The Bampton Beam used to be produced 3 times a year. This issue is from August 1996. The topics covered and the advertisers include:-

ARTICLES AND NOTICES
Circling the Square – one-way system for the Market Square. Beauty versus Business and What do you want? Artist’s impression of what the Market Square could look like in the future
Bampton Village Hall
Friends of St Mary’s, Bampton, annual accounts, benefactors and friends, series of illustrated talks, open gardens
Bampton Village Appraisal 1995/96 update
News from Bampton 100 years ago – extracts from the Faringdon Advertiser selected by Simon Garrett
May Bank Holiday and Whitsun Bank Holiday, Pumpkin Club Street Fair, May Queen Anna Beckett and attendants Jenny Thorpe and Kerry Anderson
S.P.A.J.E.R.S 44th Original Shirt Race
The May Garland by Ruth Wheeler
Bampton Morris Dancers
The Carer’s Centre (North and West Oxon)
On Being a Carer by Mary Lynne Winship
Community Care Notes
Local Health Care – focus on Witney Community Hospital
OXDOC - new out of hours GP service
League of Friends
The Willows social day centre
Bampton Fair by Fenella Gray
Bampton Environmental Watch Group
Bampton Parish Council News
Help Protect Bampton – the Society for the Protection of Bampton
Buses to Witney and Carterton
Bampton Youth Club
Witney Road Runners Junior Section
Bampton Summer Opera
District Council News
Images of Bampton – old photographs of Bampton to be published September 1996
Bampton Recreation Ground and Multi-sport club
Letters to the Editor
Architecture around Bampton written and drawn by Gilbert March, sketch of house in Bridge Street, Bampton
Bampton butcher Patrick Strainge helps Blind Dogs Society
Bampton W.I. 75th anniversary 1996 – garden party held in garden of Mr and Mrs Edwin Lee
Notice Board
Bampton Youth Centre
Bampton Ladies Group
Bampton Welfare Trust
Bampton Pumpkin Club
S.P.A.J.E.R.S
Bampton Traditional Morris Dancers
Bampton Environmental Watch Group
The Abingdon Crafts Festival
Bampton Bush Centre
Bampton Bridge Club
St Mary’s Flower Festival
The Children’s Society
Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund
The Royal British Legion
Brize Norton Village Playgroup
Bampton Boys Football Club
Bampton Tennis Club
The View from Sunny Jamaica – Joan Samuda talks to Linda Mills
Thames Valley Police, by Bill Oddy
Bampton Horticultural Society and Bampton Gardening Club, Bampton Annual Show, Saturday 7 September 1996
Letters to Auntie Beam
Bampton Primary School stories of things that grow by Ieuan List, Robyn Williams, Jessica Day, Jessica Ritchie, Simon Griffiths and Kirsty Curtis.
Bampton Youth Club news, Bampton Acts Drama Group and National Music Festival
Arts Page, West Oxfordshire Arts Association Exhibition of WOAA’s Summer Photographic Competition, Heritage Open Days, Wordplay Group and workshops
Venice Revisited – Dennis Harrison and Ann Manly
The Food Page by Gilly French
Crossword

LIST OF ADVERTIZERS
Market Square Garage
Electric Vehicles Ltd
Farmington Stone Company
Midland Bank
Curtain Choice
Danetree Veterinary Surgeons
Secretarial Services, S Garrett
Community Care
Bubbles dog grooming
Andrew Bowman, master thatcher
Bampton Fax Bureau at Emmie’s newsagents
J Temple, hardware, DIY, fancy goods & toys
The Appliance Doctor
Abbey Properties
CSW Picture Framers, Aston
Castle Wines
Grey Gables Garage
N Woodley, building maintenance
E Taylor & Son, funeral directors
A Simmonds, the old-fashioned village store
The Romany Inn
The Pitstop, complete motoring service
Mark Kent – carpets, vinyl and general flooring
Philippa Rayne osteopath and Lesley Mellin, reflexologist and aromatherapist
R Cooper, builders, painters, carpentry, joinery, general repairs and dry stone walling
Alpha Print (Oxon) Ltd
The Mentmore Crafts Festival

This picture is of Bell Cottage which was visible briefly across the Market Square after Market Square Garage was completely removed and before Thornberry Flats were built on the site. The people living in the cottage at the time couldn't wait for the flats to go up to regain their privacy.
The little lane, known by long-time locals as 'Back of The Bell' got its name from the Bell Inn which used to be where the Village Hall stands today. The Inn was bought by three ladies in 1923 for conversion into the WI Hall. In the 1980s the WI could no longer afford the upkeep of the building and it became the Village Hall ... next to the Town Hall.

