Custom survived: Loughborough’s November Fair

“The People of Loughborough are very proud of their ancient Fair, dating back to the thirteenth century and held in the streets and squares of the town.”

World Fair 1949

Fairly old

There are many seasonal fairs but few are as old and as visually imposing as Loughborough’s November fair. It has survived in its town centre location fighting against all attempts over the years to marginalise and send it to some park or outskirts of the town despite the complaints of ‘as a Fair with a mile of caravans’

Loughborough famous for its University, Ladybird books, bell making and the first package tour in that order; is perhaps not the first location for an ancient fair yet it is the fourth oldest in the country. The fair was granted back in 1229 by Henry III and has been continuing albeit in the format now of a fun fair ever since. The record stating:

“Of the Market Of Loughborough The lord the King grants to Hugh Dispenser that He have ,until his (Lawful ) age ,one market every Week, on Thursday, at his manor of Loughborough. Unless that market and the Sheriff of Leicestershire Is ordered to cause him to have that market. Of the Fair of Loughborough. The lord the King grants to Hugh le Dispenser that He have until the (lawful) age of the lord the King One fair at his manor of Loughborough every year In the vigil and in the day of St Peter ad Vincula And the Sheriff of Leicestershire is ordered to cause him To have that fair. Witness as above by the same(at Westminster,xxviith day of January in the fifth year of our reign).”

This was the third Charter fair for the town, given to Hugh Le Despenser Lord of the Manor of Loughborough. The fair was associated with the Feast of All Souls, perhaps an unusual date for a fair. However, when the calendar was changed in 1752 it moved to the 13th of November. Then finally local authorities in 1881 made it fall on second Thursday in November.

Open it fairly

Opening ceremony is itself a custom in itself, It is open like other fairs by the Town’s mayor but unlike other fairs where they are called to order by the ringing of the bell by a town crier, Loughborough does something fairly unique.

The local Grammar School itself a mere youngster compared, starting in 1595, provides three or four, smartly dressed trumpeters in suits and red ties. First they announce the Mayoral party outside the town hall and then go to the steps of the Waltzer where the Mayor of Charnwood officially calls the fair open. It is a decidedly medieval feel to the opening and quite fitting.

A fair change

Originally a cloth fair and wool. Then horses, cow and sheep. By the late Victorian period the invention of steam powered amusements meant that these were slowly taking over the trading fair until today they dominate it.

Interesting shows over the years have been the Phantoscope, a sort of cinema, a boxing booth and a lion show. Making today’s dodgems, ghost trains and spinners sound rather boring!

By the 1920s after a spell when the November streets were quiet due to WWI the fair saw the arrival exciting spectacles such as the Wall of Death. Indeed, the 1929 Leicester Mail romantically reported:

“That most ancient form of diversion, the fair, is still attractive because it appeals to the people’s robust sense of fun … Thousands of people are attracted to the town to participate, much to their own and other people’s enjoyment … if they remove it from the centre of the town it would dwindle and decay as so many other fairs have done, and an old age channel that has brought grist to the town would be permanently closed. So Loughborough as a whole, is not only disposed to grin and bear it, but to welcome it somewhat in the spirit of the song that bids us `Come to the fair.”

By the 1940s the side attractions which once were the main attractions were gone and the establishment of Ghost trains and dodgems and the establishment of families such as Collins’, Proctor’s and Holland which gave the fair a real feel of an annual reunion. In 2014 according to the Loughborough Echo the fair:

“The Star Flyer will be one of 20 massive rides brought along by the more than 100 show people along with other attractions, games, novelty stalls and refreshment stands. The fair, which spreads throughout the town centre, is organised by Charnwood Borough Council and attracts thousands of families. Pleasure rides this year include fairground favourites such as the Waltzers, Loop Fighter, Dodgems and Galloping Horses as well as more spectacular rides such as the Dominator and Extreme Ride. There is the ‘Kiddies’ Corner’ and perhaps one or two surprise attractions.”

And so it continues. The roads may have been closed off permanently now by pedestrianisation but this does not distract from the amazing site of these huge metal leviathans sitting cheek by jowl to the shop fronts. Every space is filled. Every side street. Like a maze and a cacophony of sound and blaze of light. The food. The lure of hook a duck, with a prize cheaper than that in the pound shop perhaps, but we still keep trying. All the fun of the fair is so true at Loughborough

Custom contrived: Oxford Street Christmas Light Switch Ons

Christmas is starting earlier! The shops, the adverts and the lights…ah yes the lights. For many its forget Christmas Eve, forget Advent, forget your first Christmas card it is the switching on the lights in their nearest town or even in the village which signifies the start of the festive period whether it is Oldham or Oxford Street….the most famous of all being lit up from late November to Twelfth night

It is difficult to find out the earliest British public lights but to begin with and like many other Christmas customs it appears that the US got into to it first. The most famous in the UK is perhaps Oxford Street. However, it did not start in Oxford Street. Despite being synonymous with Christmas lights it was Regent’s street which had the first one in 1954. In particular one of the most amazing being gas filled balloons in 1957 It was not until 1959 that Oxford street got in on the act!

Lights on, lights off!

