and Bucks marched through Oxford, before we were all sent off to Germany. We had been given the Freedom of the City in 1948. It was a marvellous day. On the right is Pat’s ticket to the event.
When we went to Germany, I was a Corporal. They wanted me to become a sergeant but only if I signed up for longer, which I told them I couldn’t do. They made me a sergeant anyway. That’s me on the left in this photo taken in Germany in 1954.
In May 1954, we had the Presentation of Colours in Germany. What a day that was.
I was discharged in June and returned to a civilian life in Steventon. I got engaged to Pat and we started to plan our future life together.
1955 - 1956
I was working in the building trade as a carpenter and joiner and saving up. I bought the plot of land in Castle Street from Robert Tyrrell’s father, William, for £100. He wanted £120 but I said I didn’t have it. So he said that I could have it for £100 if I let him have the wood from elm trees that we had to fell. I took out a mortgage for £1,250 to build my bungalow. We paid that off at £7, 2 shillings and 7 pence per month.
Pat and I got married in 1956 here in our church in Steventon and had our reception in the old village hall.
