The following article, by Fiona Webster, appeared in The Baldons and Nuneham Courtenay Newsletter July/August edition in 2013.
For seven-year old Lena Middleton the highlight of the year was Baldon Feast. She and her seven siblings would watch in wonder as the procession of horse drawn wagons rolled into Marsh Baldon, bringing the fairground rides. It was 1923. The country was getting back on its feet after the Great War; a new car factory had been opened in nearby Cowley by William Morris. Ninety years later, Lena still loves to watch the fair roll into the Baldons and enjoy the Feast, a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. Lena, 97, now lives at The Croft, but began life at Nuneham Courtenay, where her father was a farm worker who had fought in the First World War. Later she moved to 44 The Green where she would watch the fair arrive from her bedroom window.
“Baldon Feast was the big event of the year, everyone looked forward to it, especially the children, and everyone went – there’s always been a spirit of community in these villages,” recalls Lena. “Most villagers then were either farm workers or worked at the new car factory. Everyone would wear their best clothes and there were donkey rides, a coconut shy and a carousel. Rides were two pennies each. The men would play bowling for a pig and the women played bowling for a tea set. There was a brass band and fish and chip stall. “The Buckland family who ran it had been coming to the village for generations and all the village people knew all the fair people. I remember old Mrs Buckland smoked a clay pipe.”
Beryl Polley, 73, was born in Toot Baldon and later moved to The Croft. She is one of four generations of her family who attended Marsh Baldon School, which originally cost a penny a week to attend. Beryl’s grandfather was Marsh Baldon’s green-keeper and she says: “The fair people would queue outside Gateways in Baldon Lane, waiting for my grandfather to open the gate to let them in. There were three gates into the village then, one by Parsonage farm, one at the corner of the green by the road to Toot and at Gateways. All were kept shut to stop the sheep and cattle that grazed on the Green from escaping. Horses on the green had to be tethered and if they got loose they were put in the pound near the pub with any other stray animals. You had to pay £1 to get them out.”
“The fair people were allowed in at 6am Sunday to start at 6pm and it was always the first Sunday after August 13th. It was lovely watching the wooden wagons arrive, you would occasionally see inside them and they were always spotless.” The fair is now run by Jimmy Meech and his family (under the name of Mason's Fair) who have a permanent base near Reading. The growth of theme parks and indoor activities for children mean less custom but they still tour the country. A few years ago bad weather and dwindling business led to them consider ending their visits to Marsh Baldon, but Ralph and Phylis Slaney persuaded them to keep coming, whilst breathing new life into the Feast, which now offers a large range of activities, stalls and entertainment. If you would like to support the Fair and the Baldon Feast tradition do come along on Saturday 17th August.