Although the caption talks about a 'Street Fayer' the picture is actually of Jim Smith and Martin Barber in fancy dress for the Shirt Race organised annually by the SPAJERS ie the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Junketing. The society organises fun things to raise money for the senior citizens of Bampton and Lew.
Celebrating the launch of the nationwide Farm Holiday Bureau are Mr Nick Hooper, Mrs Mary Rouse from Lew and Mr Dick Millard of the English Tourist Board. Nick and Mary were members of the local group, the Thames Valley Farm and Country Holiday group and were part of a small group of people from across the UK to set up the national organisation with included members in England, Wales, Scotland and N Ireland. Several years down the line the name was changed from Farm Holiday Bureau to Farm Stay UK. The launch was held at Cogges Farm in Cogges next to Witney.
The Burford and Bampton branches of the British Red Cross got together for their annual bazaar. L-R in the photograph are Mrs R Lockyer, Mrs Isabel Collins, Mrs Bridget Smith and Mrs Margaret Wilson.
In the 1970s Fleur de Lys was a hair salon owned by Margaret Roberts. It is in Bushey Row. There were several owners after Margaret and it was later a video rental shop, a shop selling twee things for gardeners and a Physiotherapy Centre. Now it sells pottery (2021)
John Temple ran this hardware shop for many years and it was brilliant. He always had a smile on his face and worked very hard to stock items that were really wanted.
Brian and Siobhan O'Rourke owned the Cotton Club and started it in these premises in Rosemary Lane. It acquired a wonderful reputation and I know one seamstress in South Wales who came once every two months to buy her cotton fabric here. After a few years, the shop went across the road into the right-hand side of Duttons and from there it went to the Market Square in the premises that had once been the Central Garage, then Barclays Bank and it was when the bank left the Cotton Club moved in.
The Eagle Inn in Church View, Sadly, it closed in January 1992. It was the head quarters of the Bampton Traditional Morris Men when Francis Shergold was squire of the side. It was a happy place with darts, aunt sally, a garden and a one time a piano in the bar.
In the middle of this picture you can see Angela John Antiques on the left and Health Matters on the right. Both were in the Market Square. To the left you can just see the entrance to Market Square Garage. On the right behind the blue car you can see two windows of the what was the WI Hall and later became the Village Hall.
This video club shop was well used and its demise was brought about when the local little supermarket began renting films and it was just too easy to get a film from the supermarket while buying other items. It was a special outing to rent a film from this shop in Bushey Row and a few people collected the posters that used. Now a film can be downloaded something of the magic of making the special effort to go out and rent a copy has gone.
