The people of Bampton always pull together when push comes to shove. Residents got fed up with the litter about the paths and lanes and organised a mass clean-up. This article gives much more detail about it.

For what feels like years and years, WODC have been putting together a Local (housing) Plan and at long last, it was agreed by the governments planning inspectorate. All far too late to stop the speculative developments which WODC could not stop in Bampton which resulted in 160 house in New Road, a further 160 to be built at the bottom of Mt Owen Rd and the fight to stop yet another development between the Aston and Buckland Road continues (as at Sept 2019). A development on the east side of Station Road following on from the two semi detached bungalows has been granted and are being built now (Sept 2019). 7 new dwellings at Weald Manor farm have been built, Glebe Farm farther down Weald Street are building 6 as I write and a 7th will be added to them.
The surgery is at full stretch, no road improvements have been made, people are parking on pavements, some of the new houses in New Road have experienced sewerage back-flows. There are so many cars parked in Bampton now it's nearly always impossible to pass them without causing a motorist coming in the other direction from having to stop and wait

This delightful Frog Prince was created by Jo Lewington.

This Frog Prince was made by Jo Lewington. I asked her to tell me about it and she said :-

"This dates from my sculptor phase in the ‘80s. I made 3 or 4 of these. One was sent to the head of a fashion house in California ( I remember it as Mr Gucci , but that can’t be right, but he was famous). I think the one in the picture went to another rich American. I can’t remember what happened to the rest but there is one somewhere in the Cotswolds. I made postcards and a leaflet and distributed them around Chelsea Garden Show, but at that time I was off to India for a year and my career as a sculptor ended."

This is the Bampton Directory published in 1993. It lists all the services, clubs, societies and organisations to be found in Bampton along with the contact details. Advertisers who support the publication are :-

Spar, grocery shop
Electric Vehicles
Farmhouse Hotel & Restaurant, Lew
Rouse Pianos, keyboard lessons, piano tuning, soloist available
Elephant & Castle Inn, plus accommodation
Steve Rees, plumbing & heating
Bampton Cars, short and long distances
Centre for complementary medicine
A Simmonds, bread, cakes, general groceries, toiletries, pet food
L A Wootton, visiting chiropodist
Martin Drew, chiropodist
Cancer Research Campaign
Girobank
Bampton Driving School
Day & Partners, veterinary surgeons
Hazel & Phil Shaw, B&B
Boarding Kennels
M H Thomas, building landscape gardens, fencing, supplier of cut flowers
A P Sykes, B F Sinson & Associates, Dental Surgeons
Emmies, newsagent, tobacconist, confectioner
A Garage Door Associates, supply, fit, automation, repairs etc
C L Baker, extensions, porches, conservatories, UPVC fascia & guttering
The Cotton Club, natural fabrics
Countryman Building Ltd., builders & property maintenance
Frank D Stanger, solicitor
N Woodley, building maintenance, extension, roofing, electrical, plumbing
Romany Inn, accommodation, restaurant
Andrew Bowman, master thatcher
Bubbles, dog grooming
McKenzie Brown, domestic & commercial heating, plumbing, electrical work
J Temple, hardware, DIY, fancy goods, toys
K J Mullis, plumbing and heating
P Lewis, electrician
R Cooper, builder, painter, carpentry, general repairs, dry stone walling
E Taylor & Son, funeral directors, Carterton & Witney
Health Matters, shop, homeopathic remedies, health foods, cosmetics, perfumes

This is the Bampton Directory for 2006. It lists all the services, clubs, societies and organisations to be found in Bampton along with the contact details.
For the first time there are no advertisers.

This is the funeral program from the church service for Constance Irene de Hamel. Constance did many things but is possibly best known for being a continuity announcer during WWII

There is a sound recording of Constance talking about her whole working life on YouTube at https://youtu.be/lnKzcJOBO8Q

This threshing machine was used to thresh the grain from the stooks of corn and was the normal way to do this in the first half of the twentieth century, before the combine harvester did the job as the corn was cut in the field.

It was a labour intensive job with people taking stooks from the pile, others lobbed them on to the top where yet more people fed them into the machine. Two ladies and a man can be seen on top of the threshing machine doing this part of the job.

At least one person hooked sacks on to the back to catch the grain while others gathered up the straw and chaff. The straw would have been used for bedding animals under cover in winter and some used as feed.

The whole machine was belt driven - no protection - with power from a steam engine which had men keeping it going in good order. With a live fire in the steam engine, it's no wonder there were fires in the ricks from time to time.

There are 13 people working in this picture. Some have bailing string tied round their calves, probably to stop rats running up as the rick was slowly dismantled.

A threshing machine is nearly always seen working at the Fairford, Faringdon, Filkins & Burford ploughing match held the last Saturday in September on a farm within 16 miles of Lechlade.

Dr Alan Cole was in the practice in Bampton for many years. In this picture you can see his on-call alarm in his top pocket.