Bicester Reflections – a talk by Matthew Hathaway
Monday 25th April 2022 @ 7.30pm
The Clifton Centre, Ashdene Road, Bicester, OX26 2BH
Entry: £3 for non-members, free for members
The Bicestrian
The Bicestrian is the part of our website dedicated to our Town
It’s a funny old world, barely a day goes by without another (often unwelcome) software upgrade or a new version of your six month old phone being released, and yet why are more and more of us listening to our music on vinyl records, a technology which was created by men in sheds over 100 years ago? Three million vinyl records were sold in the UK last year, an increase of over 50% on the previous year – we just can’t get enough of the black stuff.
You will never see them frolic, you’ll never hear them bleat.
They are quietly unassuming in the busy Bicester street.
In the darkness of the night, and in the humdrum of the day,
They never leave their posts – in fog and wind and rain, they stay.
They breathe the smoke outside the Saxon, hear the music from the Bell.
They learn the gossip outside ARGOS from the tales the locals tell.
They hear the Friday Market banter, watch the shoppers come and go…
As they spill from Sainsbury’s car park, into Coles and M & Co.
Stretching from the Church, down to the traffic-coated Square…
They guard the Charity Shops, the pop-up shops, the shops no longer there.
They never sleep, the Black Sheep, you never see them graze…
They only show their faces, as if wary of our gaze.
Bicester County School, The Bicestrian & Kenneth Williams
What a Carry On!
The Bicester County School (latterly known as the Bicester Grammar School) opened in September 1924 in what was the rather grand sounding, if not much to look at, Bicester Hall. The building still stands and is situated on the corner of the junction of Launton Road and London Road. The building is now a retirement housing complex.
