Northallerton’s ‘lost’ street fair is relaunched (From Gazette & Herald)
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Northallerton’s ‘lost’ street fair is relaunched
7:51am Thursday 13th September 2012 in News
A LONG-FORGOTTEN autumn street fair held for centuries in Northallerton is being revived today.
The relaunched September Fair will take place in High Street from 6pm to 11pm until Saturday, run by Northallerton’s A S Crow & Sons, whose family have run funfairs for 165 years.
Ryan Crow, a member of the latest generation of the family, which runs several other businesses in the town, said: “We’ve been wanting to revive the September fair for years, but with the well-publicised pain inflicted on our high streets by the recession, the time is right to bring it back and help put the spotlight on Northallerton.”
King John granted a Royal Charter in 1200 for what was then known as the St Bartholomew’s Fair in Northallerton to allow farmers to sell their cattle and sheep on two days in early September.
But along with two more of the town’s four Royal fairs, the September fair petered out after changes in farming and commerce.
Until now, only the May Fair, which was granted its Royal Charter much later than the September event – in 1554 by Mary I – has survived, having become predominantly a pleasure fair in the 1920s.
