Then:
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 Greenwich Park During the Holidays © NMM | Travelling fairs were an annual highlight for the children of dockworkers. It was a chance for the whole family to get together
Kitty and Peggy remember going to Blackheath Fair:
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I can remember the fairground, though I only used to come once a year. We lived in Deptford and my Mum used to walk up Greenwich Hill with seven of us, most of us in the pram, and three bigger ones! She used to walk all the way to Blackheath, right from Deptford High Street. It was a wonderful day out.
It was mostly stalls. And if you won something, they'd give you a ticket and you could have anything on the stall. But if you saved those tickets up you could get something bigger… like a … vase for your mother.
'You'd stand there watching first and weigh it all up… you'd watch it carefully to see what was going to be good value for money… when you used to go on these rides, you used to
have your money's worth… it went on and on. But not now. Now you've got to get off straight away. |
Now:
Today, travelling fairs still come to Blackheath but they offer a very different experience to the fairs of the past. Now the fair is a deluge of noise, bright lights and thrills. The rides may have changed out of all recognition but children can still buy candyfloss as their grandparents did, and other sweet treats such as hard candy dummies and doughnuts.
Ashley loves going to the fair:
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I love the fair and the big rides such as the dodgems,
big wheel, twist and rockets. |
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