HAVING read the piece by Alex Wynick in the Oxford Mail about the anniversary of Churchill's burial at Bladon I was reminded of my own near appointment with his grave 50 years ago.

At the time I was living in digs in Kidlington and either the Mail or the Times had carried an article concerning the proposed location of the grave.

It gave its position as being beneath the tower within sight of the pinnacles on Blenheim Palace, so late one afternoon I and a friend set off on our cycles to see if we could find the grave.

Unfortunately by the time we arrived at the churchyard gate it was dark. My friend who was too timid to venture into the churchyard agreed to look after our cycles whilst I set forth to explore and find the grave.

After some searching I returned to my friend announcing that I could not find the grave, only some timber planks and stuff and so we returned back to Kidlington.

Imagine my surprise when next day in the papers there was a picture of the half dug grave complete with spade projecting out of the top at the very position I had stood the night before.

One more step forward the previous evening and I would have arrived in the grave before the great man.

David J Jones
Thornbury Road
Eynsham