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Format and design are copyright and all rights are reserved - July By the middle of the nineteenth century, other fairs were added to these events, and later additions of Owen's Book of Fairs contain further details of these fairs. The date of the September fair was changed in , when an application was made under the Fairs Act to move the date of the event.
In this document it is stated that the September fair was held on the 12th of the month and representation was made to move this date to the second Thursday in September for the convenience and advantage of the public. As no objections were raised, six hundred years after the granting of the Charter, the fair was held on the second Thursday in September, a date it adheres to today.
A notice published in lists the nine fairs held in Neath including the Great Fair. All of these fairs were held on Wednesdays except for the Great Fair, which by this time was fixed on the second Thursday of the month. The first fair in the year was held in March and was associated with the sale of flannel, the fair held on the first Wednesday after the 12th of May was a primarily for livestock but also included horses, flannel and interestingly functioned as a hiring fair.
An additional fair was held a week later in May and also functioned as a hiring fair and perhaps played the same role as the runaway Mop fairs in the Midlands and enabled disgruntled servants and labourers to find new masters or improved working conditions. The mid nineteenth century fair was populated by shows including Ghost Shows, travelling Menageries and Theatre booths. By the start of the s steam powered roundabouts appeared on the fair but Theatre booths presented by William Haggar continued to be a main staple of the event.
Despite the continuation of the trading element of the fair, the pleasure fair in fact would have been the most important aspect at that time and showmen from throughout the United Kingdom would have attended the festivities with a range of amusement devises and shows from the nineteenth century onwards. In local people would have flocked to see moving pictures in the cinematograph shows which by would become a staple ingredient of the Edwardian fair.
By the start of the twentieth century, these nine fairs remained in existence. However, the September fair continued to function as both a trading and pleasure event. The site of the fairground moved around the turn of the century from its previous locations in Jubilee Gardens and it became situated on the Bird in the Hand field, which proved to be its home until The Edwardian fairground is often described as the golden age of the fair and the accounts from Neath during this time seem to reflect this.
A trade directory from lists the commodities sold at the fair as including sheep, horses, cattle and poultry, with an extended pleasure fair including roundabouts and shows. Among the many fine rides to visit the fair at this time were those presented by Henry Studt, these were the Zoological Roundabout, the Venetian Gondolas and the Motor Switchback.
The year saw the start of the South Wales football team and the players were selected by arranging a match between the showmen of South Wales and the showmen of Monmouthshire. The match ended in a victory for South Wales; much to the disappointment of Jack Scarrot who was described by the World's Fair as the most prominent and voluble supporter of the Monmouthshire boys.
That year the fair also displayed a glut of Bioscope Shows all with elaborate names. Despite the outbreak of the First World War, Neath's September Fair continued and in Henry Studt's living vans were used as a recruiting office for the war effort.
Despite the war, a full fair was presented and included a Rolin's Wild West, Joe Danter's amusements, and Charlie Birch's midget show and swimming saloon. The roundabouts included those of Henry Studt and sons, Edward Danter and others.
The start of the First World War saw the demise of the bioscope on the British fairgrounds. During the s, new attractions were seen at the fair but also saw the return of some of the prewar chair-o-planes and galloping horses, in particular the famous Zoological four-abreast which for many years had been associated with Henry Studt and was now in the ownership of the White Bros.
A second set of Gallopers was seen in when John Studt reintroduced the set, which used to be travelled by Henry Studt. A family who would become increasingly prominent in Wales from the s onwards was the Deakins. Under the management of Mrs Margaret Deakin, the widow of Alf Deakin they would become of the most successful roundabout proprietors in Wales.
The Deakin family attended the event with a trio of rides consisting of a Lightning Swirl, Dodgems and Noah's Ark and juvenile roundabouts and houplas. These three rides continued to be a feature of the fair for the next 30 years and the report in the World's Fair reveals that they were also travelling a set of hurricane jets.
In , the ride that attracted the most interest was the speedway presented by Messrs.
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