Women's lib was alive and kicking in Oxford well before the Second World War.

We reported (Memory Lane, May 19 2014) how Amy Spearing brought women to the fore when she was appointed a manager of the Mitre Hotel in High Street.

And it appears she had an equal, a Mrs Munro, who was also determined not to let women be undermined by men.

Mrs Munro – we don’t know her first name – was the founder (or ‘foundress’ as some people liked to describe her) of the Oxford Women’s Luncheon Club.

The club was in existence in the 1930s, but closed when war broke out and was not re-formed until 1953.

The first post-war meeting, at which “principals of colleges and wives of dons mingled with wives of businessmen,” was held at the Forum Restaurant in High Street.

After lunch, the president, Mrs VH Galbraith, paid a warm tribute to Mrs Munro who, she said, had not only had the vision of what the club might become, but had had the energy to bring it into fruition.

Mrs Munro, who had become a vice-president, was then invited to explain what had inspired her to form the club.

She told members that the idea had come to her when she realised that women were invited to the Oxford Men’s Luncheon Club only for coffee and speeches.

She said: “My feminine blood uprose at this, and I thought we ought to found our own club.”

Recalling past luncheon meetings and visitors who had addressed the club, Mrs Munro said that one of the most successful speakers had been a ‘taxi-cab man’.

As we recalled, Amy Spearing made her mark at the Mitre somewhat earlier. She was known as ‘Tiny of the Mitre’, a nickname she earned because she was not very tall and was evidently highly efficient and successful at her job.

She took steps to end the practice whereby men drank in the Mitre, sending drinks out for their women sitting in the courtyard.

In 1927, the Mitre used space at the rear, used in the days of horse-drawn transport as stables and coach houses, to create a new bar and billiards room. Miss Spearing was put in charge of the project and went a step further – she persuaded the management to open another bar for women only.

The men and women-only bars remained until after the Second World War when the barriers came down and women were invited to enjoy a drink in all bars – with or without their men.