Stow Gipsy Horse Fair (From Cotswold Journal)
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Stow Gipsy Horse Fair
12:50pm Thursday 1st November 2012 in News
FASHION: Marie Connors, Bridie Teelan and Margaret Connors, all from Gloucester, pulled out all the stops for the fair.
THICK mud and dull skies failed to dampen the spirits of visitors to Stow Gipsy Horse Fair who flocked to the traditional event last Thursday.
Thousands of gipsies and travellers from all over the country converged on the site in the parish of Maugersbury, on the edge of Stow, for the biannual fair, which is held every May and October.
Walter Henry, who owns the fair field, said the mud was a problem for the cars and trucks getting on and off the site. “Everything is lovely but it’s just the mud,” he said.
“The council won’t let us put gravel down. If we could just have a road going through it. People are getting on with it now they are here.
“They are trying to make the best of a bad thing. A few vans have been stuck but we’ve got a tractor to pull them out. Everybody’s having a good time.”
Among the many families at the fair was 33-year-old Susan Biggs, who travelled from Bedfordshire.
“The main reason is to see everyone,” she said.
“It’s just the atmosphere. If you don’t come to places like this you don’t get to meet anybody. My sister comes for the shopping.”
Retired farrier Mervin Stait, was also at the fair with friends from Bristol.
The 74-year-old has been coming to the event for 65 years and remembers the days when the town had four events a year. “I was coming up to Stow when I was a boy,” he said.
“There’s a different type of people now. It’s all travelling people now.
“In those days there were more characters. It used to be horse dealers and cart horses back then.”
