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Filkins, Broughton Poggs, Langford and Kencott are all small villages built in
the local stone, bound together by a twisty ribbon of lane, and if you walk
across the fields by the old paths none is more than 15 minutes apart.
Each village has a very definite character of its own. Kencott is so quiet and
tidy, the grass so green, the flowers so brilliant. It is no surprise that over
and over again it wins the ‘Best Kept Village’ award. Look a little closer and
find a more mysterious side: the dog sees a friendly ghost walk to and fro
through a door that was blocked up in 1690; the church was dedicated in the 12th
century to St George and on the tympanum and the village sign are figures that
most take for St George slaying the dragon —not so, it is Sagittarius the Archer
shooting into the mouth of the hound of hell. Hens still wander in the road and
the whole street comes alive when the gardens are open in the summer. Then you
can wander from cottage to cottage, from stall to stall and buy best home-made
produce.
At Broughton Poggs, aeroplanes may roar overhead but inside the thick stone
walls is the sweet music of bell ringing. The Old Rectory is said by some to
have inspired Trollope to write the Small House at Allingham. Queen Anne Boleyn
may glide down the Ladies’ Walk — who are we to argue? It is certainly a creepy
spot — much more pleasant to sit on a sun-warmed tombstone by the small Norman
church, remembering the monks who looked after the fishponds, and puzzle over
the bumps on the field, which are all that remain of the old village.
Langford is the lucky village with a thriving primary school and an enthusiastic
cricket club. The highlight of the year is the dance held in a large modern
barn, when the caller gets young and old on their toes to the country and
square-dance music. All the money goes to charity. Perhaps this energetic
out-going life really is good for the health; certainly the oldest inhabitant,
Elizabeth Jones, is now 101 years old and still enjoys an afternoon out at the
Happy Circle Club. She is the centre of a caring circle that shows village life
at its best.
Filkins has a quarry that produces stone slates, and Saxons Close has been
listed by the Dept of Environment because they were the first houses to be built
by the district council using vernacular materials and traditional skills. It
was argued at the time that the small extra initial cost would be outweighed by
low maintenance costs, and so it has proved. Next door is the Centre: the
doctor’s surgery, the community post office (once the village hot baths), the
swimming pool and the bowling green. In August the Bowls Club organise the
annual flower show in the Carter Institute with skittling on the paddock
opposite. Step inside and admire the Edwardian portrait of Mrs Amelia Carter
draped in a fur stole. She funded the hall as a reading room for young men — to
keep them out of the pubs! — from the profits made in the development of
Carterton. No alcohol was allowed but there were two big open fires and a fine
billiard table. At the top of the village the Crosstrees farmyard has been
redeveloped. Woollen cloth, smocks and shrugs, pictures, furniture, green
rushes and stone trefoils have replaced sheep, calves, hens and bulls.
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