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

1. An exhibition of Arts and Crafts in the Town Hall
2. Cancer Research Bampton branch raising funds
3. The Community Fete organised by the Royal British Legion in the afternoon of Bank Holiday Monday
4. The Pumpkin Club which held a Tramps' Supper in the Cotswold Hotel on the Saturday night after the Shirt Race

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

Colin and Gareth Knight dancing the Broom Dance

Morris dancers outside the George & Dragon

This lovely black and white photograph shows the Bampton Traditional Morris Men standing on the steps of The Deanery in 1973. The people include:-
Dave Rose
Tony Applegate
Frank Daniels
Pete Allam
Francis Shergold, squire of the side
Jim Buckingham
Ralph Harrison
Jasper Walsh
Ray Borrett
Mark Harrison
Cyril Smith
Alan Hampton
Martin Ferguson
Michael Wheeler
Tony Daniels
Bob Allison, with cake and collection box
Bill Daniels
Harry Hampton
Reg Hall, musician
Shaun Mullis
Michael Hampton
Gary Harrison
Terry Rouse
Roy Shergold, the fool

These two pictures show the cake holder and the collection box used by the Bampton Traditional Morris Men. The inscription on the cake holder reads:-

In Memory of William Wells, 1868 - 1953. The gift of the Morris Ring to The Bampton Morris Morris Dancers. William Wells was known to all locals as Jingy.

The inscription on the collection box reads:-

Presented to The Bampton Morris Dancers 1990 by Bob West (and) Eric Stott

The lovely picture shows Frank Tanner, b1895 d1980 and his obituary written by Keith Chandler.
The young lad with Frank is Michael Hampton.

These two photographs were taken in the first half of the C20th. Sadly, I don't know their names but they look to be really enjoying themselves.

Terry Rouse began dancing in 1964 for Francis Shergold's Morris side. That year was a very wet time and Francis's side was in need of somewhere out of the rain to rehearse ready for Whit Monday and Terry invited him to use his barn at Backhouse Farm. Already a keen dancer of both ballroom and country dancing, Terry loved what he saw and asked to join the side and so began a long career both as a dancer and in the later years the Morris Fool, finally retiring in 2000.