Now 90 years old, he was born at North Hinksey on l1th July 1890, the son of a cattle drover and farm worker. His earliest recollection is of sitting up in the hay rack while the cattle were fed and being confronted with their soft snuffling noses and a row of brown eyes as they pulled at the hay. He also remembers being carried by one of the farm labourers all the way to Hinksey Hill Farm and back, to watch the threshing there.
Schooldays
He attended North Hinksey School from the age of 5 to 13 years of age. Later
they moved to Tilbury Farm and then the children of the family had to walk from
Tilbury to North Hinksey each day to school.
Farm Work
At Tilbury Farm there were stables and loose boxes. These were rented by Halls
& Baldwins who were horse dealers. They dealt in horses and ponies for light
work, trap horses, carriage horses, hunters etc. They also had premises in
Oxford City. These horses were tried out in what they called the Polo Field to
see what they were capable of and so put a value on them; Coleman was the
jockey.
Jack's father later bought Oxlease Farm of 200 acres at Filchampstead. From here the family delivered two churns of milk a day, one to Botley and one to someone of the name of Slater. They also dealt in horses. His brother, Harry, would break the horses in and Jack would try them out. Jack also remembers the steam ploughs which were manufactured at a works at Cowley. These had two steam engines which stood each side of the field with a cable of steel between them which wound up under the engines. The plough was six furrowed reversible. An engine whistle blew when they changed position into the next six furrows across the field. A horse-drawn barrel of water on two wheels was used to keep the steam engines topped up.
Cattle Droving
Jack used to help Mr Greening to drive cattle, earning 1/- a day. The cattle
were bought at Newbury market. These animals were then put into cattle trucks
and brought by rail to Oxford by 5.30 pm that day. They would be driven to North
Hinksey via Ferry Hinksey road and the Willow Walk over the many small bridges
across the route. Small calves were put into a float with a pony and one of them
would drive it and the cows would follow the calves. A cow separated from its
calf could be more dangerous than a bull. One evening they came along by The Old
Gatehouse near Oxford station, Joe, George and Mr Webb senior. Some youths there
were rattling a lemonade bottle with its glass ball. The calves were in the
float, and a cow was upset at the noise and charged the lad with the bottle,
bearing him down the road before he could be rescued and taken
to hospital. Luckily he was just grazed. The cattle were put into a field along
the Botley Road for the night. Another time Jack had to move four Black Poll
heifers from islip to Bagley Wood for Mr Wigmore. He got up at 2 am and walked
via Binsey and Port Meadow, then to islip, north of Oxford. He drove the cattle
to Bagley Wood while it was still early and no-one about. He was given 21- and
was very pleased. When he got home it was haymaking time so he earned another
1/- and with his normal day's pay of 1/- he had 4/- which was most unusual.
Another time they had to get two cows in calf and a young bull through Abingdon,
but bulls were not allowed to be driven through towns. They thought it would be
all right as the bull was very young, but they were caught. There was a fine to
the police of 25/- or 7 days in prison.
Transport
He remembers riding a penny-farthing, which you practically fell off to get off
it: Later there were solid tyre bicycles - his brother had one of these, with
tyres as big round as the pneumatic tyres of today's bicycle. There were no
punctures, though a somewhat rough ride.
A Webb relation was Charlie Haynes, who was a carrier and operated from the Red Lion at Cumnor.
The road mender lived in one of the two cottages in Tilbury Lane. He would set out with his lunch basket on his back and an 'agle stones cart' would bring a load of stones to where the road was to be repaired, and it was his job to sit at the roadside on a sack breaking stones into suitable sized pieces all day. They were called 'archel stones'.
Chawley Brick Works
Bill Sallis and Bill Brown used to drive the timber carts or bogies with four
horses, two to each cart. They collected felled timber from the estate. Five or
six of the clay diggers formed a club or union to come out on strike in 1921.
That day the two workmen got up extra early and were away to the woods, as they
did not want to lose a day's pay. Lord Abingdon was told that his men were on
strike and told the bailiff that he was going to the House of Lords. When he
returned he offered the men another 1/- a week.
Jack Webb recalls that when he was called up in the First World War and was at the barracks at Newbridge; he walked into Finlay, the manager of Chawley Works, much to their surprise !
Mr Webb remembers the May Day parades of dressed carts and carriages which was held in St Giles. The dustmen and cab drivers took part. The writer remembers these too and says that the carts were all decorated and polished brasses hung on their martingale, and coloured ear-caps with tassels and coloured streamers plaited in their manes and tails. There would be a sprig of May blossom tucked in the head-harness sometimes. The drivers of the cabs had a joke between themselves and used to shout such things as "Go on, old Screwdriver - or Hammer and Pincers".
Jack also remembered seeing Lord Abingdon driving a bullock cart along a road by Farmoor Valley Farm to Cumnor Meadow for the haymaking.
(Jack Webb was interviewed in 1980 by Mrs Iris Wastie at Farmoor Valley Farm, then in the hands of his son Frank)