Bampton Traditional Morris Men outside Cromwell House
- BCA - 2023.4254
- Item
- 1930s?
Photograph of Dancers outside Cromwell House in Cheapside, date not given
Janet Westman
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Bampton Traditional Morris Men outside Cromwell House
Photograph of Dancers outside Cromwell House in Cheapside, date not given
Janet Westman
Morris Dancing at Bampton - Oxford Times 1931
Newspaper article entitles Morris Dancing at Bampton, from Oxford Times 1931
Janet Westman
Bampton Traditional Morris Men 1934
Black and white photo of Morris dancers taken on in 1934
Jingy Wells on fiddle, George 'Punch' Smith, Reg Whitlock Dancer
Janet Westman
Bertie Clark on fiddle for Bampton Morris
Between 1926 and 1938 Bertie Clark, although not a Bampton man, played for the Bampton Morris Men and he can be seen here on the left. The dancers are on the South side of the Market Square in front of Folly View semi-detached houses.
Bampton Community Archive
This picture must have been taken some time between 1926 and 1938 because that was the period when Bertie Clark, seen here on the fiddle, played in Bampton.
They are dancing at the East end of the Market Square.
Bampton Community Archive
Bampton Morris Men Jingy Wells
Dancers outside the Eagle date not known. Jingy Wells on Fiddle
Janet Westman
William Kimber, who played for Heading Quarry was a friend of Bampton Morris.
William Kimber, who played for Heading Quarry was a friend of Bampton Morris. His side danced at Mrs Birch's Sandfield Cottage in Headington and her son-in-law was staying.
Bampton Community Archive
Bampton Traditional Morris Men
Dancing on Bridge Street outside Castle View Farm in 1948 George Dafter is the fool
Janet Westman
Sam Bennett from Ilmington in Warwickshire
Sam Bennett. He moved to Warwickshire but walked to Bampton to fiddle for the Morris at Whitsun. He would arrive at Mr & Mrs Townsend's Castle Farm on Bridge St and announce 'I be 'ere'. To earn his keep, he'd stay on for a few weeks doing farm work for Mr Townsend.
"The war took away many of the young men, and for the first time in recorded history the Whit Monday performances were suspended during 1917 and 1918. However, Wells had recently taught the dances to a group of men at Alvescot, and on the Whit Monday 1919 two of these stepped into the reformed Bampton set. One stayed only that year, but the older, William Flux, had married a daughter of long-time lead dancer Thomas Tanner, and became the organiser of the team.
This brought him into conflict with Wells - Flux wanted them to dance more at Pubs, Wells at the private houses - and this reached crisis point in 1925. The following year Wells refused to play for them, so both Bertie Clark from Alvescot and Sam Bennett from Ilmington were drafted in to provide music.
In 1927, for the first time in recorded history, two teams appeared on the streets: the old side under Tanner and Flux, and a young side recently raised by Wells. They continued in relatively peaceful co-existence for some years, but by the mid 1930s performances by the Tanner side were more sporadic, with only Wells fielding a team most Whit Mondays.
The final appearance by the Tanner team was in 1941, and it was left to Wells to keep it going during the war, and beyond." Keith Chandler
Nik Stanbridge
Bampton Traditional Morris Men
Photo of George Dafter as fool, and Roy Shergold taken in the 1950s
Janet Westman