This drawing of the Gate House of Bampton Castle, more correctly Ham Court farmhouse, was created September 15th 1943.

This envelope and cutting were lent to the Archive by Freda Bradley. Sundown Cottage was in the grounds of Prospect, the house immediately in front of you as you walk down the lane past the south side of the Grammar School. Mr & Mrs Rose bought it and they bought Prospect. The little cottage was later removed.
We don't know why Freda brought the envelope with the cutting; sadly whoever she lent it to didn't record that

The Bampton Beam used to be produced three times a year. This issue is from April 2002. The topics covered and the advertisers include:-

ARTICLES AND NOTICES
Parish Council and District Council Elections 2nd May 2002
Photograph of flooding and Morris Dancers outside the Elephant and Castle 1932
Bampton Riddle
A Skateboard Park for Bampton?
Bampton Village Hall
Bampton ‘250’ Club list of winners
Blood Donor Session Cancelled – by Susan Phillips
Grand Plant Sale
Bampton Methodist Chapel by Linden Burley
The Burford Singers
Magpie Lane Concert in aid of Friends of St Mary’s
The Secret Gardens of Bampton by Ian McLintock
Easter Church Services at St Mary’s
Bampton Parish Council News by David Hawkins, Chairman
Village College
Support for the Post Office
Town Hall – Lift for Disabled
Parking on Pavements
Do Fouling
Golden Jubilee Celebrations
Council Tax Increases
Oxfordshire Special Conservation Award (OSCA) Success
Market Square Improvements
West Oxfordshire District Council News by Jonathan Phillips, District Officer
New Pavilion Manager – Ray Willis appointed
Parish Assembly Meeting
Bampton Classical Opera 19th and 20th July 2002
Farmers’ Market, Monday 6 May 2002
New Bus Timetables
A Bampton Museum? By Jo Lewington
Letters and emails to the Editor
The Bampton Recreation Ground
Bampton-in-the-Bush Cricket Club
The Pavilion
Bampton Youth Football Club
Bampton Archery Club
Short Mat Bowls
Bampton Town Football Club
The Horseshoes Football Club
Bampton Gun Club
Bampton Weightlifting Club
Bampton Badminton Club
Bampton Archery Club
Bampton Tennis Club
Society for the Protection of Bampton
Parent Partnership Oxfordshire
Could you be a Citizen Advocate?
Learning Grant Scheme
Sobell House Hospice Charity
Volunteer Link-Up
Age Concern, Oxfordshire
Remembrances of My Service in the US Army Part1: Panama to Bampton by Dick Ford, US Army 1941 – 1945
May Garlands by Ruth Wheeler
Spajers News by Don Rouse
Minor Injuries Unit at Witney Community Hospital
Notice Board
Still Too Fast – speeding cars
Macmillan Cancer Relief, Bampton, Faringdon and Carterton
The Children’s Society
Bampton Ladies Group
The Cancer Research Campaign
Bampton Youth Centre by Colin Allport
The Bush Club
Flower Guild of St Mary the Virgin, Bampton
Bampton Welfare Trust
Bampton Exhibition Foundation
Bampton Bridge Club
Community Lunches
Bampton Websites
Useful telephone numbers
Out and About – photographs of Bampton and the Bampton Gardening Club
Shillbrook Wood by Colin Allport
Answer to the riddle on front page – photograph of Francis Shergold and Fred Lomas
Thames Travel Bus Timetable
Letters to Auntie Beam
The Gardening Page by Edie Bindweed
The Gardening Club News
Out of Work Farmer Turned Agricultural Correspondent by Don Rouse
Two Very Committed Women of Bampton by Fenella Gray – Hilda Kent and Margaret Howes
Bampton Golden Jubilee Celebrations
David Cameron MP – advice centres across West Oxfordshire
Postwatch Representative – voice of the consumer, Derrick Millard
Bampton Spajers Golden Jubilee 50th Shirt Race
A Decade of Bampton Classical Opera by Gilly French and Jeremy Gray
The Bike Project by Jo Lewington
The Cookery Corner by Gilly French – entertaining on a budget
West Ox Arts
New West Ox Arts Administrator – Abigail Ballinger
Medieval In Minds – Alison Merry and Friends
North Oxfordshire College, Banbury, Exhibition
Exhibitions in the Robert Vesey Room, Bampton Library
An Eye on the East – Hugh Sowden
Gallery Life Drawing Classes
Oxfordshire Arts Week – Open Studio
Crossword
Town Hall Bookings
Calendar of Events
WODC Environmental Services

