This report on the Survey & Plan of Bampton was done under the guidance of M W Robinson FRICS MTPI in October 1966. It makes very interesting reading and the conclusions are as relevant today as they were then. The topics covered are 1. Population 2. Situation 3. Character 4. The people 5. Shopping 6. Principal road connections 7. Schools 8. Open spaces 9. Social facilities, Public Services etc 10. Surface water drainage 11. Sewage disposal 12. Water supply and much more. It makes a very interesting read particularly in the light of all the dwellings that have been built here since October 1966, all those being built now (Jan 2017) and those being proposed when considering the access into Bampton has not been improved yet in 1966 one of the conclusions states was that Bampton could not take further development, a by-pass was not possible and no further space for parking other than possibly in Church Street could be made. Houses have since been built on the land in Church Street

The Bampton Beam used to be produced three times a year. This issue is from April 2004 and the topics covered and advertisers include:-

ARTICLES AND NOTICES
Bampton Fire and Rescue Station Needs You!
Photo of firefighters Mark Lloyd, Steve License, Mark Carrington and Gary Pitts
Bampton Village Hall
The Final Push to Ensure the Future of St Mary’s Church
Bampton ‘250’ Club list of recent winners
Bampton Market Square Phase 2 Improvements
Bampton Parish Council News by David Hawkins, Chairman
100 New Houses now unlikely
Survey for Affordable Housing
Traffic Calming
State of Roads
Poor Drainage outside Surgery
Bid for Parking Bays
Market Square Improvements
New Councillor – Anna Pitt
Revamp of Play Parks
Parish Rates 2004/2005
Future of RAF Bampton Castle
Broadband in Bampton
Firework Display Profit
Pieces ‘No Man’s Land’ Finds Owner – OCC Highways
Use of Pavilion
Parish Press Briefing January 2004, Oxfordshire Playbus
Parish Maps
Grants for Children in Oxfordshire – Oxfordshire Children’s Fund
Floods booklet reminder for Oxfordshire
Free Starter Pack on How to start up a Waste Action Group
Maggie’s Cancer Information Centre
District Council Report by Jonathan Phillips
Recycling
District Council Housing Needs Survey
Parish Council, Affordable Housing Needs Survey by Ralph Norman, Parish Council
Things Never Change Do They! An article our of ‘News Chronicle’ 1935. Cottages at 3/- a week
Police Report for 2003
Oxfordshire Rural Community Council Membership Scheme
Gigantic Garage Sale – Farmhouse Restaurant Clearance
Society for the Protection of Bampton
Letters and Emails to the Editor
The Lock by Frank Egerton – What critics said about The Lock
Bampton School News by Richard Pitt – Parent Governor
The Bampton Directory
Bampton Welfare Trust
Bampton Youth Centre by Colin Allport
Lost Cat – Can You Help?
WRVS – Home Choice Meals
The Post Office – What’s Happening Down at the Post Office by Martin and Carole Barrett
Reasons to use the Post Office
What’s on in May?
The Great Annual Shirt Race
The May Garlands by Ruth Wheeler
How to make a Garland
The Craft Fair
The Morris Dancers
Notice Board
The Laura Knight Appeal Update
The Bampton We Have Lost – by Mr Hughes-Owen
Small Producers Market
St Mary’s Ladies Lunch
Christian Aid Week
Bampton Exhibition Foundation
The Bush Club
Bampton Bridge Club
Old Birthday Cards
The Red Cross
Bampton Ladies Group
Cancer research Bampton Branch
West Oxfordshire Conservative Association
Charity Shop Thanks
Useful Telephone Numbers
The Bush Club Needs You!
Bampton Traffic by Sue Helm, Residents for Action on Traffic
Bampton Library
Traffic Questionnaire
Road and Traffic Issues by Fred Gray, Bampton Parish Council
Speeding, HGVs, Pedestrian Crossings, Car Parking and Transport Study
Annual Parish Meeting – Wednesday 21 April 2004, Village Hall 7.30 pm
The Gardening Club Annual Summer Show Saturday 26 June 2004
52nd SPAJERS Bampton Shirt Race
Rosebank Care Home – a personal view by Richard Wilkins (Activities Coordinator) with photos
Bampton Museum – Forthcoming Events
Bampton Recreation Ground
The Tennis Club
Easter Holiday Programme
Bampton-in-the-Bush Cricket Club
Short Mat Bowls
Bampton Archery Club
The Horseshoe Football Club
Bampton Youth Football
Bampton Gun Club
Bampton Weightlifting Club
Bampton Badminton Club
The Pavilion
Protective Clothing
Insurance Liabilities
The Gardening Page by Edie Bindweed
Gardening Club Forthcoming Events
Bampton Environmental Watch Group by Ralph Norman, Chairman
The Cookery Corner by Emma Deacon
Hi-Fi Opera by Gilly French – with photos
Bampton Classical Opera presents Haydn’s La Vera Costanza
Age Concern Oxfordshire
W I Markets, Witney
Out of Work Farmer Turned Agricultural Correspondent by Don Rouse
SPAJER’s News by Don Rouse
West Ox Arts – various exhibitions
Welcome to West Ox Arts
Robert Vesey Room
WOA needs voluntary sitters
The Great WOA Stair Lift Appeal Fund
West Oxon Decorative and Fine Arts Society
Gallery Life Drawing Classes
Crossword
Town Hall Bookings
Calendar of Events
WODC Easter Holiday Refuse and Recycling Collection Timetable

