The late Roy East was a teacher, designer and painter, and was closely involved in a wide range of creative, sporting and social activities in the village.

Loraine is a long-established graphic designer and started painting watercolours on her first trip to Venice with the Blewbury Art Club in 1988. She still paints in her leisure time but is now a full-time writer.

Contact: Chalk Hill House, Bessels Way, Blewbury, Oxon OX11 9NT Tel: 01235 851005

The late Ron Freeborn (1936-2021) was an art teacher and painter. Fondly remembered as an inspiration by hundreds of former pupils, he was involved with community arts, the Village operas, the Blewbury Players and many other creative activities.

Janet has lived in Blewbury for over 30 years. Despite having creative aspirations from a young age she was late coming to art due to being heavily short sighted. It was the invention of new technologies such as mobile phones, ipads and art apps that enabled Janet to use her creativeness to combine these with traditional painting methods and develop her unique style.

“I combine photography, mobile art apps and traditional painting to create pieces that will appeal to a broad range of people. Some loosely follow form and colour and are representational while others become more fluid through the process, resulting in a beautifully abstract piece. What they all have in common is that they are intriguing, original, unique and affordable.”

Contact: 15 Bridus Mead, Blewbury OX11 9PJ  Tel: 01235 850075

The late Sally Jones always had a passion for photography and described herself as a non-digital “enthusiastic amateur” working predominantly in colour.

During her many years as a Blewbury resident she extensively photographed village scenes and events. Selected photographs can still be seen on village post cards, and on the front cover of the latest edition of This Venerable Village.

Elphin is a designer, animator, painter and sculptor who has lived and worked in Blewbury for many years. During the 2020 coronavirus lockdown he produced a cartoon a day for 100 days, charting his reactions to local, national and international news as the pandemic developed. Here is a selection of those drawings, taken from across the whole of that extraordinary period; click on any square to see the full image.

Contact: Longridge, Westbrook Street Blewbury, Didcot,  OX11 9QB    Tel: 01235 850068

For many years Bernard was a sound recording engineer/producer in the music, film  and television business. He is now a professional photographer.

Contact: Amity, 81 Dibleys, Blewbury OX11 9PU    Tel: 01235 851088

You are invited to join John Johnson, the blacksmith who lived at the forge in Westbrook Street in 1908, for a tour of the many pubs that served the village at that time. As John says: “Blewbury has six pubs for 550 people. They provide the social life for many of the men in the village. If you have a florin to spare, I would be happy for you to buy me a round in each of them.” A word of advice before you start, however. Although John has a fund of village knowledge – his family has lived here for generations – he is more a drinking partner than an academic. So although his views can all be supported, a more cautious historian might describe some of his facts as ‘likely’ rather than ‘definite’ .

The photographs of your trip are not all taken in this year of 1908. They can usually only be dated approximately, for example by the dress being worn. Some are known to have been taken in the previous century, while a few have features that would have been a surprise to both you and John. Tarmacadam on the roads and telegraph poles beside them were not features in the village at that time.

Start at the top left picture – half way down Westbrook Street

Spring Cottage in Church Road has a number of murals in its garden to enliven what was a very dull concrete block wall. And a number of imitation enamelled panels similar to those that were plastered over corner shops in the 19th and 20th century.