Michael Cope kindly sent me a picture of the above in response to my post regarding the Hatters Walk round Winterbourne/Frampton Cotterell of early 2009.

Mr Cope told me that the Old Oak House in Westerleigh was a centre of the local Felt Hat making industry. His 4 x times great Grandfather was

“William Cope, a Hatter in Frampton Cotterell who died quite young (1735 - 1778) leaving a family of 7 to be looked after by the eldest of his children (my 3 x great Grandfather Hart Cope) aged nearly 16 as his wife had pre-deceased him by 2 years.

“Hart was also a Hatter for a while in Westerleigh but eventually moved to Berkeley.  They fell on hard times again and the parishioners took out a Settlement Order returning him, his wife and young family to Westerleigh.   Somehow he got back to Berkeley and obviously gained a reasonable reputation because at a dinner in 1812 attended by the well-known Dr. Edward Jenner, the Mayor of Berkeley and other dignitaries, he was made Borough Ale-Taster!”