Soon be Goose Fair........

[broxtowelad 175]

Oo will yer be gooin wi?

[MargieH 7,600]

And what music will be playing on the Waltzer?

[Oztalgian 3,286]

Got to be Johnny and the Hurricanes classics such as

Red River Rock

Beatnick Fly

Rockin' Goose

Reveille Rock

If it aint its not really the Waltzer or the Goose Fair

[Oztalgian 3,286]

Goose Fair song 1965 – Credit Unknown

I met him at the Goosefair when autumn mist did cling,

The Goosefair, the Goosefair,

He was working on the Goosefair ,

In Nottingham that day.

 

We rode upon the dodgem cars and on the mighty wheel.

I had a toffee apple while the Ghost Train made me squeal.

Lovely were the things he said

As I finished of the gingerbread

And listened to my boy declare the love that he would feel

 

                He was working on the Goosefair, etc.

 

We saw the Bearded Lady and we had our chips and peas;

We rode the Helter-Skelter and saw ten performing fleas.

He bought me nuts, a cowboy hat,

A sugar mouse, a chocolate cat,

And moved my stick of candy-floss to give my waist a squeeze.

 

                He was working on the Goosefair, etc.

 

I met him at the Goosefair when the autumn mist lay thick.

He held my hand, he hugged me tight, and then he kissed me quick

And as the lights were growing dim,

He begged of me to marry him

And ride upon Love’s Roundabout forever. I WAS SICK.

[freckles 196]

Wont be going ,its more like a glorified market now ,full of foreigners now too.

 

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

My dad took this in 1964; it would have been on the Thursday evening, which was the time we always went. No idea who any of the people are - just random passers-by.

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

My aunty Emily from Garden Street went every year, without fail, to see the Goose Fair open. It was also a ritual of hers to buy packets of brandy snap. I always left mine until it went soft as I preferred to eat it that way.

[Braddy 160]

The scouts hot mushy peas.

[Guest]

I won a single on Hook A Duck, ' Prince Kajukho' by UFO.

On the Beacon label.

Fairground sideshow=10p.

Single =£25.00. ( latest value)

I still have the 45.

[BilboroughShirley 1,120]

I have not been to Goose Fair  since 1965. That was a good fun night and I prefer keep that happy memory. Great photo Cliff Ton. 

[LizzieM 9,507]

Since moving back to Nottingham 12 years ago we generally have a wander down to the Fair as its walking distance for us.  If we had to make more of an effort we probably wouldn't bother.  It's not like I remember in my youth but not much is to be honest.  The atmosphere is still there, the prices for the rides are still ridiculous, (I only go on the Big Wheel now, and that's tame compared to the old fashioned wheel), I miss the side shows that I remember in the 60s and 70s but at the end of the day it's a Nottingham tradition and long may it last. 

[FLY2 10,108]

Big Wheel..... Blimey, went on when I was 19 and drunk and thought it ok.

I went on with my eldest daughter about 15 years later and was petrified. 

[DJ360 6,728]

Haven't been since the 1960s.  I recall when a new ride called the Meteorite was first introduced.  It was the wonder of the age and supposed to be very scary.  Crowds collected to watch people coming off it and wobbling as they went.

 

These days it is still about and seems very tame indeed.

 

That said, I went on a version of it called the Aced of Clubs at the Sherdley Show in St Helens around 1980 and took about a week to recover...

 

Col

 

 

[broxtowelad 175]

I remember going to the fair with my Mam as a nipper to see the Lord Mayor declare it open and we'd enjoy the look around the sideshows and stalls taking in all the colours and sounds and aromas. Then during the following week at school we'd be asked to write a story about our "trip to the fair" and during art lesson told to capture the scene, on a sheet of sugar paper, by splashing paint about on tables covered with old newspaper.

[poohbear 1,360]

My last visit was thirty years ago with my young son on a Saturday morning .Parked up a back street and went on the fair.On returning the road was coned off and a cop was next to my car.....Told him the cones weren't there when I parked...he then nicked me for a stolen tax disc and we went down the local nick.

Sat there with my son who was in the next room holding a balloon and wearing a coppers helmet....Cop didn't believe that I had bought the car off one of our Asian brethren already taxed.two days before....Luckily got the cop to phone Evening Post and they read out the ad to him which said TWO MONTHS TAX....They then accepted that it wasn't me on the fiddle....It turned out my Asian buddy had three cars and swapped the disc between them...When I bought it I didn't check the reg on the disc...I just noticed the date.

A lovely fair visit that turned out to be. 

[MargieH 7,600]

Col, I remember going on the Meteorite in the very early sixties.  I thought it was OK and not very scary at the time - probably wouldn't go on it now.  I remember going on the Rotor as well - very strange feeling, especially when you started sliding slowly down the wall at the end - luckily I was wearing jeans and not a skirt, as some of the girls were!

[catfan 14,793]

This time of the year meant loads of overtime on the buses ! If your day off happened to fall on any of the GF days, then it was "Dip yer bread in time" ! If you were Saturday off then it was BINGO ! Time & a half @ time & a half. Easy work doing GF extra's !

[FLY2 10,108]

Just been sweeping up a few leaves from the front garden / drive, when I heard the heavy, chugging whine of something struggling up Hucknall Rd. Here it comes folks, Goose Fair equipment on the move to the Forest.

If I go, it'll be solely for the food. 

[broxtowelad 175]

I used to like going into the Wall of Death, (I din't fancy having a go tho'). Likewise with the boxing.

[radfordred 6,284]

Both my parents 83 & 89 will totter off down the fair 'to see the lights' not sure they have ever missed one?

If I or anyone else was to say 'I'm not bothering this year' they would think there was something wrong with you? 

[catfan 14,793]

2 hours ago, FLY2 said:

 

 

If I go, it'll be solely for the food. 

So you're partial to a dose of Botulism then FLY ! 

[DJ360 6,728]

It used to be a terrific 'Buzz', in a pretty dull and impoverished post war World.  A real assault on the senses.  Even in the 1950s, the smell and noise of the big diesel generators and even steam engines, the lights, the 'exotic' smell of peas and mint sauce, Boston Gingerbreads, Brandy Snap and Candy Floss.

 

Just the 'vibe' of the crowd, the music you might not hear at home, or even on the rather dull BBC radio at the time.

 

You just couldn't put all of that together on a small patch of land without it being a source of great excitement.

 

I think the last time I went as a 'punter' was with some of the lads around 1966.  I think we ended up in a pub.  Noel St?

 

Early 90s I took my girls.  I kept telling them on the bus down there that this was much bigger than anything they had seen around home in the North West.

I don't think they believed me.

 

We got off the bus just after the old Grosvenor and as we rounded the corner to get a view down Gregory Boulevard, , my oldest, who was then about 13, just said 'Whoaahh!!.  She was, as they say.  'Well impressed'!

 

Col

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

The good old days - even before my time, when it was in the Market Square.

[Oztalgian 3,286]

One minute of black and white footage of the Goose Fair. My guess is some time in the early sixties?

Unfortunately the weather on this clip reminds me of so many of my childhood visits to the Goose Fair.

 

 

[poohbear 1,360]

That's the Goose Fair I remember....MUD!