LIST OF ADVERTIZERS
Oxford Double Glazing, Summertown, Oxford
Grey Gables Garage
Londis, community shop
Garden Trading Company
The Morris Clown
Bampton Fax Bureau at Emmies Newsagents
Cotswold Electronics, TV, Video, Audio, Microwave repairs
Lynwood Leisure Buildings Ltd
Bampton Cars
The Horseshoe Inn
N Nurden, Motor Body Repairs
Patrick Strainge, Butchers
Philippa Rayne, osteopath, Fiona Farmer physiotherapist and Lesley Mellin, reflexologist and aromatherapist
Danetree, veterinary surgeons, Faringdon
E Taylor & Son, Funeral Directors, Carterton
Curtain Choice
N J Woodley, building maintenance
Temples, DIY, Ironmongery, Paint, Wood, Cement, Sand, Gravel, Toys, Gifts and Candles
A Simmonds, The Old-Fashioned Village Store
Andrew Bowman, Master Thatcher
Tony Hughes, scissor sharpening
The Pitstop and Oxford Carb Services
The Elephant & Castle
The Robert and Doris Watts Residential & Nursing Home, Carterton
Pellmans, solicitors, Eynsham
The Flower Mill
Foxbury Farm, Brize Norton
The Appliance Doctor
Little Chicks Childminders
Live-in Home and Pet Minding Service – Jacqueline and Merv
Don Rouse Cars
Abbey Properties Estate Agents
The Romany Inn
Electric Vehicles Ltd
Domino Menswear, Witney
R Cooper, Builders, Painters, Decorators, Carpentry, Joinery, Dry Stone Walling
The Standlake Garage
Bojangles Hairdressers
Bodytalk, remedial sports massage

Doug Read OBE (he gained the OBE for services to ploughing) was a huge fan of classic cars and owned several over the years. These are four of them and show

1. Trojan Tourer 1924 model owned by Doug Read. Douglas Read driving, passengers David Hunt, Bill Bullock and Geoff Hunt
2. Photograph of a Riley Monaco in 1933
3. Photograph of MG Model J.2. 1932 in 1948.
4. Photograph of MG Model T.A. 1937 driven by his wife Sally (nee Raymond) in 1953 (Sally was buried in Nov 2020)

This is one of the earliest photograph of the Bampton Morris Men taken in 1897, Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year.
The dancers are
George Wells/Taylor
Thomas William Tanner
Joseph Rouse
Robert Dixey
George Dixey
James Dewe
Charles Henry Tanner, ragman
Henry Radband, sword carrier
William Nathan Wells, fool, known as Jingy
Richard Decimus Butler, musician

