Photograph of the Horse Fair looking west down Bridge Street. Percy Hughes was the licensee and he also had the butcher's shop next to the Horse Shoe inn. There was a devastating fire at the inn in 1925 and the building was gutted and rebuilt in its present position. Note the window protection of hurdles to stop the horses putting their heads through the glass. White discs on the horses' rumps show they have been sold. There is a large group of horses tethered outside the high wall that faces Church View. Note the car outside the butchers shop.
Horse Fair on Church Green in the rain. Horses sold on the green were considered suitable to be pit ponies and the Welsh miners knew to come to this part of Bampton for the pit ponies. The Plain tree just right of centre is now a huge tree (2014).
Scene of the horse fair in Bridge Street outside the Horse Shoe Inn and Percy Hughes' butchers shop. It must have been taken before 1925 because the Horse Shoe was gutted by fire that year. Hurdles placed over the ground floor windows were to stop the horses from sticking their heads through the windows. Horses with a white spot on their rumps have been sold.
Horse fair and fun fair seen outside the west side of the Market Square. It would also have filled the Market Square. The Inn at the top left of the photograph is the Lamb, known by locals as The Tree because of the large Ash tree growing outside it. The Inn was completely demolished in 1960 to make way for building the Market Square Garage. The sign for the Talbot hotel shows the landlord to be W Norman. Almost every man wears a hat.
A fair was held in the Market Square at the same time as the Horse Fair. The square is filled with stalls which continue on down High Street. The sign 'Robinson Cheap Butcher' can be seen in the square.
On October 1st 2017 Oxfordshire County Council were to begin a new contact with W&S Recycling which would mean people being charged to recycle items that were free.
