I T WAS a day to abandon the pub and go on an outing when regulars at the Friar pub in Marston Road, Oxford, and members of the Marston branch of the British Legion joined forces for a day out.

They posed for the well-known Oxford photographer, B J Harris, before setting off.

We know the picture was taken in 1950, but we don’t know where the daytrippers were going.

With so many children in front, their destination was possibly the seaside. Note how smart everyone is – most of the men in jackets and ties, the women in summer dresses, even the children are well turned out.

We know the name of only one of the youngsters – Ken Wickson, now of Ouseley Close, Marston, who is the boy standing on the right. His parents are also in the picture – his dad, Bert, is in the second row from the top, third from the left, while his mum, Elsie, is holding the white bag on the right.

Others in the picture include Ollie King, William Carter, Arthur Mansell and the landlord and landlady of the Friar, Horace and Mary Blackford, and their son Ivor.

The Friar was a popular pub, on the corner of Marston Road and Old Marston Road.

It was built in 1938 and took its name from the Friar pub in Friar Street, St Ebbe’s.

Before their expulsion from England in 1538, the Dominican Friars owned much of the land in St Ebbe’s, and the pub and street were named after them.

The Friar in St Ebbe’s was a very small pub and was converted into a private house in 1937. Both the house and the street were flattened in the redevelopment of the area in the 1960s.

The Marston Friar took over the licence, a decision which pleased residents who had moved from St Ebbe’s to the Marston area. In 1995, many regulars deserted the pub when it was renamed the Brewery Pound, but after a petition, the owners backed down and reverted to the original name.

Now, however, like so many others, the Friar has closed and the site is due to become a Tesco store.

When the picture above was taken, the British Legion occupied a hut near the White Hart pub in Old Marston.

Later, it moved to its present home, in Hadow Road, off Marston Road.

Can anyone identify any more of the travellers above, and tell us their destination?

Memory Lane this week


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