CHIPPING NORTON comes with preconceptions. This town in Oxfordshire is synonymous with a particular kind of Cotswolds lifestyle: it has an old tweed mill, a princely little theatre and a semi-mythical ‘set’ that includes everyone from Jeremy Clarkson and the Camerons to Blur’s Alex James. None of whom live in the town itself, but that’s beside the point. Chippy holds cachet.
It also holds surprises, one of which is more Uncle Sam than SamCam. In the early 20th century, the town became the British hub for baseball. This claim to fame that, in 1926, saw the town’s ‘brawny Oxfordshire youths’ beating a select group of London Americans in front of hundreds of fans at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium, meant home runs were being hit here until as late as the 1960s.
The arrival of baseball into the Cotswolds —a move akin to bowling spin in the Bronx— was largely down to one man. Fred Lewis was born in Market Street in the summer of 1879. The son of a builder, he constructed his own legacy by founding the Chipping Norton Scout Group in his late twenties. It was when he was looking for a suitable team sport for the group, in 1909, that Lewis stumbled across an old handbook describing what he considered the perfect egalitarian option.
Denne historien er fra May 05, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 05, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
