Wb lead 1908

A COMMUNITY clear-up of the village pound in Ewelme took place on Monday evening, led by resident Karl Wright.

Nine volunteers gathered to clear several bags worth of weeds and branches in an effort to revitalise the historic area off Parsons Lane.

In the 20th century, the village pound was used to pen stray animals. Since 2019 it has housed a commemorative plaque installed in memory of a war horse called Nancy.

Nancy lived in a stable in Lower Farm, opposite the pound, and accompanied sergeant Thomas Orpwood to the frontline of the First World War in France in 1914.

Nancy returned to the village with the serjeant, who served in the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars, in 1919.

Having moved to Ewelme with his wife and two children last April, Mr Wright found himself walking past the pound frequently on the school run.

Mr Wright, who is an officer in the RAF, said: “My children learned about Nancy the war horse at school — we always thought it was a lovely feature to Ewelme.

“I volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in my spare time.

“I was sad to see the pound, and particularly the commemoration of Nancy the war horse and Ewelme’s links to the First World War, starting to get a little bit unkempt and overgrown in areas.”

Backed by the parish council, Mr Wright rallied a team of volunteers on Facebook who came together to clear the pound and revitalise Nancy’s plaque.

“I was acutely mindful that the pound has a meaning to the residents of Ewelme. My interest is from its connection to the First World War and the war horse stories, for others it’s that it’s unique for a village to still have something like that — it’s quite medieval in some regards.

“When we got there, we had an initial discussion of how to remain considerate of those that live next door to the pound, so that with any work we undertook, we weren’t inadvertently chopping down anyone’s trees.

“Then we got on with the job. We were very fortunate that one of the volunteers was a professional gardener, so we took direction from him.”

The team tackled overgrown greenery and cleaned and revarnished the sign, which Mr Wright said was “key” to him.

He said: “Of all the deployments I’ve done in my career in the RAF to Commonwealth countries, most notably Kenya and exercises in Africa and the Far East, when I’ve led teams in my deployments I’ve always gone out of my way to visit Commonwealth war graves and I’ve always been taken aback by how pristine they are.

“The sign in the pound talks about Nancy the war horse, which I think is very much in the public consciousness with the film that came out a few years ago.”

The Steven Spielberg film War Horse, released in 2011, was adapted from the 1982 children’s novel of the same name written by Michael Morpurgo.

The story follows a horse called Joey serving on the battlefields of France in the First World War — as Ewelme’s own, real-life war horse did.

“I thought that was unique,” Mr Wright said, “and for me it was sad to see that show some signs of neglect.”

Mr Wright has proposed that the area could be used to host a commemorative event to mark the 110th anniversary of the First World War in 2028.

The proposal is something Mr Wright has discussed with one of Serjeant Orpwood’s grandsons, David, though the two are mindful the village has an existing memorial within the church.

Among the volunteers who came out to help with the clear-up were Councillor David Solomon, chairman of the parish council, and the Ewelme Society’s Carol Sawbridge, who has documented the histories of many residents for the Ewelme News — including Serjeant Orpwood.

Writing to thank the volunteers on Facebook the following day, Mr Wright said: “All volunteers were in great spirits and it made the job very enjoyable.

“As a relative ‘newbie’ to Ewelme, I’m blown away by the sense of community here and how everyone takes pride in the village.”