JOHN HANNIS

If you had to think of someone who personifies ‘old chippy’ John Hannis might well come to mind. Born more than 75 years ago in the room over the archway into Diston’s Lane, he has lived his whole life in the town except for four years in the army during the war. His father and grandfather before him were well-known Chipping Norton people, his father a tailor with a shop on Topside. Both were members of the Borough Council and both served as mayors, so that John has the distinction of being the third generation of his family to fill that office. (And there is a street named after them for that reason.)

That was in 1973-4 when after 12 years on the council, during which he always topped the poll at elections (and still holds the record at 1030 votes - 10 out of every 13 cast that year), he became the last mayor of the old Borough. The next year WODC took over and Chipping Norton, relegated to the status of a parish, lost control of most aspects of its local government. John immediately resigned and makes no secret of his dismay at this loss of power to run our own town, nor of his disdain for the recent changes to a ‘cabinet’ system of government at Witney and the payment of district councillors even when they don’t attend meetings. In spite of this he has become a district councillor himself and still works hard to lobby officers on behalf of Chipping Norton people. He also served as a county councillor for 14 years. How long will he go on? He seems set for another four years as once again he came top of the poll with 1000 votes at the recent District Council election.

Although local government has filled so much of his life he still looks back with a nostalgic light in his eye to his first job on leaving school when he worked on Mr Webb’s Elmsfield Farm. ‘I loved those big horses’ he says, and remembers haymaking all day in the fields (where the smart new houses of Wilcox Road now stand) and leading the horses back to the farm at 10 o’clock on a summer night, or once driving fifteen cattle all the way from Kitebrook to Chippy along the then quiet A44 road. Having learnt to drive lorries delivering animal feed all over the area for Walter Craft, John then became a bus driver, a job he kept for the rest of his working life. He enjoyed meeting people and got to know all the regular passengers on his country routes. He still meets people, parents and grandparents now, who remember him lifting them onto the school bus years ago. One particular person he met on his bus was Peggy, the young Irish conductress whom he married. Getting to know people is not only a pleasure, it has been the key to his political success. John Hannis has never felt the need to hold political ‘surgeries’ for his constituents; everyone knows him and they have only to stop him on the corner of the street, in the pub, at the Legion or coming out of church and they know he’ll always stop and listen.

David Eddershaw

Reprinted from the Chipping Norton News.