Fair in the Farm grounds, 1950s

[soft ayperth]

There's an extract from my book in Friday's Star (Retro edition). It describes my experiences going to the fair at the Farm Grounds late '40s/ early '50s.

 

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/nostalgia/retro-sheffielder-remembers-tough-times-in-childhood-memoir-1-7348744

[rhodesian11]

Anybody remember the fair that used to be in the farm grounds.

It was in the six weeks holiday and they used to have a talent competition

I think it was run by the Star newspaper..

It was started in the fiftys and must have gone on 7/8yrs till the council built the collage there.....

 

Many years have past, remember it very well

[pippadee]

I remember paying a shilling ( or was it 6d) to see the worlds largest rat; it was huge and smelled rank, of course later on in life I realised it was a coypu. Exciting times for us young 'uns in an age of innocence, with little else happening in the way of entertainment at that time.

[leftin60]

Does anyone remember the fair in Ecclesfield near the station I seem to remember, 1950's?

[Nigel Womersle]

Does anyone remember the fair in Ecclesfield near the station I seem to remember, 1950's?

 

Yes I do. It was Ling's feast and its first visit to the village was to Mill Road in the summer of 1949. As the years went by, Ling's feast came to two different sites in Johnson Lane, across from the station. They stopped coming when the last site on Johnson Lane was taken by Barworth Flockton for building their works. Some years later, when the Farm Grounds at Granville Road were purchased for building, the Gala came to Mill Road in Ecclesfield. It came for three weeks - two as the Sheffield Gala and the last one as Ling's own booking. At the last night of the Gala, a firework display was held in Ecclesfield Park, next to the feast ground. A stone wall had separated the feast field from the park. Just before the Gala arrived first time, the wall was demolished, presumably to allow patrons easier access to the Gala-ending fireworks display, which was fantastic. The wall had fallen of its own accord in various places years before and had never been repaired. We lived next door to the feast and it seemed to go on forever at night. I started work at 5.30 am each day but I had Sunday off. The other days I went to work bleary eyed but having loved it all. The nearest ride was the Steam Yachts also called The Shamrocks. They made my Mother feel sick, as the screams from the girl passengers got to her, hour after hour. I remember that underneath the yachts, lit in small bulbs were names. The first yacht bore the name Elizabeth, and the second Margaret Rose, both being the names of the present monarch and her sister. These had all been repainted in another style when they came the following year. I came to know some of the feast people and they were very nice folks. Happy days - where did they all go?

Edited July 14, 2015 by Nigel Womersle

[Babs-1]

I have fond memories of the Farm Grounds. In 1955 I got a job there, I was still at school but the annual Star gala was on during the school holidays. I worked on the Fairy floss stall and the hot dog stall for the two weeks of the gala. It was also where I met this lovely boy, who was also working there and who has been my Husband for the past 57 years.

[mossdog]

I can remember mi dad trying to win a coconut there by knocking it off a stand, no chance, he swore blind they were nailed on.

My favourite was trying to toss little wooden balls into a tin bucket with out them bouncing back out, sounds easy but it was dam near impossible...

 

Makes you wonder what the overheads were for stall holders back then...

..........your only chance of the ball not bouncing back out was to aim to hit the side of the bucket first before it hit the bottom! I once got banned off a stall for winning too many pot dogs with that method.

 

---------- Post added 20-07-2015 at 08:31 ----------

 

Yes - it was the "Telegraph & Star Gala". There was indeed a talent competition - in 1956 I played my mouth organ and came second..

Hi Hillsboro,.......did you buy your mouth organ from 'Spooners' on Langsett road where I bought mine from?

Old Spooner had a good selection of "Gob Organs".........otherwise known as Harmonicas.

[hillsbro]

...Hi Hillsboro, did you buy your mouth organ from 'Spooners' on Langsett road?...

Yes indeed, and I still have it...Ted Spooner was a real character. Born into a poor family in Makin Road, Attercliffe, he was a talented musician, and he opened the shop as long ago as 1928. Before the war he was mainly an agent for piano manufacturers, and my music teacher friend Emma Dora Rhodes (1899-1989) steered a good deal of business in his direction. I'm sure that by the 1960s the shop wasn't a going concern but he kept it open to keep himself occupied, and it only closed after he died in 1970.

 

I wonder why the Farm Grounds "gala" ended? It was very popular and always had a good attendance (depending on the weather, of course). Maybe the land wa no longer available for some reason.

[harvey19]

Do you remember the music shop near the Phoenix cinema in the 1950/60s ?

I used to take my guitar there to be tuned.

[hillsbro]

Do you remember the music shop near the Phoenix cinema in the 1950/60s...

That would actually be Ted Spooner's at 395 Langsett Road (four doors away from the Queen's Ground Hotel, opposite the Phoenix)