Ilkeston's 771st Charter Fair
w/e 22 October 2023
The 'day' pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300 and the 'night'
with a Galaxy S20 Mobile Phone..
The people of Ilkeston and
the surrounding area celebrated the 771st anniversary of the
granting of the Royal Charter in 1252 that allows a fair to be
held in the centre of the town in the middle of October. To be
honest I could have captured the images below in any one of a
number of recent years as the fair had a very familiar look to
it but they were all captured on Thursday, some in the afternoon
and the others in the evening.
Unlike many other fairs, Ilkeston's is still held in the streets
around the town centre and whilst many views change little over
the years, some stay the same. Children's roundabouts near what
was the old Post Office, now Hogarths, have been a familiar sight
for many years although it's still within living memory that
donkey rides were allowed from here on South Street and along
Coronation Street to the right.
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As darkness fell, lights from the stalls and rides lit up the
town centre and this is another view of South Street from a little
further along.
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Old favourites like the Helter Skelter, Cakewalk and Waltzer
(left), Gallopers (top right) occupied their usual positions
on the Market Place and it wouldn't be Ilkeston Fair without
mushy peas and mint sauce.
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Also in their usual positions and with bright lights shining
in the night sky, were the Big Wheel at the side of the Town
Hall and the Spinning Coaster on the Pimlico car park. As an
alternative to mushy peas, German Bratwurst could also be sampled.
I'm not sure what the connection between German sausages and
Lincolnshire is though.
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Many other food stalls were scattered through the fair among
the other roundabouts and sideshows as seen in this corner of
the Market Place near the fountain which had been barricaded
for the duration of the fair.
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Whilst the smaller stalls line the streets the larger area of
the Market Place allows bigger attractions like the Dodgems and
XLR8, which towers high above the library, to be erected.
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Not as high as XLR8 is the Helter Skelter and there are several
at the fair each year, this one standing outside the historic
Scala Cinema next to the Pimlico car park.
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And it's on the Pimlico car park where many machines, like Stargate,
attract scores of youngsters, and perhaps some older people too,
to experience the spinning and turning upside down of the thrill
rides.
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Thrill rides for children like the Little Wheel and Tea Cups
could be found on Bath Street. I was never a fan of the Little
Wheel as a child and when I, as an adult later, accompanied a
young cousin on children's rides, I was left feeling quite queasy
- thrills enough for me!
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Yes the fair does not seem to change much from year to year but
thinking back to my younger days, it's surprising how many changes
have taken place. All of the arterial roads leading to the Market
Place are taken over by the fair - Wharncliffe Road above - but
gone like the donkeys I mentioned earlier, are the Boxing Booth,
the Rotor or Wall of Death, the Caterpillar, the Whip, the Coconut
Shys, the Sky Rockets, the Roll-A-Penny, the Slot Machines, the
numerous Bingo Stalls which appear to have been supplanted by
Hook A Duck stalls. All these plus many more, including the freak
shows, have disappeared from the fair and still live long in
the memory but will soon be forgotten until this time next year
when the travelling showmen will return for the 772nd anniversary
of Ilkeston's Charter Fair.
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