Over the years the lights have varied and sometimes not been on. Indeed in 1976 and 1977 due to the combination of the Winter of discontent and the stressing of the need to be concerned about wasting fuel, there were not any lights. However by 1978 they came back being fanfared by a laser display to mixed feelings. Cheaper it might have been but Christmassy not! Since then corporate sponsorship has been involved with various big name firms, often London centric, such as a French themed one in 1992 to celebrate Les Miserables. Sometimes the lights can be a little underwhelming especially when they are mainly just white!

Coming to light early

Now just before you moan about this being in November’s blog….the first lights were up by the 30^th November in the 1950s! However in 2016 the Independent ran an article when the lights were up and shinning in October. They stated:

“It’s early October and in London the countdown to Christmas is apparently underway as the festive lights have already been strung up over Oxford Street. The enormous baubles that adorn Europe’s busiest shopping street were seen being set up on October 2, a full 84 days before The Big Day itself, prompting mild incredulity among Londoners.

The installation of the lights comes well ahead of other significant annual celebrations, including Halloween, Diwali, St Andrew’s Day, Bonfire Night, and the Winter Solstice. The timing of the set-up means on Oxford Street at least, visitors can revel in the Christmas spirit for over a quarter of the year, every year. This is evidently brilliant news for Christmas enthusiasts and for those who just love the beginning of October.”

It wasn’t popular with many coming to Twitter amongst other formats to complain one wryly noting.

“Did they have any Halloween lights?

The lights have moved with the time, now they use 750,000 LED bulbs which use 75% less energy than conventional bulbs.

Lighting up

Part of the custom is to have the lights ceremonially switched on usually by some celebrity. If ever there was a list which grasps the zeitgeist it’s the list of celebrities which turned on the lights. How many could you remember? Certainly the 1981 Pilin Leon is not a name you’ll know…she was Miss World that year…quite you can see what I mean! Since then with had sports men, such as Daley Thompson and Linford Christie, pop stars ranging from The Spice Girls to Cliff Richard, actors such as Lenny Henry and Emma Watson. But occasionally ordinary people get a chance in 1991 it was Westminster Children’s hospital and Children from kid’s company….the stage must have been large for the cast of Coronation street in 1995. The crowds are enormous for the switch on, even more so when it’s a big star, not sure how Derek Jameson might have faired against Westlife.

In 2017 it was Rita Ora who was joined by the Mayor and ITV’s X-Factor 2016 winner Matt Terry and boy band 5 After Midnight. The countdown was enthusiastic as usual and at 0 the air filled with snow flakes. According to the Mirror:

“Rita Ora, 26, said: “It’s such an honour. Once we’ve done this, it’s actually Christmas.” She joked: “If I get this wrong it can’t be Christmas!”

Love them or loathe them to many Londoner’s the switching on of the Oxford lights whenever they are is the sign for the countdown to the biggest custom of them all!

Custom demised: Push Penny at Durham Cathedral, County Durham

Penny scrambling customs have a tendency to survive and there exist widely across the country usually but not exclusively associated with fairs. Thomas Thistleton-Dyer in his Popular customs notes an example held in Durham. He states that

“Mr. Cuthbert Carlton, of Durham, gives in the Durham Chronicle, of November 29th, 1872, the following account of a curious custom called ” Push Penny.” He says: This custom, which has been discontinued nearly a quarter of a century, is thus referred to in the Derbyshire Times of Saturday last:—

“There is a custom which has been upheld from time immemorial by the Dean and Chapter of Durham on three days in the year—30th of January, 29th of May, and 5th of November, the anniversary of King Charles’ Martyrdom, Royal Oak Day, and Gunpowder Plot, which is known among Durham lads as “push-penny” On these days the Chapter causes twenty shillings in copper to be scrambled for in the college yard by the juveniles, who never fail to be present.’ The practice observed every 29th of May, and 5th of November, was to throw away within the college thirty shillings in penny pieces. Whether the custom dates from time immemorial, it is difficult to say, but the two last dates would seem only to point to the origin of the custom at the end of the seventeenth, or beginning of the eighteenth centuries, to testify the loyalty of the Dean and Chapter to the Throne, and their appreciation of the happy restoration of the ‘ Merry Monarch,’ and the escape of the King and his Parliament on the 6th of November. There was some such custom, however, during the monastic period, when pennies were thrown away to the citizens who were wont to assemble in the vicinity of the Prior’s mansion. At Bishop Auckland the bishop was accustomed to throw away silver pennies at certain times of the year, and it is even a peck of copper was in earlier times scattered broad-cast among the people. The Reformation, however, swept these and many other old customs away, but after the Restoration of Charles II., the Dean and Chapter no doubt considered the 29th of May and the 5th of November ought to be kept as days of rejoicing, and as one means of doing so caused one of their officials to throw a bag full of pennies to the people who met in the college. The duty was entrusted to the senior verger of the cathedral. For many years it was the practice for the children of the Blue Coat Schools to attend Divine service in the cathedral, who were drawn up in rank and file in the nave, for the inspection of the prebends, who minutely examined the new scholastic garments of the Blue Coat scholars. This being done they were ushered into the choir, and at the end of the service a regular pellmell rush was made for the cloister doors, in order to be present at ‘ push-penny.’ The scenes on these occasions were almost beyond description. For a few years the custom thus continued, the attendants at ‘ push-penny ‘ gradually diminishing; for twenty-five years, however, it has been discontinued, nor is it likely to be revived.”

And so, the reporter is correct, it has never been revived. Its extinction considering it existed on a number of separate occasions shows how a custom will die out if someone wants it to!