MEMBERSHIP of the Oxford Ixion Club wasn’t all about motorcycling.

Social activities included tug-of-war, tub racing, outings to the seaside, treasure hunts and tramps’ suppers.

Ixion members would compete against Wytham Cricket Club in a tug-of-war across the Seacourt Stream at Wytham.

The judge was Alan Course, landlord of the White Hart in the village and Oxford Mail cartoonist, who stood in the river dressed in top hat and tails.

No-one was ever quite sure who had won, because almost everyone seemed to get a ducking. Tub racing against teams from Kennington cricket club took place at the same venue.

The pictures come from Stan Braybrooke, of Morton Avenue, Kidlington, who joined the Ixion club in 1947 and is now a trustee.

He writes: “We ran many scrambles in Shotover Park at Headington and then at North Leigh. People may remember me, as I waved the flags to start and end the races.”

As we have recalled, the scrambles at Shotover proved particularly popular, with thousands of people turning out to watch the riders in action.

The Shotover estate was requisitioned as a Canadian military headquarters and as an engineers’ school during the Second World War.

Events continued after the war, but permission was withdrawn when the owners returned.

According to Mr Braybrooke, there were accusations that prize rhododendrons had been stolen from the estate gardens – Ixion members fiercely denied they were responsible.

When the last event at Shotover was run in 1952, the club held a wake – Tony Bartrum dressed as a vicar and Mr Braybrooke and another member carried a stretcher bearing some of the stakes which marked the course.