Lowdown Issue 10 The Lowdown started off back in March 2020 as a simple sheet called 'The Bampton Beam Lockdown Lowdown' and consisted of essential information about emergency contacts, Covid- related community activities, and details about the services provided by the wonderful Bampton Aid Network (BAN). – As the first lockdown eased, we dropped 'Lockdown' in the title, increased the pages and greatly expanded the contents. Lowdown Team! Sue Greenwood (Chancellor of the Exchequer), Alison Bardsley (Distribution Doyenne), Maurizio Fantato (Spin Doctor) and Adam Lethbridge (Dogsbody and Showbiz Correspondent. Oh and Editor / Designer) James Wildman - Design Guru
Booklet on William Wells 1868-1953 Morris Dancer, Fiddler & Fool by EFDSS An outstanding figure in the revival of English folk music makes a contribution to this Journal. ‘Jinkey’ Wells of Bampton-in-the-Bush, Oxfordshire, died a few years ago after a prolonged illness had cut him off from his beloved Morris and deprived his village and his many friends of a gay and cultured personality. While he enjoyed moderate health and certainly long after he was blind he was the leader and fiddler of the Bampton Morris Men who capered and stepped in the lanes and gardens of the village throughout Whit-Monday. He himself knew the custom was ancient and part of an England that was fast disappearing. With the May Day garland carried from house to house by the children and the cake borne on the swordhe looked upon the six white dancing figures and the black-faced fool—a part which he himself had made memorable in his youth—as a living element in the historic mode of life of the English peasant. One of his greatest experiences was his first meeting with Cecil Sharp who was able to confirm his own views of the deep-rooted nature of this dance tradition. Sharp paid his tribute to Wells in his description of the Bampton Morris dancers in The Morris Book, Part III.
Church annual Christmas event 1976 photograph of Donna and Margaret Pullen , and Shaun Mc Cauley grandchildren of Kitty Jackson, Also Sarah Evans teacher.
December issue 15 Bampton Lowdown The last newsletter One rare upside of Covid-19 is that it created this publication, which has grown from a simple newsheet of essential lockdown information into a varied mixture of stories, commentaries, profiles, reporting and much more, all of which are Bampton related. We've all very much enjoyed producing The Lowdown and we really hope that you've found it a valuable source of information and entertainment throughout these difficult months. It is certainly our intention to continue for as long as funding allows.
