 The Harris Fair at Petworth. |
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
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The Harris Fair at Petworth. |
FAIR DISASTER
Copyright Valerie Martin 2005
REMEMBER
THE HARRIS FAIR ON NEPCOTE GREEN AT THE SHEEP FAIR?
Devastating news....it is believed that an arson attack destroyed the historic
fairground ride on its annual visit to nearby Petworth in November 2005. Unbelievable
vandalism.
The fair on Nepcote Green.
West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service was called
to Market Square, Petworth shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday 18th November 2005.
The Town Square had been closed off to traffic for the annual Fair and was
packed with fairground rides and attractions.
When two fire crews from Petworth arrived they found a Carousel Ride
spectacularly well alight and the blaze threatening to ignite other rides and
historic buildings only a feet away. Pumps were increased to four as a
precaution and firefighters initially concentrated on preventing the rampaging
fire from spreading further afield.
I understand that once the fire was surrounded it was
extinguished by fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus using one jet and two
hose reels.
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The Carousel Ride was unfortunately destroyed in the fire and I
believe this to be 140 years old. A piece of history gone forever.
Petworth has held a Fair in the Town Square in a tradition that
goes back hundreds of years and fairground operators are determined that they
will be open as usual once the ride has been dismantled and removed.
I believe that local superstition states that
if the town does not hold a fair on the 20th of November each year, it will
never return.
I have no further information but a fire crew from Petworth did
return to the scene on Saturday to help clean up the debris. The West
Sussex County Council Highways were also going to spread a layer of sand over
the affected area to make the road surface safe and enable the Fair to continue.
8th May 2006 Hi Valerie, The Brothers say they are capable of repairing it,but
need to raise money. |
The conclusion to this story, as I understand it, has been very unsatisfactory.. Three suspects from the Petworth area were thought to have put diesel under the galloping horse roundabout and this started the fire. The central portion was totally destroyed and part of the roof structure collapsed on to the gallopers and surrounding area.
A chase ensued to catch the culprits and the three were apprehended with diesel still on their clothes. They appeared in the Magistrates Court and pleaded not guilty and were sent to the Crown Court. The Crown Prosecution Service deemed in their wisdom that there was not enough evidence to convict.
The Harris brothers have since restored the roundabout ..... leaving a few horses with the tell-tale fire damage as a reminder of that fateful night.
Continue if you would like to read about the Findon Sheep Fair in 2006.
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
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