Whilst February is normally a dull and wet month as I write this we seem to have had more than our fair share of rain and the surrounding fields seem to have been flooded for ever. Apparently and according to the Met Office we have only had two days this year when it hasn’t rained.
It is with great sadness that we heard of the passing of Anne Bull on the 10th February and Susie has very kindly prepared the following obituary.
James and I are sad to announce the recent death of our mother and longtime Waterstock resident Anne Bull, widow of John, a few weeks short of her 91st birthday.
Although Mum was born in London she spent her childhood and youthbetween Surrey (where she had relatives) and the Thame area where her father Arthur was proprietor of the Thame Service Station. Her maiden name was Blanchard - she always claimed this name originated from ancestors who had come
over with Huguenots - and sure enough when we gave her a DNA test for her birthday this proved to be the case!
Horses were in her blood - her father’s family had always worked with horses and then like many of the grooms and coachmen of that era changed to looking after horseless carriages instead. Arthur instilled into Mum a love of horses which was to endure for all of her 90 years and also an attention to detail which could be difficult to live up to! Much to his unhorsey wife’s despair, Arthur would regularly buy and bring home mistreated or undernourished horses and ponies so they could have a better life.
In the mornings, Mum used to open the pumps at the garage then cycle down Thame High Street with her saddle on her handlebars to the stables. She rode her pony to school in Tetsworth and later attended Holton Park Grammar Girls’ school. One of her teachers was concerned that the often absent delicate
child who missed so much school may catch a chill sitting on wet grass. Little did she know that Mum wasn’t missing school because she was ill, but she was bunking off to follow the hounds of the South Oxfordshire Hunt across the local countryside in all weathers!
With her trusty Irish cob, Copper, no hedge or fence was too big and she soon attracted the attention of some of the local farmers’ sons including one John Bull of Waterstock. It may or may not have been a match made in heaven, he had the land where she could keep her horses and he thought a girl who could
carry two full buckets, could cook and was also a ‘good looker’ would make the perfect farmer’s wife. They married in Thame Church on the auspicious date of 23-4-56 and celebrated their Diamond wedding anniversary 60 years later, just a few weeks before Dad died.
The early years were a challenge - their first marital home the virtuallyderelict Home Farm had been empty for some years and in 1959 they lost all their herd to Foot and Mouth disease. Better times lay ahead in the sixties with John gradually taking over the farm from his father Jimmy Bull who lived
at Park Farm and with Mum’s support building it into a thriving mixed farm, eventually buying the house and land when Waterstock Estate was sold off.
They found time for an active social life of hunt balls, racing and riotous parties while also producing and raising Susie and James. As always horses and ponies were to the fore. This was never more so than when John’s Californian Uncle Cliff, sent a cowboy he knew called Greg and his 30 quarter horses to Waterstock to do quarantine when they emigrated to Australia. For nearly a year every stable, paddock and chicken shed was filled to capacity with horses. It was probably the busiest time in Mum’s life but also the most fulfilled! As we children grew up, she became very involved with running the local Pony Club teams. Eventually we moved on to our adult lives and marriages.
Mum’s next big project was planning and overseeing the conversion of Home Close Barn when they left Home Farm. Sadly it wasn’t to be their forever home and this difficult time was brightened by the arrival of grandchildren Jack, Alice and Sophie and later on by William and Charlie. She was thrilled that the older ones all rode and had ponies, three of the five went to agricultural college and all were interested in nature and the countryside.
Charlie’s football was maybe more of a learning curve for her but she took an interest and supported them one and all.
As Dad’s health deteriorated she spent the last ten years of his life supporting him and in later years she was proud to see Jack become Master of the Kimblewick Hunt and attended the weddings of the three older grandchildren. In time she become GG to six great grandchildren: Florence, Pippa, George,
Mathilda, Oscar and Hugo. As she became less mobile she loved to look at the regular photos of them all. Of course, the star of the show was an elderly pony called Derek which Jack acquired, the perfect school master for teaching the next generation to ride.
She achieved her wishes to celebrate her 90th birthday with a family party, to avoid hospitals and care homes and die at home. It was a privilege for us both to play a part in looking after her at home as she became more frail. We’ll miss her in many ways but perhaps we won’t miss the fact that wherever you drove she always had a hunting anecdote to tell about the surrounding fields, often featuring their old hunting friend ‘The Colonel’ (Clerke-Brown)
She will be scattered with Dad in Hyde Spinney, a more fitting resting place for two country lovers than a formal grave.
Last but not least Lorna asked me to pass on a big thank you to all those that came and supported the Waterstock Wine Bluff on the 23rd January. It was a really an evening of fun, with a full house and the bluffers, Sarah Bell, Ali Plumb, Johnny Powell and Henry Manistys were brilliant. Best of all we raised £1638 to be split between Cancer Research and the St Leonard's rejuvenation fund. Thanks to everyone that helped, not just by coming along but making cakes, donating raffle prizes, setting up and washing and tidying post event. A big success.