LIST OF ADVERTIZERS
Roger F J Kerswill Photography
Pellmans, solicitors, Eynsham
Witney Lakes Resort
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
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
Oxford Double Glazing, Summertown, Oxford
Grey Gables Garage
Londis, community shop
A Bonner, Carpenter/Handyman
Grange Photographic
The Post Office
The Cotton Club
The Horseshoe Inn
Patrick Strainge, Butchers
Bampton Cars
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
Danetree, veterinary surgeons, Faringdon
N Nurden Motor Body Repairs
Christopher Brooks Photography
Matthew Shaw – Handyman
S J Cooper, general builders
Systems & Solutions – computer shop

The photo shows 3 Dr Landrays:

• Robert Landray (GP in Bampton)
• Margaret Landray (worked under maiden name of Dr Bray, anaesthetist at Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon)
• Martin Landray (consultant physician, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford; and Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology at University of Oxford).

All 3 went to the Medical School at University of Birmingham (but I was a bit later than the other two!). All 3 still live in Bampton.

All written by Martin

The Malt Shovel Inn was in Lavender Square and sold Belcher and Habgood's noted Ales & Stout. They also kept pigs and sold sausages and bacon and also vinegar from a barrel. Still called the Malt Shovel it is now a private dwelling with great care taken to make sure the frontage is a delight to see in all seasons.

The Malt Shovel had a malthouse probably by the mid 18th century when it was owned by the maltster John Minchin, and passed later to John Ward, maltster, and to Ward's son-in-law Richard Hambidge, maltster and spirit merchant, before becoming a public house in the 1870s. (from Victoria County History)

1950 Morris dancing in front of the Elephant and Castle on Bridge Street

A PDF document of 9 pages detailing the sale of Calais Farm in 1984 by Moore, Allen and Innocent for Mr Bryan Stevens. About 185 acres freehold with vacant possession for sale by private treaty as a whole or in six lots

This is the Service program for the Thanksgiving Service for Victory held in 1945. As the service sheet was printed in London it was probably a standard service to be held across the UK

Sam Bennett. He moved to Warwickshire but walked to Bampton to fiddle for the Morris at Whitsun. He would arrive at Mr & Mrs Townsend's Castle Farm on Bridge St and announce 'I be 'ere'. To earn his keep, he'd stay on for a few weeks doing farm work for Mr Townsend.

"The war took away many of the young men, and for the first time in recorded history the Whit Monday performances were suspended during 1917 and 1918. However, Wells had recently taught the dances to a group of men at Alvescot, and on the Whit Monday 1919 two of these stepped into the reformed Bampton set. One stayed only that year, but the older, William Flux, had married a daughter of long-time lead dancer Thomas Tanner, and became the organiser of the team.

This brought him into conflict with Wells - Flux wanted them to dance more at Pubs, Wells at the private houses - and this reached crisis point in 1925. The following year Wells refused to play for them, so both Bertie Clark from Alvescot and Sam Bennett from Ilmington were drafted in to provide music.

In 1927, for the first time in recorded history, two teams appeared on the streets: the old side under Tanner and Flux, and a young side recently raised by Wells. They continued in relatively peaceful co-existence for some years, but by the mid 1930s performances by the Tanner side were more sporadic, with only Wells fielding a team most Whit Mondays.

The final appearance by the Tanner team was in 1941, and it was left to Wells to keep it going during the war, and beyond." Keith Chandler

On September 11th 2010 I spotted this large, white fungus growing on the lime trees outside the North side of St Mary's. I found it to be very hard, it was impossible to make a dent in it.

https://youtu.be/F9LPFGflOew

This is the YouTube address for the filmed interview we did with Patrick about his working life. His training for being a butcher and where it was done are really interesting and I don't know if it is still available today. Patrick ran the butchers shop in Bridge Street for many years and really enjoyed it. He won prizes for his sausages