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Published: December 19th 2022
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Chipping Norton
Vera surveys the snow near Bliss Mill The sun always shines on TV. There has never been a statement more true in the last 4 weeks or so. Qatar 2022. The winter World Cup. We are used to the usual spectacle in the warmer summer months, but here we are with the football calendar completely turned upside down. Whilst we settle down to watch a few upsets in front of audiences who often don't seem to have a clue what is going on, the temperatures at home are falling. Nosediving in some cases. The current price of energy courtesy of Vlad in some ways makes the hefty price tag of beer in Qatar almost seem appealing. Well, maybe just for a moment at least.
We head south to deliver pressies in Cheltenham and possibly some Christmas cheer. The conflicting geography means you can't be at opposite ends of the country come the big day. The original thoughts were to visit a couple of towns and villages in the Cotswolds on route to Cheltenham. A simple plan until the weather intervened. BBC Breakfast were quick to spread panic with news of heavy snow in the South East. Motorists allegedly stuck in snow in Kent and on the M25,
although nobody quite seemed to know how of why? Try gritting a road or two, perhaps? "It all came down so quickly". It probably did, but the forecast had said as much at least 24 hours prior to the event. Flights were cancelled at Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton. 10 centimetres of snow were reported in the vicinity of Stansted. We let the local dust settle and set off for Chipping Norton.
The journey south was cold, but no lying snow was evident until the Warwick area. The green fields were white. The main roads were perfectly fine though and traffic was light. The situation seemed to deteriorate near Shipston on Stour. The side roads looked suspect. The temperatures had obviously dropped. I subsequently read with interest that the Bee Gees recorded a song in 1970 with the lyric "Cold be my days in Shipston on Stour", so other more notable folk had spotted that the town was a bit parky. Well Robin Gibb had at least. We arrived in Chipping Norton. We passed the brand new Aldi, interestingly described on a road sign as a superstore. I suspect that the majority of the locals would rather be straight on
Chipping Norton
The former Chipping Norton Recording Studios the internet to book a Waitrose delivery slot. It will possibly turn out like our local "superstore", where neighbours pretend they haven't seen you when spotted inside. We parked up in the long stay car park, which was well populated except for the multiple electric csr charging spaces. A free long stay car park, no less - there aren't many of those left with local Councils usually scrambling for every last penny. Chipping Norton has become synonymous in the last 10-15 years with the well heeled and well connected "Chipping Norton Set", so the ability to pay the odd cark park charge wasn't anticipated.
The "Chipping Norton Set" focused on a few high profile residents, who hold court behind their electric gates in the locality. Ex-PM David Cameron, the daughter of the Rupert Murdoch, the Brooks - of the phone hacking notoriety - have been joined by the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and Alex James of Blur. They both have farms outside town. Didly Squat owned by Clarkson suggests on it's website that it is the "best farmshop in the world". Time will tell, I guess. Meanwhile just in case the farming business doesn't go according to plan, the
journalistic profile has been kept very high after a recent column in The Sun. James, has successfully moved his farm into the award winning cheese production world.
The myth of the "Set" didn't really seem to play out in reality, as I surveyed the main High Street. The retail trade looked as though it was struggling just the same as everywhere else. There was a downbeat appearance to the majority of it - some would say scruffy - although the Cotswold stone look appealing. The local Chinese was apologizing for having to put up prices by 10% due to increased costs and there didn't seem to be a lot of life in any of the pubs. One of the pubs was called Chequers, although I suspect this wasn't the same place where David Cameron spent his weekends when he was still Prime Minister. The Town Hall was an impressive looking building and flanked by grand pillars and completed in 1842. I found an interesting plaque on the former brewery on West Street, commemorating the discovery of the active ingredient in aspirin by a certain Edward Stone. His achievements were nearly missed, due to the building being hidden in scaffolding.
We retreated into the go to, dog friendly Cafe Nero. Whilst there were a few orders suggesting the locals had aspiration to grandeur, the "Set" was not really evident in there either.
The "Aspirin" blue plaque was a bit of a bonus, but there was one other in town that I was keen to track down. There are many iconic recording studios around the country, but a quiet corner of Oxfordshire was never really on my radar as a key player. Just near the Town Hall on New Street stands the listed building, which was a former school. However, between 1971 and 1999 it housed the Chipping Norton Recording Studios. The venture was originally started as a house studio for the Blue Horizon label - they of the early Fleetwood Mac amongst others - but branched out as a studio for hire by bands not on the record label. Who would not remember some of the classics recorded in this very building?
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
I'm Gonna Be 500 Miles - The Proclaimers
In The Army Now - Status Quo
Too Shy - Kajagoogoo
Promise Me - Beverley Craven
Perfect -
Fairground Attraction
Eighteen with a Bullet - Pete Wingfield
Hocus Pocus - Focus
Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers
It is difficult to imagine noting the latter song, Les Mckeown and the boys nipping round the corner for a sherbert or two in 1975 after completing the track - pursued by 200 tartan clad groupies.
Duran Duran also recorded the majority of their debut album at the studios in 1980, as did Radiohead in 1993.
After a quick look round a couple of antiques places, we took Vera for a snow covered walk in the fields near Bliss Mill on the edge of town. Bliss Mill looms up out of the valley and other than the lack of redbrick construction, would have seemed more at home in a gritty Lancashire or Yorkshire town. Indeed it was designed by a George Woodhouse, best known for his Victoria Mill in Miles Platting, Manchester. Chipping Norton was once a wool town and the Bliss Mill was built in 1872 for the production of fine tweed cloth. The boom years were the First World War, when the factory received large orders for khaki cloth for the military.
The mill operated until closure in 1980. A nice residential apartment in there today will set you back in excess of £500,000. I dread to think what the maintenance charges will add to your monthly outgoings. However not to worry, if you nip into town you can park for free!
We headed south towards our next destination of Burford. We passed the "gest farmshop in the world", but there was no time to asses the claim if we were to see Burford before the light faded. Burford sits on the River Windrush and was once a centre for the wool trade. Today, it is tourism that drives the economy and even on a gloomy, snow covered winter afternoon there were a number of visitors wandering. A warm summer afternoon would likely bring the hordes on bus tours, all keen to take the perfect Cotswolds photo in their allotted 75 minutes stopover. We parked up on the main street and gingerly walked up the hill on the icy pavements. One of the most attractive buildings is the Tolsey. It was the original market and Town Hall of Burford, dating from the 1520s. It now houses the Museum. As pleasant as
Chipping Norton
The old brewery where Edward Stone discovered the active ingredient in Aspirin the town was, we were probably expecting more. There could possibly have been a different perception, if the weather had been better. The sun wasn't shining today on Burford. It was shining on TV and as it happens, on Argentina.
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Rainyb
Lorraine Brecht
Does she have snow boots?