Tea at Long Bridges

Tea at Long Bridges

Pat Hanks recalls picnicking outside Long Bridges after school with her family.

23 July 2023

Pat: I liked Long Bridges, we liked Long Bridges, yeah. Well, I suppose it’s what we got used to. And also, Mum and Dad were familiar with it. And my Mum and Dad used to pick us up, well, in the summer, when I had younger brothers and sisters. But my very youngest sister was born during the war. And when she was little, Mum had a, well, a seat on the back of her bike, and my Dad also had a little seat on his bar.

And his mum lived in Minster Road. [To the interviewer] Do you know Oxford? Do you know Minster Road? Yes, in the um, in the piece… that is the end where the golf course is, they live up there. That’s where they lived. And we used to go and always see Granny after we’d been swimming.

But we always had a picnic. Mum and Dad often met us from school. And when I was at Central and my other sister was at the Technical, we got on our bikes and we went down St Aldates and came down along the towpath there and met Mum and Dad – or just Mum if she was coming. And we had our tea. And when we were in the pool and we wouldn’t come out, Mum used to say Dad’d said “First one out gets an extra cucumber sandwich!” So, we always heard that bit!