The Great Shirt Race takes place on the Saturday before the late May Bank Holiday. The winners in this year were Anthony Collett and partner Richard Buckingham. Neither of them can be sure of the year, they won more than once but it will be 1978, 1979 or 1980.

This lovely photograph of Bill Daniels was taken by Eric Stott in 1980

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."

Keith Mitchell and Rhona Peacock in fancy dress for the shirt race in 1983. Their pram was made into a coffin on wheels.

Although the caption talks about a 'Street Fayer' the picture is actually of Jim Smith and Martin Barber in fancy dress for the Shirt Race organised annually by the SPAJERS ie the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Junketing. The society organises fun things to raise money for the senior citizens of Bampton and Lew.

This delightful Frog Prince was created by Jo Lewington.

This delightful drawing of Francis Shergold by Alan Beers is dated 1990. Francis was squire of the Bampton Traditional Morris Men

Stephen Payne relaxing while enjoying watching the Bampton Morris Men on Bank Holiday Monday.

In alternate years the Bampton Community Archive organises a open garden day called Bampton's Hidden Gardens. Toby Hopkins dressed as a scarecrow as part of the fun.

This article was written by Fenella Gray in the summer of 2012 where she documents the history of the Community Shop up to that point.
In 2008 the Archive made a film about the Community Shop up to that point. For a while, the shop had to close because the owners of the premises felt the storage facility at the back was a fire hazard but happily, the shop re-opened not too long after next door but one in Rosemary Lane with much improved facilities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hkz-LOLJmk This is the link to the 2008 film made by the Archive