By Peter Barrington
This beautiful banner lay hidden in the village hall at Fringford, near Bicester A group of women engaged in sorting out leftovers from village fetes at Fringford Village Hall came across what looked like a wooden protective covering for electric cables or water pipes. On closer inspection the ‘covering’ was found to be a long, slim box. On opening it, the women discovered that it contained a rolled up banner and two long wooden poles. When they unfurled it, they discovered the beautiful double-sided banner pictured above. It originally belonged to the Loyal Mansfield Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows (Manchester Unity).