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| Magic of the fair! by Bea |
Portland has had the yearly visits from the travelling fair for around a century now, lots of fond memories for almost every Portlander over the years, generations of us having great family nights eating candy-floss and toffee apples, getting dragged onto the rides because "they didn't want to get on alone" thanks mum, you got me loving that waltzer buzz, at a pretty young age! :o)
We didn't have playstations and such like the youngsters do these days, the fair was a real treat, something different and something not to be missed. Yet...
The fair comes to Portland normally in November, bonfire night to be precise and when it was on the street in Chiswell it was great, the thinness of the street give it that warmer cosy feeling and it was a real street fair, although over the years with the bollards, roundabouts, car park being added, homes built in the old spaces that were once used, it has got smaller and smaller, as the picture below clearly shows, I have never seen it on the actual spot shown here, there is a roundabout there now, but all my life it stopped just to the left, which marks the end of the road through Chiswell.
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| About 1950 Vic Square! By Portland fair |
It is a circle of rides now, not a long walk up and down affair.
It's lost it's cosy street feel, the dynamic massively changed, it now always feels more like a wet windy cold November night there, which has shown itself to be the case the last two years, the trade was bad, the fair owners probably felt it was a waste of time, and they had to unpack the damn thing again.
Something had to be done, else they would stop coming to Portland altogether.
This year they are back NOW, a spring fair, in the same place but with the sun shining, longer nights, it should be much better, its's also still the school holidays, so they could open alot earlier, charge the kids less and get them in early, after 6pm maybe change the prices, as they grow as they go on anyway!
It's not the first time we have had the fair here in warmer times, I can remember the fair being up Weston Street, or some of the fair to be truthful, and they had the flying chairs back then ala Grease!
The fair was there for a few days in the warm days of spring or summer, unsure, think it was Easter like now.
I am baffled as to why they stopped it, it was as a fair should be, in a field, warm sun and blue skies.
I think having it move again permanently to Easter would be a good move, its on grass, nice sunshine = more happy people!
What do you think of the change?
