Embedded Files
From: 162 Autumn 2025
Author: Peter Smith
The April to June period had an interesting mix of events that I attended as Chair.
The procession and Civic Service, marking St Georges Day, on Sunday 27th April differed this year by including a commemoration of VE Day, with the reading of several names from the City Roll of those from Oxford who fell in WW2. The number of Freemen participating in the procession was again lower than hoped for.
The Mayor-making on 15th May saw the formal election of the new Lord Mayor, Cllr Louise Upton, and Sheriff, Cllr Andrew Gant. This is always an enjoyable ceremony to witness. The role of the Sheriff (the role also includes Conservator of Port Meadow) is important to the meadow, and I will be working with him during the year as necessary.
Beating the Bounds 29th May, while not a formal Freemen event, was nonetheless an intriguing Oxford tradition that I was keen to partake in. This was led by the vicar of St Michael at the Northgate, and was traditionally a way of ensuring young parishioners were shown and understood the boundaries of their parish. 25 locations were visited in under 3 hours, each marked in chalk and beaten by multiple participants with willow canes.
The Inspection and very popular Aunt Sally match were held on 20th June. The Inspection went well, with a mix of Freemen and Civic officers and friends or family, and the Sheriff was briefed on current issues and some of the site’s rich history as we traversed the meadow, and seemed content. Sadly our ex-Chairman, Howard Crapper, was unable to attend the Aunt Sally match this year to receive a gift, but a good time was had by all. The report on the match is included later, and my thanks in particular to Chris Cox for organising it.
July and August were typically quiet.
I gave an in-situ history talk about the Bailey Bridge on 14th September as part of the Oxford Open Doors weekend, complete with “props”. The weather held, and a reasonable number attended the talk. While it was not undertaken in my official capacity, as with my talks on the aviation story at the north end of the meadow, it is my small way of helping to raise the profile of aspects of the meadow’s rich history.
I attended the Battle of Britain service on 21st September at the City Church, representing the Freemen, which was very poignant. 2025 marks the 85th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day, 15th September 1940, marked by a massive air attack on Britain that ended in a decisive defeat of the enemy by the RAF.
There are some civic events over the next three months that I plan to attend to represent the Freemen.
In this journal are some snippets gleaned from the archive. It would be great if some Freemen could volunteer to contribute an article to a future journal, on a topic of interest with some connection to the Freemen, whether for example, it be about the Freemen (generally or family story related), about Port Meadow or other Oxford history. On the topic of history, Freeman John Lowe is authoring a new book due out hopefully in 2026 entitled “Always ready, Always willing: firefighting in the City of Oxford”. We hope to feature more on that in the Spring issue. I went to his talk about it in the Museum of Oxford on 10th September, which was fascinating.
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