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Gallery 1

25 aspects of our heritage were featured in an Advent Calendar in December 2021.
Some were well known, others local secrets; we hope you enjoy them all (click a picture to see it larger and the caption; once one is opened you can scroll through them all).

Join us in thanking The National Lottery Heritage Fund helping us repair our church and appreciate the heritage of this special place.

  • DEC 1st STARLINGS ON THE CHURCH WEATHERVANE (by JW) As we start our Advent Calendar, join us in thanking The National Lottery Heritage Fund helping us repair our church and appreciate the heritage of this special place.
  • DEC 2nd ALL SAINTS CHURCH GLIMPSED ACROSS THE OLD FISHPONDS (by KT) Did you know that the fish ponds provided a convenient source of protein in the Middle Ages?
  • DEC 3RD ATTWOOD COTTAGE (by DH) This half-timbered, thatched building is one of the oldest houses in Ladbroke, its been here for nearly four centuries!
  • DEC 4th SMALL TORTOISESHELL (by LT) Did you know, there are 2 or 3 generations of this butterfly per year? In autumn they hibernate in buildings, reappearing in spring.
  • DEC 5th PRINCE IN SNOW (By DT) This horse is not a racer, but reminds us that “Ladbrokes” the bookmakers is named after our village.
  • DEC 6th RADBOURNE LANE (by MT)Did you know that this was part of the old Prisoner of War camp which at different times held Italians then Germans and then after the war displaced Estonian, Latvian and Polish personnel?
  • DEC 7th THE PHONE BOX (by LS) Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed the iconic phone box in 1935. His father, Sir George, renovated Ladbroke Church 60 years earlier!
  • DEC 8th SUN SHINING THROUGH STAINED GLASS (by JW) These angels are part of the Ascension window high up in the chancel. The stained glass was created in 1862 by William Holland of Warwick and repaired in 2020.
  • DEC 9th RAINBOW OVER BUTCHERS CLOSE This field, opposite The Croft, is where village sports took place and the Ladbroke Club (a sort of local social security) had its annual festivities.
  • DEC 10th THE OLD COACH HOUSE (by KW) The wall of this outbuilding are made of local Blue Lias stone. Lias occurs in a diagonal band across the country from the Dorset coast to Yorkshire. It is fossil rich and used in the cement industry.
  • DEC 11th HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT (by MT) With binoculars you can see the ugly stone faces on the spire of Ladbroke Church.
  • DEC 12th VIEW FROM MACKLIN BRIDGE (by CT) The footpath, that crosses this bridge near the Millennium Green, follows the medieval route west towards Harbury.
  • DEC 13th POST BOX DISGUISED AS FATHER CHRISTMAS (by HM) Did you know that 50 years ago Ladbroke had its own Post Office? Now there is just this box at the other end of the village.
  • DEC 14th INSIDE LADBROKE CHURCH (by MT) The lofty arches and very high roof to a building which dates back over 700 years!
  • DEC 15th JUST WANT TO BE FRIENDS OR FED? (by AH) Did you know that during summer cows graze on Farmyard Field, the site of the original manor house and a row of cottages alongside the road?
  • DEC 16th SNOWY COPSE ON MILKING HILL (by LT) Just one of the features in the local landscape that has a name evocative of times past.
  • DEC 17th LADBROKE BONFIRE (by DT) Not many villages can say they have their annual bonfire on land owned by Robert Catesby, leader of the gunpowder plot.
  • DEC 18th LYCHGATE (by AH) From 1549 the priest had to meet a corpse at the churchyard entrance so covered gates were built to provide shelter. Ladbroke's lychgate was given in 1884 in memory of Rev Errington, who had opened the village school.
  • DEC 19th SUSTAINABLE ROOF (by JW) Did you know, the Cottage’s thatched roof is made of combed wheat straw and hazel spars.
  • DEC 20th THE FORGE (by JW) Horse Chestnut trees were often planted outside forges, as at Ladbroke, to provide shade for waiting horses.
  • DEC 21st SUNRISE OVER THE CHURCHYARD (by LT) The oldest headstones are made of local ironstone. Marble, limestone and granites arrived when canals and railways made transport easier.
  • DEC 22nd LADBROKE HILL (by KW) A view that was part of our heritage and lost in 2021 when they started work for HS2's deepest cutting.
  • DEC 23rd HI DAD! (by RB) Great Spotted Woodpeckers find insects in the crevices in tree bark and telegraph poles. They also take nuts from bird feeders.
  • DEC 24th HO HO HO (by JW) Jolly seasonal characters outside Ladbroke Farm, one of several farmhouses that have been here for centuries.
  • Dec 25th HAPPY CHRISTMAS