They're off. No, it's not the horses we are talking about, but the landladies who ran pubs in the Witney area.

They and their friends are seen here setting off for a day at Ascot races in June 1968 - and by the look of their finery, it must have been Ladies' Day.

Just look at all those smart outfits.

Some of those hats were bound to have been admired by the crowds.

All the ladies were well covered at the top and dresses and coats were at or below knee length, so as not breach the strict Ascot rules on dress.

They posed for the Oxford Mail cameraman, presumably outside a Witney pub - we're not sure which one - before boarding their coach at the start of their journey.

We don't know the names of any of the ladies as they were not published at the time.

But we are sure some of our readers will know and will be able to tell us.

The Witney ladies, of course, weren't the only ones to escape their pub duties and head off for a day of leisure and enjoyment.

As we recalled (Memory Lane, December 31), members of the Oxford and District Licensed Victuallers Women's Auxiliary, who ran or helped to run pubs in and around Oxford, spent a day at Portsmouth in 1971.

Even their menfolk weren't left out. They were pictured (Memory Lane, January 26) enjoying a day away from the bar at the Guinness Brewery at Park Royal in north-west London.

Does anyone recognise any of the ladies in our picture above?

10:43am Monday 5th May 2008

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