The Oxford Mail recorded it with the headline - ‘Bang, clatter, bang and crash’.

That summed up the annual Ascension Day custom of Beating the Bounds, where choirboys toured two Oxford city centre parishes and beat the boundaries with canes.

This was the scene at Lincoln College in 1981 as the Lord Mayor, Gordon Woodward, left, joined in the centuries-old ceremony led by the City Rector, the Rev ‘Mac’ Ramm.

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After a service at St Michael at the North Gate church in Cornmarket Street, the choirboys in their scarlet cassocks set off with their bamboo canes - the traditional willow wands were no longer available.

Their trek took them through buildings and alleyways, with three stops en route for refreshments.

At Lincoln College, the visitors were greeted with a salad lunch - bread, cheese and spring onions.

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The lunch included, for adults at least, beer and ale steeped in ground ivy culled from a rival college’s sports ground by butler Ted Busby.

It was served in silver tankards.

That year, there was one casualty among the ranks - one boy nursed a bruised hand after being hit by one of the canes.

The ceremony takes place every year on Ascension Day, which is on Thursday and commemorates Christ’s ascension into heaven.

Many readers will have fond memories of ‘Mac’ Ramm (full name Norwyn Macdonald Ramm), who was one of Oxford’s most popular and colourful clergymen.

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He was vicar at St Michael’s for 27 years.

He died in 2002.

St Michael at the North Gate church is open every day, as is the tower and visitor centre.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF