This Frog Prince was made by Jo Lewington. I asked her to tell me about it and she said :-
"This dates from my sculptor phase in the ‘80s. I made 3 or 4 of these. One was sent to the head of a fashion house in California ( I remember it as Mr Gucci , but that can’t be right, but he was famous). I think the one in the picture went to another rich American. I can’t remember what happened to the rest but there is one somewhere in the Cotswolds. I made postcards and a leaflet and distributed them around Chelsea Garden Show, but at that time I was off to India for a year and my career as a sculptor ended."
These are the young dancers in Francis Shergold's side 1980, the Bampton Traditional Morris Men. They include Keith Rouse, Jamie Wheeler and Craig Godwin.
The Great Shirt Race takes place on the Saturday before the late May Bank Holiday. The winners in this year were Anthony Collett and partner Richard Buckingham. Neither of them can be sure of the year, they won more than once but it will be 1978, 1979 or 1980.
In 1974 Son Townsend clocked up 50 years as a Morris Dancer and later Fool in Bampton. He first danced out with the side in 1925. To mark the occasion a clock and silver salver were given to Son. The young dancers left to right behind Son are (I think?) Clive Tanner, Fred Cook, Mat Green and Malcolm Willis. The young children with their flower garlands are L-R Tim Waller, Emma Carruthers, Louise Walker and Martin Landray
Bampton always has a weekend filled with fun and laughter over the late May Bank Holiday. These cuttings talk about the Shirt Race and the Morris Dancing. In one of the cuttings you can also read about
An exhibition of Arts and Crafts in the Town Hall
Cancer Research Bampton branch raising funds
The Community Fete organised by the Royal British Legion in the afternoon of Bank Holiday Monday
The Pumpkin Club which held a Tramps' Supper in the Cotswold Hotel on the Saturday night after the Shirt Race
