Miss Cecilia Margaret Mary Dearlove, the only child of Albert and Cecilia Dearlove, has lived in East Hendred since 1910, nearly 90 years. The family moved to St Josephs in Newbury road from Swindon, where Albert had been working as a carpenter. They caught the train from Swindon to Steventon, where there was a station, and then came to East Hendred on the milk cart

The Family and been connected with the village for 5 generations. The grandfather, George, lived at Compton and was married in St Amands chapel at Hendred House. He lived in the Eyston arms, as did is Father, Miss Dearlove's great grandfather who is buried in the churchyard at St Augustines, which used to cater for Catholic funerals as well as Church of England services. After St Mary's Roman Catholic Church was built in 1865, the Dearlove family used to walk eight miles to East Hendred once a month Mass, as there was no Catholic Church at Compton where they lived.

Born in 1902, Miss Dearlove was nearly eight when they came to the village and went to St Amands school, where she remembers the teacher Miss Rabb, vividly.

When they got to the steep part of the hill, the boys had to get out and walk, while the girls rode all the way up. The money for the treasure hunt was given by the priest and Miss Dearlove recalls the excitement of once finding a penny. On Shrove tuesday all the children from St Amands went up to Eyston house, where they were given a hapeny and a bun, a tradition that is continued to this day. Miss Dearlove admits to being a quiet, serious girl and did not go out much, although she went to Church every Sunday. On Sunday afternoons she used to read or do and needlework, sowing of embroidery. She used to know all the families in the village - there were only about said hundred inhabitants in those days, and a best friend was a Bella Stibbs.

When she had outgrown the village school, Ms Dearlove went to the convent school in Abingdon and from there went to work in Didcot at the depot, up dating the lists of armaments and spare parts that were sent abroad to be used during the war. From there she went on to work as a telephonist in London for four years and then moved to Reading, where she lived and worked for 33 years. She remembers her first wage been 14 shilling a week (70p in today's currency) - a loaf of bread cost about 2.5p. There were only two cars in the village when she was a child. One belonged to the Eystons and the other to the family that lived at Downs house on the Newbury Road, which has since been burnt down.

In those days there was no public transport and the village boasted two shops as well as a bakery, so there was no need to go to Wantage to buy provisions. On Sundays, the Baker allowed people to cook the roast, or pies in his oven and charged one penny for the service. Meat was delivered by the butcher from Blewbury, who use to a horse drawn van for deliveries and would only come if the order was big enough. Most people had bicycles in those days, although Miss Dearlove remembers walking to Wantage on occasions.

There was no mains water and most people had wells in their garden. Miss Dearlove recalls that they had a 35 foot well, which was operated with a handle and produced lovely cold spring water. It was later covered over when mains water was introduced in the village in 1936. There were few telephones in the village and the Dearloves used to make telephone calls from Hendred House if necessary.

In 1923, when Mr Eyston was 21, a party was held in the large barn at Hendred House and all the village was invited. The barn was used for parties on other occasions too.

When her father died, in 1926, Miss Dearlove's mother moved to Reading to live with her, and on her death was buried beside her husband in the family grave in St Mary's churchyard.