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 newspaper sketch shows the fiddler Billy Wells - better known as Jingy Wells. Second from the left is Charles 'Cocky Tanner', the Bagman.Charles danced for forty years. At the back can be seen the Fool, Dave Edginton and at the front, extreme right, is Thomas 'Buscot' Tanner, the Squire.
William Nathan 'Jingy' Wells danced, fooled and played the fiddle for Bampton Morris from the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. In this picture he is seen with his fiddle. The hat, waistcoat, trousers and socks (odd socks) are still cared for by the Bampton Traditional Morris Men.
Bampton Morris dancers c1924/5 outside the Elephant & Castle.
The sign over the pub door says Posting House, Horses, Carriages, Brakes. Personal attention given, Albert Townsend. The 3rd and 4th lines are hard to read which is a pity but it looks like 'For Hire All Trains Met On The Shortest Notice.
On 23rd September 1935 the Townsend family moved across the road to Castle View and made a farm of it having much more room to fatten more pigs.
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.
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.
Dancers at Shipston on Stour June 23rd 1930. Arnold Buckingham. Billy Flux, Reg Tanner, Jim Buckingham, Bert Hunt, Vic Tanner, Ted Lay, Sam Bennet on fiddle