The Old School
What is now the village Recreation Hall (or Rec Hall as it is known to locals) was built on land gifted to the vicar and churchwardens in 1871 to establish a school, as the result of the National Education League’s campaign for the Government to provide free, compulsory education for all children. When it opened its doors, 62 children went there – which is a huge number given the size of the building.
In his book, local Terry Smith remembers his time at the school in the 1940’s where the headmistress Fanny Davis was a keen user of the cane. He recalled the school being divided into two classrooms, the ‘Little Room’ for younger children and the ‘Big Room’ for older children to the age of 11. Brick built toilets were outside and open to the elements with pieces of cut up newspapers to use as loo roll. Fearful of a loss of numbers at the school, Fanny and her husband Billy, also a teacher, encouraged village residents to take in orphans from Barnados – where they were given two shillings a week towards their lodgings.
The school was shut down in 1965 and the children moved to Swanbourne village primary school. In 1969 the Oxford Diocese sold the school for £750 to the Little Horwood Recreation Ground Trust (which was formed originally in 1902) and became a charity in 1986. The building and adjoining play area has been extended and greatly improved over the years by the Trust. It is now a busy hall used for many village functions including the village fete and Camp Night as well as private parties and a nursery on weekdays.
Part of the land that makes up the Recreation Ground today was previously called School Close and was purchased by the Recreation Ground Trustees in 1962 for £100. However, the land was ancient ridge and furrow and totally unusable for any kind of sport, so in 1964 it was levelled by using tons of earth taken from the pub side and moved to the Spinney side. An additional strip of land was leased from Manor Farm in 1966 to give adequate space for a cricket pitch and for many decades the village had a thriving cricket team. The tennis court and MUGA was built on land purchased from Aylebury Brewery company in 1984.
The Rec is now the start of the infamous Village Race, an annual September tradition that has been going on since 1966 and is still going strong today. Villagers compete against each other to run one or two laps (depending on age) around the Rec, down Church Street, The Green, Wood End and back to the Rec. There are hotly contested cups for the winners of the different age groups as well as a shorter race for the children.