Copy of Funeral Service for Elizabeth Banham held at St Mary's Church held on 28th October 2021
Lis Banham, well known to so many Bamptonians, died April 17th after a courageous fight with cancer. She was a wonderfully active member of the Bampton community. She was one of the founder members of The Bush Club; she helped in the Community Shop; she 'sat' for the Archive in the Vesey room; she played bridge in the Bridge Club for many years and one thing she enjoyed doing was providing the table decorations for the club’s two parties each year. She was a member of the Flower Guild and loved her garden which she opened for Bampton’s Hidden Gardens and many people will remember her for starting and organising the Theatre Club, counting its member on to the return bus to ensure nobody got left behind; she was an active member for fundraising for ZANE, the Zimbabwe project. She always turned up for meetings of the various village groups and was always encouraging and helpful. She flew with the WAAF and you will be able to read much more about her in the next issue of The Lowdown but in the meantime, there is a delightful piece about Lis in the April issue. Her father was an Air Vice Marshall, the only member of the R.A.F. to shoot down an enemy aircraft in both WW1 and WW2. She will be greatly missed by many of us.
Jo Lewington & Frank Hudson

From issue 19 of The Lowdown 2021
LIS BANHAM
Lis Banham, who died on 17th April after a brave fight against cancer, made a truly invaluable contribution to life in Bampton, and has left a wonderful legacy from the forty five years that she lived in the village. To name a few? Lis started the Bampton Theatre Club where she will be remembered for her boundless energy and organisation, especially when making sure no-one got left behind on the buses; she was a stalwart of the Bridge Club for many years; she was a very accomplished gardener and her garden in Church Street regularly featured in Bampton’s Hidden Gardens; and she was a long-time and much valued member of the Bampton Flower Guild making arrangements for church and community events. Lis was actively involved in the Community Shop, the Bampton Community Archive where she sat in the Vesey Room, and BZP, the fund-raising society for different projects in Zimbabwe. She was a leading force behind the building of the Bampton Youth Club on Church View. In addition, Lis was at various times a Parish Councillor, a volunteer hospital driver and a Witney Citizens Advice Bureau member, truly a lady for all seasons and of many talents. Lis was born on 21st February 1931; her father was an Air Vice Marshall and was the only man to shoot down enemy aircraft in both World Wars. She joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1949 as a Pilot Officer and served with RAF Intelligence during the Malayan Conflict all over South East Asia - Singapore, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, Ceylon, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. She returned to RAF Coltishall in East Anglia where she met her husband, Dickie Banham, an RAF fighter pilot. As a Flying Officer, she left the WAAF upon marrying in 1957 (a necessity in those days). Lis and Dickie moved around with the Air Force and lived in Washington DC for two years while Kennedy was President, and they also had spells in Ghana, and Cyprus during the Turkish invasion of 1974-76. They were posted back to the UK and to RAF Brize Norton in December 1976, where Lis fell in love with the local area and decided she wanted to settle there, having spent a life of moving houses around the world. They moved into Tudor Cottage, Bampton in the Spring of 1978 and she remained there for the rest of her life. Lis will be much missed by so many in Bampton and beyond. ~ A Life Remembered ~

On February 17th 2016 work began to dismantle the old pipe organ in St Mary's. Douglas Clare, one of our two churchwardens in April 2019 wrote the following article for the May issue of Contact.

Junior Church seen in St Mary's on Goof Friday 1999 along with their leader Mrs Margaret Battersby.

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.

On May 21st 2014 the Bampton WI banner was hung in the south wing of St Mary The Virgin.The banner was made by Pat Barratt, second from the right, and shows several aspect of Bampton life, notably the Morris dancing,

The outbreak of Coronavirus in 2020 has caused devastation to the way of life all around the world. New restrictions and advice were being given daily by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and two specialist advisers each day at 5pm from the week beginning Monday March 16th 2020.

It was announced during this week that all schools were to close but the pupils of key workers could still go to nominated schools to allow their parent to continue with his or her essential job. Also, pupils who would normally have free school meals would be able to go in order to have at least one square meal per day.

On Friday, the list of key workers was published and this article from the on-line Witney Gazette lists those key workers.

An instruction from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York this week said there would be no services until the risk of catching coronavirus has passed. Weddings can take place with a maximum of 5 people attending but that did not say if it was the bride and groom and the clergy plus two, or those 3 plus 5. Not helpful.

The Friends of Saint Mary’s try to offer three talks each spring to raise funds for the church.
This flyer was one of those talks.
The Role of Wine in the Church by Robin Shuckburgh

The Flower Guild put on a wonderful flower festival through the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May and on the Monday they also sell sandwiches, quiche slices, cakes, tea, coffee and squash.

Dr Alan Gaydon was a churchwarden at St Mary's for several years. He photographed the church from inside to out, ground level to the roof and recorded the restoration of the top of the spire and re-guilding of the cockerel on the top.