Barnstaple Fair dates back to the time of Athelstan in AD930 and was given its Charter in 1852 It begins on the Wednesday nearest to the 16th September each year and lasts for 4 days. It is hugely popular and children of all ages talk of nothing else from the minute September arrives. A traditional ceremony at the Guildhall opens the Fair and a white glove garlanded in flowers, symbolising the hand of friendship, hangs from the Guildhall window for the four days the fair is in town.
The fair is a meeting of three travelling fairs and so many rides are duplicated. It is always crowded and as well as traditional rides such as the Big Wheel and the Galloping Horses there are thrill rides like Freak Out, stalls where you can chance your arm at winning huge cuddly toys or goldfish, plenty of rides for small children, candy floss stalls, and fortune tellers.It has also become a tradition in recent years that the final day of the fair is marked by fireworks. These begin at around 8.15 and can best be viewed from Barnstaple Bridge.
Our children were given a spending limit and we stayed until they'd reached it, which was just about the time they started to wilt. The rides were quite reasonably priced this year. Having expected them to be about £4 a go (listening to rumours and based on the fact that the prices always go up on the Saturday) we were quite pleasantly surprised to find that most were £2.50 and childrens rides only £1.50.
So, we have reached Summer's end and I must now turn my attention to things which can be done in Autumn and Winter with failing weather and the closing of seasonal attractions. Keep tuning in!
2 comments:
And how many scary rides did you go on? You have to get in training for Disney!
I went on the Bumper cars and let my middle child drive. That was quite scary enough for me!
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