Albert Townsend's horse drawn carriage service which he ran from Castle View Farm on Bridge Street. He particularly took people to and from Bampton railway station which was about 2 miles outside Bampton on the edge of what is now RAF Brize Norton. He was very enterprising having one of the first, if not the first lorries in Bampton which he used to collect coal from the station for selling. This lorry would be scrubbed spotless, seats fastened to the floor and the children from the Methodist Sunday school taken for a day trip to Savernake Forest for a treat once a year. He also farmed, first keeping pigs behind the Elephant and Castle when he had the license there and then with other farming aspects when he moved across the road to Castle View Farm.
Albert Townsend with pony & trap. He bought the Elephant & Castle in 1911 then moved across the road when he bought Castle Farm in 1939 where he raised pigs. He also ran a coal deliver business, collecting the coal in bulk from Brize Norton and Bampton railway station in a once of the first lorries ever owned by someone in Bampton. He used a beautiful horse drawn vehicle as a taxi taking people to and from the station and was basically a true entrepreneur.
The Bampton Community Archive puts on three exhibitions each year which run for two months. In September 2018 Janet Newman put up a wonderfully researched exhibition on some of Bampton's Families. Family trees were printed out on scrolls for people to see as well as written text. In this picture, young Devon Townsend and his father David can be seen looking at one of the family trees and have found themselves on it much to young Devon's delight.
These three pictures, taken by Bob West are of Ann and Francis Shergold and brother Roy Shergold taken inside the Elephant & Castle Inn on Bridge Street in 1999 on the occasion of Francis's 80th birthday.