Friends and family members congregated at St Edburg’s Church for an invite-only service on Friday night (May 15) to remember the lives of three heroes who died in the blaze which engulfed Hangar 79 on the heritage site last year.

(Image: PA / Facebook)

Firefighters Martyn Sadler and Jennie Logan, and businessman Dave Chester, lost their lives during the incident on Friday, May 15.

Around 326 people, including Bicester firefighters, members of Bicester Rugby Union Football Club, and Oxfordshire county councillors, entered into the nave to the bellowing of organ music.

Another 20 people joined the service online via Zoom.

As they gathered to take their seats in the pews for the 45-minute service, they passed two decorated firefighter honour guards who held large flags.

Opening sentences were uttered by Rev Peter Wright, who led the service, including Bible passages from John and Matthew, one of which read: “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

READ MORE: Bicester remembers fallen firefighters one year on from fire

Before a prayer of remembrance, O God, Our Help in Ages Past was sung, with angelic voices seeping through the stained glass windows into Church Street.

Chief fire officer Rob MacDougall addressed the congregation before the poem As We Look Back by Clare Jones was read.

Three candles were lit in St Edburg’s Church, Bicester, during the memorial service to mark the Bicester Motion fire anniversary (Image: Newsquest)

As three candles were lit in the sanctuary, the roll of honour was read before another hymn and Bible readings.

The service continued with a sermon by Rev Peter before mourners reflected while listening to The Lark Ascending, a 1914 composition by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Prayers of thanksgiving were echoed with amens before the congregation said The Lord’s Prayer.

READ MORE: Bicester Rugby Club raises thousands to honour victims

The final minutes included an act of commitment, commendation and blessings to make a “commitment to live lives of service, courage, and compassion”, in memory of the well-loved three Bicester people.

As the grieving collection exited the church to a cold May sunset, they embraced one another and collected packets of sunflower seeds.

Rev Peter Wright who led the service (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking after the memorial service, Rev Peter shared a few reflections from the memorial service.

He said the botanical token of remembrance symbolises energy, life and a positive future.

He added: “We hope that later in the summer, as those sunflowers come up all over Bicester, people will remember Martin, Jennie and Dave.”

The service, which took months of preparation, was a joint effort between the clergy and families.

“It was important that we didn’t just let this day go past as if nothing had happened”, he said, “The community needed the opportunity to come together and acknowledge what has happened.”

He encouraged the community to “not dwell in the past” but to “look forward to a future, sadly without them, but where we are carrying them with us in memory and in the example that they left us.”

Mind & Muscle Gym in Witney has donated £1,000 to the South Central Ambulance Charity following a fundraising event, and has installed a public-access defibrillator outside its premises.

The defibrillator is now fully registered on the Circuit, meaning emergency services are aware of its location and it can be accessed by the local community if ever needed.

Mind & Muscle describes itself as “a place built for people who want more from their gym,” focused on mental health, community support, and strength training in a welcoming, ego-free environment.

It promotes the message: “No fluff. No egos. Just graft.”

Pupils from Beckley CofE Primary School in Oxfordshire created their own ceramic birds as part of a pottery workshop led by artists from The Art Barns at Bernwood Pottery in Horton-cum-Studley.

The artwork will form part of the Oxfordshire Artweeks exhibition running from May 9 to 17.

The ceramic birds (Image: Beckley CofE Primary School)

Elizabeth Murphy, a ceramicist at The Art Barns, said: “Every year The Art Barns at Bernwood Pottery creates a curated exhibition of work by local artists who are passionate about what they do.

“This year for Artweeks we wanted to do something more than just show our work: we wanted to give back by engaging and inspiring the community with art. We are therefore very pleased to be collaborating with Mr Houston and his team at Beckley CoE Primary School to create a very special installation by the children to present during Artweeks.”

On March 23, Ms Murphy and fellow artists Rachel Kelly and Charlie Leech spent the day at the school running a pottery workshop for all pupils, who each created a clay bird. The project was inspired by the natural murmurations of starlings over nearby Otmoor and the school’s vision to “soar on wings like eagle”.

Ms Murphy said: “Each child from Reception to Year 6 made their own bird out of clay. Though we led the children in how to make, every single one turned out completely different and as unique as the child that made it.

“Ranging from beautiful textures to elongated beaks to fighter jet birds to dashing birds in top hats, each and every bird has its own distinctive personality.”

The clay birds will be fired and suspended as a murmuration-style installation at The Art Barns throughout the Artweeks festival.

Rick Houston, headteacher at Beckley CofE Primary School, said: “This project has been a fantastic opportunity for every child in the school to be engaged in a shared art work.

“Each bird had a similar starting design, which was then personalised by each child. This linked to themes we have been learning about in school; how each of us is the same and each of us is unique and different, and how both of these things can be true at the same time.

“We come together to form a larger whole as a school community which has the same ephemeral, ever changing nature as the starling murmurations over Otmoor.”

After the exhibition, the installation will be dismantled and each child will receive their clay bird as a keepsake.