THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE GREAT FAIR OF 1906

I have discovered that the annual Lamb Fair held in July on Nepcote Green was started around 1835 and was known as "The Little Fair". I think that the more flattering title of "The Great Fair" was reserved for the autumn event in September when an uninterrupted spiral of caravans and vehicles wended their way down the length of the Green. Brown faced gypsies squatted on the steps of their bright stuffy trailers waiting for their palms to be crossed with silver, whereupon various dark Romany secrets would be instantly revealed concerning the enquirer’s future.

Around 7,000 ewes, wethers, tegs, and other divisions of those woolly quadrupeds, had been driven to the Green by shepherds dressed in their traditional smocks and carrying crooks and assisted by their dogs. The flocks left a trail of droppings the length and breadth of every road they trod as they headed for Nepcote Green. The sheep had walked from remote corners of the county and swarmed across the Findon Downs like a white cloud in the misty grey dawn. The swathes of animals massed on the elevated ground of Nepcote Green where they were penned waiting patiently for buyers, watched by sharp-eyed shepherds’ dogs.

Some flocks had arrived the previous day and had been laid up in nearby fields. The weather in September 1906 was overcast with heavy persistent showers but this had not deterred the farmers arriving in their gigs to purchase sheep and all kinds of cattle, horses, goats and donkeys. Cheerful-looking farmers’ wives had magically appeared carrying creamy butter, fresh eggs and poultry to sell, and gossip to exchange. Everyone scattered when it rained. As soon as the weather improved, they reappeared bedraggled, and continued even though it was damp underfoot.

After the auction, the drovers from the Chichester area made up large flocks and drifted them over the downland en masse home towards Amberley, Chichester and the Hampshire border. They dropped off lots here and there at the farmsteads they passed.

The main attraction for anyone who lingered in the evening under the glare of the naphtha lamps, was the steam roundabout with the blatant charm of its melodious music. The lamps occasionally spluttered and underwent a course of disturbance from the breeze that swept across the Green and pungent fumes pervaded.

Bottle Smashing was another activity to be indulged in to the hearts content. A dozen or so strange looking missiles were arranged in the gallery for purchase. A supply of flower pots were angled invitingly in an inverted fashion from a succession of strings, and temptingly appealed to the swift of hand to dislodge them from their perch reducing them to a thousand fragments. For such aptitude a reward was forthcoming in the shape of a showy ornament to be taken home at the end of the evening.

A display of huge moulded heads representing famous and well-known grimacing personalities had clay pipes stuck in their mouths in the form of rows of teeth. The object of the exercise in this case, if one had the pluck, was to throw a hard wooden ball vigorously at a chosen celebrity.

A new event at The Great Fair in 1906 had been an ingenious simulated soccer match. This consisted of half a dozen figures in a line, bearing the familiar club names we still know today, Everton, Southampton, Fulham, Tottenham, Newcastle etc. Above these were large holes and anyone feeling so inclined to partake in the jollity could attempt to kick a football, either sending it through one of the apertures to unquestionably score a goal, or contrive to knock down one of the figures in the merriment of the game.

The flaring lamps poured a flood of light on the faces of its village audience, who stood in groups surveying the scene with solemnity. Booths housed opulent displays of trinkets, sweets and pedlary of all kinds. There was a plethora of small watering cans for sale and a motley assortment of buckets. Walking sticks awaited buyers, also whips of rainbow colours; appealing dolls with smiling countenances; pleasing ornaments; tangles of bright strings of beads; babies’ rattles; gaudy boxes of children’s toys and Noah’s arks. To stimulate his trade, the stall owner in a rakish cap proclaimed, "Any article on the board a penny. The cheapest shop travelling". All the gaiety and mirth of the fun of the fair in 1906.

Continue if you would like to read the Sheep Fair Disaster of 1908.

 Back to Great Findon Sheep Fair Index

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.