The Bampton Beam used to be produced 3 times a year. This issue is from December 2003. The topics covered and the advertisers include:-
ARTICLES AND NOTICES
Save Our Post Office
Renovation Work in the Market Square
Affordable Housing Needs Survey- questionnaire enclosed
Bampton Village Hall
Bampton ‘250’ Club list of recent winners
St Mary’s, Bampton 21 December, St Beornwald’s Day concert, ‘A European Christmas’
Christmas Services at the Methodist Chapel, St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Carterton and St Mary’s Bampton
Bampton Parish Council News by David Hawkins, Chairman
Affordable Housing Survey
Local Plan Comments
More Work Units in Bampton
Market Square Improvements
Traffic Calming Build-outs
Skateboarding on the Tennis Courts
Protective Clothing
Insurance Liabilities
‘No-one’s’ Land – next to No 18 The Pieces
Poor Drainage by the Surgery
Annual Fair
Recycling Bins
Parish Press Briefing September 2003
Free legal advice over the telephone – Community Legal Advice Service
The West Oxfordshire Nightstop and Prevention Project
Strengthening Industry Links – free training for voluntary and community groups
Training Opportunities – free to voluntary sector organisations
Funding for Children’s Projects
Volunteers needed for The League of Friends of the Churchill Hospital
District Councillors’ Reports
Bampton Fire Station by Mark Booty
New Licensing Laws
New Road Proposals
Housing Needs Survey by Jonathan Phillips
Proposed Bampton Housing Site – reply from West Oxfordshire District Council
Courtesy on the Roads
Age Concern Oxfordshire, City and County
Bampton Tennis Club
Memories of Bampton by Bill Gibson
Bampton Library
Letters and emails to the Editor
Photograph taken circa 1950 outside The Swan, Bampton, with Traction Engine ‘Pandora’ and David Hunt, John Bond, John Quick and Emmie Sollis
Bojangles, our village hairdressing salon expands
Bampton Welfare Trust
Bampton Environmental Watch Group by Ralph Norman
Notice Board
The Bush Club
Bampton Welfare Trust
Bampton the Way it Was, written by Mrs Freda Bailey
Unusual handmade Christmas gifts and crafts sale held by the Transrural Trust
Christmas Concert in aid of Bridewell Organic Gardens
Bampton Youth Centre
Old Birthday Cards Recycled
Out and About – photographs of The Gardening Club Autumn Show, The Gardening Club Goes to Scotland – A Week in Inverness, Remembrance Day and Children in Need Day
The Children’s Society
Bampton Bridge Club
Bampton Ladies Group
Bampton Exhibition Foundation
Cancer Research – Bampton Branch
Feel Good Factor – Volunteer Link-up
The Carers Centre
Bampton French Book Club
Useful Telephone Numbers
Bampton Museum exhibitions
The Bampton Gardening Club – AGM and Proposed Outings for 2004
The Trophy Winners of the Autumn Show
BBC Radio Gardeners’ Question Time – Witney Corn Exchange
The Bampton Classical Opera by Gilly French
Shillbrook Wood by Colin Allport
Out of Work Farmer Turned Agricultural Correspondent by Don Rouse
Spajers News by Don Rouse
The Bampton Mummers
Society for the Protection of Bampton
West Ox Arts, various exhibitions
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
Robert Vesey Room Opening Hours
All Jigged Out – an evening of foot-tapping music by Celtic jazz-funk band
The WOA Stair Lift Appeal
Gallery Life Drawing Classes
Bampton Primary School by Richard Pitt, Parent Governor
Slow Living, A New Society for Bampton
Crossword
Town Hall Bookings
Calendar of Events
WODC Holiday Refuse and Recycling Collection Timetable
Samantha Dickson Research Trust Appeal
LIST OF ADVERTIZERS
Matthew Shaw – Handyman
Roger F J Kerswill Photography
Pellmans, solicitors, Eynsham
Systems & Solutions – computer shop
Gray’s Taxis
The Morris Clown
Cotswold Bed & Breakfast
The Appliance Doctor
Bampton Fax Bureau at Emmies Newsagents
Philippa Rayne, osteopath, Fiona Farmer physiotherapist and Lesley Mellin, reflexologist and aromatherapist
E Taylor & Son, Funeral Directors, Carterton
Curtain Choice
The Pitstop and Oxford Carb Services
The Robert and Doris Watts Residential & Nursing Home, Carterton
W I Markets, Masonic Hall, Witney
N J Woodley, building maintenance
Temples, DIY, Ironmongery, Paint, Wood, Cement, Sand, Gravel, Toys, Gifts and Candles
A Simmonds, The Old-Fashioned Village Store
Andrew Bowman, Master Thatcher
Tony Hughes, scissor sharpening
DIY Livery, Calais Oak Farm, Bampton
A Bonner, Carpenter/Handyman
Grange Photographic
The Post Office
The Cotton Club
The Horseshoe Inn
Patrick Strainge, Butchers
Bampton Cars
Danetree, veterinary surgeons, Faringdon
N Nurden Motor Body Repairs
P & S Builders
Lynwood Leisure Buildings Ltd
Personal Training – Gail Booth
Oxford Double Glazing, Summertown, Oxford
Grey Gables Garage
Londis, community shop
Logs for sale ring George
Witney Lakes Resort
Domino Menswear, Witney
R Cooper, Builders, Painters, Decorators, Carpentry, Joinery, Dry Stone Walling
The Standlake Garage
Bojangles Hairdressers
Bodytalk, remedial sports massage
Abbey Properties Estate Agents
The Romany Inn
Electric Vehicles Ltd

The lovely black and white photograph shows Mrs Clark in her shop doorway. The shop was in the High Street on the north side almost opposite Bovington's wet fish shop.