Away from it all

The village hall was completely packed for the Sibfords Society Meeting on Thursday, 15th May. People had come for the screening of ‘Away from it All’, a film made for the BBC in 1956, with the young Chris Chataway walking round Sibford interviewing Sibfordians, notably Mrs Green, whose shop still bears her name, the pub landlord, Tony Harris, Len Lowe, a retired policeman and the cast of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ preparing for a performance at the Manor House. Sibford was compared to another, larger village, Cheriton, in Hampshire. Nobody had previously seen this film as it had been stored away in the BBC archives for decades. It was a chance conversation after church which gave us the idea to search and retrieve the film and Bill Dunkley, then the 18 year-old ‘Moonshine’ in the play, has donated a copy to the Sibfords Society. Bill then took over and talked of his boyhood in Sibford, describing old characters long gone. He really brought his childhood to life with his anecdotes, some very funny, some moving, and his collection of family photos. The great thing was that many of his friends from that time were there and it was powerful to see their childhood selves up on the big screen.

Massive thanks to Bill for all his work and to Keith Hicks, for, as always, expertly sorting out the technical side, to the relatives who came along way to be here, and to everyone who helped to make the evening a success.

Bill said it had been an honour to give the talk and that he had enjoyed it immensely.

Diana Hughes

… more from old Sibford Scenes