There is nothing quite like the joy of a brightly painted, brilliantly lit English fair with excited children grasping their candyfloss sticks and toffee apples, young men trying to win a prize at the darts stall and impress their girlfriends by handing them a giant cuddly toy and dads sportingly agreeing to take a turn on the big wheel even though they are still feeling the effects of a heavy lunch. Yes, we just love all the fun of the fair.
The traditional English fair has been a part of our heritage for centuries. Nobody really knows how it started, but clearly it has developed over the years from its origins as a market. There were weekly and daily markets even in Roman times but when the Middle Ages arrived those markets that were not daily events became more specialised and much bigger.
There were mop fairs at which workers presented themselves for hire. The “mop” part came because domestics would show what they did by carrying a mop, but there were other forms of employment represented at these fairs and the men and women would carry a tool or something symbolic of their work. Shepherds held a crook or a tuft of wool, cowmen brought wisps of straw, and dairymaids carried a milking stool or pail. Prospective employers would look them over and, if they liked what they saw, they would hire them for the coming year, handing them a shilling to seal the deal.
Of course, markets and fairs of that sort attracted big crowds who wanted something to eat and to have some fun so it was not long before games started to appear as well as buskers and other entertainers including animal acts and attractions. The early fairground rides started to appear as well but they were a long way off the computer-driven super-rides of today.
Stratford-upon-Avon, Tewkesbury, Banbury and Warwick are among a number of English towns which still hold mop fairs although the tradition now only lives on by name and by the presence of a fun fair in the town centre.
There were also trade fairs, of course, and many of them still exist. Appleby Fair in Westmorland is a great example. Traditionally a horse fair which began life in the late 17th century, it attracts vast numbers of travellers. Other trade fairs seem to have gone in a different direction and are now held in major venues with little sign of any fairground rides.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Autumn 2017 من This England.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Autumn 2017 من This England.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
The Glorious River Thames
At 215 miles in length the iconic waterway has long been a source of transport, trade and inspiration. It makes its way through fi ve counties — Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire — and into London
Aspects Of English Towns
Wetherby, Yorkshire History and Hospitality on the Great North Road.
Askrigg And The Yorkshire Dales
Looking for a holiday cottage for a quiet week in the Yorkshire Dales was proving a vexing experience.
Elihu Burritt: An American's View Of Victorian England
It is always interesting to read what others think of us. In recent years we have had Bill Bryson giving us his thought-provoking views on England and the English, but a century and a half ago one of his compatriots did the same thing, albeit for a specific area of the country.
Beautiful In Black And White
England’s landscape and landmarks as they have never been seen before
All The Fun Of The Fair
There is nothing quite like the joy of a brightly painted, brilliantly lit English fair with excited children grasping their candyfloss sticks and toffee apples, young men trying to win a prize at the darts stall and impress their girlfriends by handing them a giant cuddly toy and dads sportingly agreeing to take a turn on the big wheel even though they are still feeling the effects of a heavy lunch. Yes, we just love all the fun of the fair.
Sticky Toffee Cartmel
Visitors to the Lake District can be crudely classified into two broad types: there are the fell walkers, climbers, canoeists, sailors and other outdoor enthusiasts, and then there are the gentler souls who follow the Wordsworth trail, who haunt tea shops, go on shopping crawls and crowd onto steam trains and lake cruises. And there’s nothing wrong with either of these types…
Walking The South Downs Way
My daughter was the catalyst for my passion for walking after I retired and moved to West Sussex from Somerset to be near her and my two sons. After the normal settling in process I was feeling restless and bored, wondering what to do with my new freedom, and with a niggling guilt that “I should be doing something”. She showed me an article in a magazine about a local ramblers group, saying “You would love this, Mum!”
The Roads of Old England
Our motorway system means that today we think little of embarking on a journey across the country, confidently expecting to reach our destination the same day. Our ancestors would have taken weeks to complete such a trip, in considerable discomfort. Off the motorways, our roads follow routes laid down hundreds of years ago, and alongside them are fascinating objects which survive to tell the story of road development.
Aspects Of English Towns
BUXTON — A Derbyshire Gem and an Opera Festival too!