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

THE SHEEP FAIR RETURNS TO FINDON AFTER THE WAR - 1947

Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

A bit of useless information coming up.   By 1947, of the 14 towns in Sussex, nearby Worthing was second in the list of residents owning television sets.... totalling 34.   Worthing was only seven sets behind Brighton.

After the Second World War, the Lamb Fair which was held annually in July, was the first to return from West Grinstead.

The so-called "Findon" Sheep Fairs had been a huge success at their temporary location at West Grinstead during the war-long exile of seven years. The local farmers did not altogether want the annual events to return to Findon as one of the advantages of West Grinstead was the nearness of the railway station.

However, tradition won, and the September Sheep Fair also reverted to its birthplace and the auctioning of sheep took up its slot as the late-summer event for everyone to enjoy on Nepcote Green again.

I understand that there was brisk bidding for an unexpectedly large number of sheep in 1947. Some 8,000 animals were penned on the Green to celebrate the Findon Sheep Fair's return to its home village.

Many eager buyers travelled down from the Midlands — Coventry and Wolverhampton — to replenish flocks diminished by the year's disastrous cold spell. There were also the usual keen visitors from the West Country and from Wales. The auctioned flocks travelled long distances to reach their final destinations in those post-war years.

Prices in 1947 general showed a considerable increase over previous years owing to a recent rise in the Ministry of Food killing prices. Top price for ewe lambs was £8.15s. For ram Suffolk lambs £26.5s. and for mixed lambs £5.11s.

A big feature of the day was the disposal of the Southdown flock belonging to Mr. C. Y. Vickery of Crypt House & Horley Farms at Cocking, Midhurst. The flock sold for £700 and the farmer emigrated to a warmer climate in South Africa.

Cissbury Ring, formed the perfect backcloth to this rural showpiece in 1947 as stallholders chatted amongst themselves and sold their wares. Children stopped to pat the sheep and weather-worn, ruddy-faced figures went about the annual business of buying and selling.

In 1947 there was no thought that the Sheep Fair would ever be on the decline. Two years later, in 1949, fifty railway trucks were needed to transport the sheep that had been driven over the Downs to the railway station at Steyning following the Findon Sheep Fair. No one even dreamed that farmers' conversation at the pens in the future would be about the possible demise of this rural institution, the Findon Sheep Fair.

Continue if you would like to read about The Swandean Spitfire.

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.