Tailor Heath was the village tailor in Bloxham and he made a waterproof coat for Mr George Collins for the cost of 15/-.
One Thursday, his sister’s boy (William), came from Shipston on Stour, to visit his Uncle George with a gift of a tin of biscuits. While Billy (William) was in Bloxham, there came a very heavy thunder storm and it was still raining hard when it was time to catch the bus back to Shipston, so he borrowed the mackintosh, with the promise to return it. The weeks went by and the mackintosh was not returned to George and he kept moaning to his daughters about it. One day Grace said, “Gramp I’ll go with our Phyllis and fetch your mac” They set off for Shipston one fine day and when they got there Fanny (Billy’s wife) asked them in for a cup of tea. Fanny came in with the tea and then went to get Gramp’s mac from the hook in the passage. After one sip of the tea Grace said, “Phyllis this is awful”, so the aspidistra was fed the cups of tea! They said their ‘goodbyes’ and then the mac was at last on its way back to Gramp in Bloxham and all ended well. What a storm in a tea cup that was!

Anne Williams (Adderbury)