www.findonvillage.com - The 2001 Findon Sheep Fair

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — these Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home village of Findon,
West Sussex, U.K. Everyday stories about real people.

THE NON-STARTER OF 2001 — THE FINDON SHEEP FAIR

The Sheep Fair on Nepcote Green with Church Hill in the background. Vintage unknown — but seeing the gipsy caravans and hoards of sheep for auction, it is probably the early 1930s.

Findon's well-known annual Sheep Fair (which can be traced as far back as 1790) and Village Festival was hoped once again to attract the crowds on the second Saturday in September — the 8th. In spite of declining numbers of sheep coming up for auction in recent years, the Fair of 2000 brought 500 more than previous to the ring.

Unfortunately, the management committee, headed by Ian Ticehurst, acting on behalf of the Findon Parish Council, held a meeting on Thursday evening 3rd May and it was decided to officially cancel the Sheep Fair for 2001. The reason for this was the foot-and-mouth epidemic in Britain. The only item left on the agenda was a Barn Dance to be held in the Findon Village Hall on the evening of 8th September 2001 — this turned out to be a non-event too and was eventually dropped through lack of support.

Have we seen the last Findon Sheep Fair? Ian vows that he will make sure it makes a comeback and the Findon Sheep Fair and Village Festival will be bigger and better for 2002.

FINDON'S FOOT AND MOUTH....."Dear Valerie, it is ten years since the last Foot and Mouth disease outbreak.........how did it affect Findon...... Gerald"

Well, Gerald..... I don't know about the rest of Findon but it affected me because I was very restricted with my doggie walks.

At a safe distance of a decade, I think I can relate a rather nasty story that happened to me. I was driving along a lane when a local farmer blocked the road in front of me.... he jumped out of his pick-up truck and hurried back to me. I opened my window and gave him the usual big Valerie type smile..... whereupon he gave me a full blast of having shopped him to the Powers-to-Be for moving his cattle from one place to the other when he was banned from doing so.

Obviously, I've nothing whatsoever to do with farming and couldn't have cared less what he had been up to..... but nothing I said could sway him from his certainty that it had been me who had shopped him. Oh dear..... one of the penalties from being famous (or infamous) I suppose.

Here are some memories of the Findon Sheep Fair of yesteryear.....

Sheep Fair of yesteryear when sheep pens stretched the length of the Green, September 1930.

Wood engraving of the Great Findon Sheep Fair in the 1930s by Findon artist, Charles William Taylor who lived in Steep Lane leading down to the village from the western side of Nepcote Green.

The funfair by night on Nepcote Green.

The Findon Sheep Fair by Gordon Beningfield.

The Wattle House on Nepcote Green which would have been open with its display of history if the 2001 Sheep Fair had been held.

Sheep on the Cissbury Estate, February 2001.

Continue if you would like to read about the Findon Sheep Fair 2002.

Back to Great Findon Sheep Fair Index

Back to Main Index

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

MAIL ME

Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial. Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are!