Thursday 28 June 2012

The Hop growers fair booths at Weyhill

On Friday, after months of waiting, I finally got to see the hop growers booths at Blissimore Hall Acre, on the site of Weyhill Fair.

I was so excited about it I adapted a song about a wobbly wordsmith so I could sing about Weyhill. The lovely Lisa did not seem overly impressed by my atempts at musical innovation, and pointed out that as Weyhill Fair had been around for hundreds of years there was bound to be a song about it. A quick google later and there it was, a delightful sound track to this post:

Weyhill Fair

The booths, now listed buildings, are rare examples of permenant fair booths, and were erected by a group of hop growers known as the Farnham Gentlemen.





They now house craft shops and a tea room and they've even, to a small extent, revived the fair. I don't think any hops are involved though.Still, seeing the booths was enough to put a smug grin on my face for the rest of the day.

2 comments:

  1. Funnily enough, I've just come across references to Weyhill Fair in 1860's newspapers. Seems to have been a big event.

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  2. It got up to selling half a million sheep at one point, along with other animals, the hops and cheese.

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