Last weekend we had our annual visit to Loughborough Fair....actually I should say we went to Loughborough as my Mum and Dad live near by and it was my Mum's birthday...but strictly speaking it was her birthday the weekend before but it's the fair which determines which weekend we actually make trip!
I have been going to Loughborough Fair for as long as I can remember. It's traditionally seen as the ending of the travelling season and several travelling show people groups come together in the town centre as their last gathering of the year. It's huge but has a really chilled out and relaxed feel to it. In fact this was actually the 793rd Loughborough fair as it had its first official charter granted in 1221 by King Henry III.
I have to confess to being too busy eating candyfloss and planning the next rides to actually take any photos but Mr M took a couple of snaps which I've hi-jacked. They're a bit blurry but it was so busy and crowded plus Mr M has one hand in a cast after an accident a few weeks ago so I'm not complaining and I'm going to roll with the them.
What I love about this fair is that there are lots of rides which we know will always be there and will always be in the same place but also each year there is some new spectacular ride such as this crazy, ridiculously high Star Flyer which according to the Charnwood News is "a 120ft-high ride which is thought to be the tallest of its kind in Europe". In the misty November evening we thought it looked like an alien spaceship hovering over the town.
The rides go so close to some of the shop buildings, it must be such a massive jigsaw fitting it all in. I remember as a child being completely disorientated by the fair, turning a town I knew very well into a place I didn't recognise at all. Mum and Dad would say "look there's Boots" or "we're just opposite Clarks now" but it made no difference, I still didn't have a clue which I think added to the magic...for four days the place I knew had gone and this magical fairground had been dropped in its place.
This was Miss E's choice of transport and Miss M was pretty squashed trying to curl her long legs up into the car but you can just about see how happy it made Miss E by the smile on her face.
Miss M was chauffeur driven around the next ride by footwomen Miss E.
I remember as a child, my sis and I being given £1 each for the fair which would get us 5 rides. I know! We would walk the length of the fair planning which 5 rides we'd choose....such decisions. Mum and Dad would thrown in candy floss as an extra and it's a family tradition that Mum always buys brandy snaps.
This is Miss E flying high in her Princess aeroplane. She loved being in charge of the going up and down button in her cockpit.
At this point I was riding the ferris wheel with Miss M and Grandad and holding on very tightly...I think Miss M had bruises on her leg from my fingers gripping her so tightly. I was ok with the coming down half of the circle but not so keen on the going up!
We always save the best for last....the big steam driven carousel with the wonderful elegant horses. Mr M had a little chat with the steam engine man in between the rides.
When I was a child, this ride didn't count as one of our 5 rides, oh no, this one was special and was a whole family ride and always saved until the end.
Miss E and I shared a very pretty horse called Lauren. Just look at the speed we're going, with a very blurry Grandma on the inside and Miss M in the mix as well. A couple of years ago Miss E insisted on riding on one of the hen type things but the horses are definitely better! Confession time...I like to pretend I'm Mary Poppins when I'm on this ride! I really do! Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
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