The Elephant and Castle Inn was a thatched building until fire ripped through it September 30th 1958. The following day firemen Son Townsend from Castle View farm and Cyril Weeks from the Horse Shoe went to help clear up and in the photo the two boys are also from the Horse Shoe Inn in Bampton. At one time in late C20th Joan and Lionel were the landlord and landlady and they can be seen behind the bar with Dora Townsend, sister of Son the fireman. The Elephant & Castle Inn after the fire in September 1958. It was started by a rocket firework let off well before bonfire night. People with thatched roofs used to soak them with a hose pipe before the evening on a bonfire night if it hadn't rained. The Elephant and Castle in Bridge Street before the fire in 1958 after which it was rebuilt with a tiled roof. A protective wall was built in front of it in the 1970s to stop people from spilling out and straight on to the road. The handsome Elm tree in the background was lost to Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s. The Elephant and Castle Inn on Bridge Street. A horse and cart outside the Elephant & Castle on Bridge Street, circa 1940s Elephant and Castle date unknown but a fire destroyed the roof in 1958 and was replaced with stone tiles. [postcard]. Elephant and Castle with Mrs Penny at the door Ducks on Mill Green with Bridge House on the left next to The Elephant and Castle in the background. Joan & Lionel, landlords of the Elephant & Castle, with Dora Townsend in the middle Firemen clearing up Sept 30th 1958 after the fire at the Elephant and Castle. Son Townsend from across the road at Castle Farm and Cyril Weeks. The two boys from the Horse Shoe Inn. The Elephant and Castle Inn with no wall in front to stop people falling out of the door straight into the road in 1965. The two bay windows have also gone now.
Robin Shuckburgh has been chairman of Bampton Community Archive for about 8 years (as at 2017) and over-seen the raising of £250,000 to repair the roof of the Old Grammar School in Church View and make the upstairs a usable space again.
Olive McCage was born and grew up in Bampton; she was a typist at Brize Norton air base where she met a young American, married him and she emigrated to the USA when his tour of duty here was over.
This is a picture of Ham Court farmhouse and the great barn seen from the Bampton-Clanfield road by the two dwellings just before reaching the 30mph sign, before alterations to the barn by the present owners Emma Bridgewater.
