THESE men, proudly posing behind an array of trophies, had clearly had a successful year.
Members of the Pressed Steel Rifle Club at Cowley appear to be attending an end-of-season celebration.
The pictures come from Pat Ayers, of Bassett Avenue, Bicester, whose husband Dennis belonged to the club.
She writes: “I am an 82-year-old widow and recently came across these photographs of my late husband and his colleagues in the rifle club.
“My husband worked at Pressed Steel for about 20 years. My son joined as an apprentice in 1962 and now works for BMW.
“The rifle club was very successful, winning many awards, some of them at Bisley, the home of rifle shooting. I believe one member won a medal at the Olympic Games.
“Apart from my husband, I also remember Peter and Bob Ealy and Les Cato who were club members between 1960 and 1980. I hope your readers recognise some of the others.”
The rifle section was part of the Pressed Steel Social and Athletic Club set up in 1927 to provide leisure and sport for workers who made car bodies for the neighbouring Morris Motors’ factory.
As we recalled (Memory Lane, July 18, 2013), the club’s fortunes were boosted in 1953 with the opening of its new sports ground off Horspath Road.
- Getting ready to aim
Several thousand people turned out to watch workers at the factory take on opponents in simultaneous sports, including football, cricket, rugby and bowls, after company chairman Albert Pam had opened the gates with a ceremonial key.
Over the years, the ground has been regarded as one of the best in the county, staging many different sports.
One of the highlights was the Pressed Steel gala day, which attracted thousands of workers and their families and members of the public every year.
Sixty years later, the club, now known as Oxford Sports and Social Club, is facing closure.
BMW, which plans to take back the 24-acre site in 2016, offered to build a new ground nearby, but the club, which now has just 1,000 members compared with 20,000 in the 1970s, decided the new venture would not be viable.
How many of the rifle club members can you name? And can anyone tell us when and where the pictures were taken?
- Memory Lane this week
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