I received the following email from Clive Duncan. Clive grew up in Dunsmore in the 1950s and 1960s and his message is an interesting addition to Peter Jewell’s history of Dunsmore:
Dunsmore in the 1950s and 1960s
Most interested in the history of Dunsmore village. I grew up in Dunsmore and lived at number 6 Old Ford Cottages. I knew almost everyone in the village. I played the harmonium in the small Church for the Rev White and made notes on all village events and characters.
It was an extraordinary place to live with the young mixing with the very, very elderly. The interiors of many houses had not changed since the turn of the century. An old railway carriage owned by Mr Piercy which must have been dragged up the hill by traction engine housed every kind of equipment for surveying in all climates. I knew GP Wells and the Donat family gave me an old caravan which my father took over.
I went on to become a sculptor and head of a London Art School. Dunsmore for me seemed to be a sanctuary. The beech woodlands and the
views to distant hills inspired me.Rodney Stone, a retired merchant seaman ran the Black Horse pub. His story is worth the telling.
