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
This is one of the earliest photograph of the Bampton Morris Men taken in 1897, Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. The dancers are George Wells/Taylor Thomas William Tanner Joseph Rouse Robert Dixey George Dixey James Dewe Charles Henry Tanner, ragman Henry Radband, sword carrier William Nathan Wells, fool, known as Jingy Richard Decimus Butler, musician
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
Newspaper cutting reporting on Tramps' Supper put on by Pumpkin Club to raise funds for the elderly residents on Bampton. Held in the Cotswold Grill and the Food donated by Dave Passmore the proprietor. Prizes were given to the best dressed Tramps. The Weekend activities included Judging of Whitsun Garlands made by Children, prizes went to Andrew and Mark Whitlock, George and Amanda Gascoigne and Floyd and Christine Curtis. Morris Dancing and an Art Exhibition were also held. The cuttings are from the Standard, Times, & Echo dated Friday 1st June 1973. “Holiday festivities in Bampton”, “Bampton shirt race comes of age” and “Bampton Annual Fête”
Newspaper Cutting reporting on the Annual Fete held in the Old School Playing Field (Sandfords Field) Bampton in 1973. There was a knock out Competition, and displays by the Fire Brigade and the Morris Dancers. The Competition was won by the Jubilee Team who apparently had to wade through the muddy stream.
Sam Bennett born (1865-1951) from Ilmington, a frequent dancer and musician in Bampton, this photo dated 1920 Sam had the distinction of being called “a rotter” by Cecil Sharp. He was responsible for reviving the Morris tradition in the Warwickshire village of Ilmington. Although a fiddle player himself, he learned the tunes from a local pipe and tabor player, Tom Foster, who “no longer had enough teeth to hold the pipe in place” In the process of reviving the dances, Bennett did some improving and inventing along the way. To Sharp, this was inexcusable meddling; what he most treasured about traditional dance was that is was supposedly not the work of individual creativity, but of centuries of continuous evolution by the common, preferably uneducated people. Bennett was recorded in 1933 by a Harvard academic, James Madison Carpenter. Being a self-taught fiddler, and having learned his tunes directly from a piper, it is little wonder that his playing, though very rhythmic, was plain and unadorned except with frequent open-string drones.
Black and white photo of Morris dancers taken on 6th June 1927 left to right Tanner snr. Billy Flux, E Lay, Hudson. Bertie Hunt, Freddie Tanner, (written on back)
