Tackley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tackley is a village ten miles north of Oxford, England, six miles north of Kidlington (the largest village in England) and twelve miles south of Banbury. It is situated close to the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal.
The village has an 11th century church dedicated to St Nicholas, as well as much later attractions including some 17th century fish ponds. It is the site of an English Civil War skirmish on the banks of the Cherwell: "The Battle of Tackley".
The population has increased vastly since 1930 and many new properties have been built; but they all blend in well with the old stone cottages from centuries ago. The main industry in the village used to be agriculture and sheep farming, as well as a local quarry (where the first fossilised dinosaur in England was discovered) and a cement works. The cement works is long gone but agriculture is still evident: however, many of the residents now commute to work in the surrounding areas and London.
There is now only one public house in the village (there used to be two) - The Gardiner Arms - which caters for villagers and visitors alike. The other pub was The Kings Arms, which is now a private dwelling but you can still see where the sign used to be on the front of the house. There is also a Village Shop, Post Office and Village Hall. Tackley has a railway station, served by trains between Oxford and Banbury, with commuter trains direct to London. There is also a regular bus service to Banbury and Oxford operated by Stagecoach.
[edit] Trivia
On Thursday 13 July 2006 a RAF Harrier en-route to RAF Fairford crashed about 2km west of Tackley, near the Sturdy's Castle public house, closing the main (north - south) road from Oxford to Banbury for over a week. It would appear that the pilot having had a problem, and seeing Woodstock ahead, managed to turn around and eject at a very low height. By all accounts he was relatively uninjured. The only other reported casualty was an off-duty policeman, who was travelling close to the scene of the crash, who suffered from shock.
