THE stillness, the gentle pace of life, the grass growing in the road at the entrance to Church Street, Meysey Hampton, the farm worker leads his horse and cart back to the farm at the bottom of the hill. This photo from the 1920s is so evocative and almost certainly the work of the late Dennis Moss.

The worn paths crisscrossing the Green show us the daily visits from villagers fetching fresh water from the Spring Green for those without wells in their front gardens.

Wild flowers will grow in abundance on the banks of the stream.

The pump though was for the farms. It remains a much loved icon. But then…then the farmer would draw the horse drawn water tank to the side, climb the stone steps and pump the tank full. It would then be taken to the paddocks to fill bath-like containers set at a point between three or four fields where animals could drink easily. In the 1920s each field would be surrounded by hedges brimming with wildlife.

H J Godwin Ltd later made and supplied stone troughs to local farmers at £100 each.

This weekend, the village green will be alive. The mown grass surrounded by stones and chains will be for festival stalls and in the early evening a picnic.

The Cotswold Sheep Society and St Mary’s will benefit. The village green with its water pump is a prized oasis in our village.

Ninety years on from the way it was.

Jean Higgs