THE recent Common People Festival on the city’s Common, which took place during the May bank holiday weekend last month, was the latest guise in a long and varied line of attractions that have graced the open space during the bank holiday weekends over the years.

The cries of “Roll up, roll up for all the fun of the fair" have rung out across Southampton Common for decades as local people in their thousands flocked to enjoy the dodgems, candy floss and coconut shies every bank holiday.

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Nowadays the tradition of entertainment on the common has evolved to include a variety of different forms of entertainment such as music festivals but there was once a time when the funfairs, with their waltzers, big wheel, side-shows and hoop-la stalls would provide an ever present feature It was in 1859 that, according to borough council minutes, the then town council gave "Mr Richard Churcher and others permission to use the Common for some amusements."

By 1892 the attractions had grown to such a scale that there were objections from local people against non-ratepayers from outside the area being allowed to bring travelling exhibitions, large steam-driven roundabouts and carnival attractions to the Common.

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After a great deal of pressure the council agreed that only true Southampton people would be allowed to stage the fair.

With the First World War looming the fun-fairs on the Common had grown even bigger. Barrow boys and tea tents had joined the amusements that attracted huge crowds to the site which spread right across the open space.

"Charges in 1914 for permits to conduct a show, roundabout, etc., are five shillings (25p) for stalls, ten shillings (50p) for boxing booths, coconut shies, swings and Aunt Sallies, 15s (75p) for swing boats, £1 Is (£1.05) for hand-propelled roundabouts and £5 5s (£5.25) for steam-driven ones, while charges are fixed at 2d (1p) per person for using roundabouts and Id for swings," say the record books.

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After the war stalls were reserved, as far as possible, for ratepayers and members of the Southampton Costers and Street Sellers Society although concerns were now being raised about the damage the crowds were causing to the grass and trees. A number of fairs were held on the Common during the Second World War in support of "holidays at home" but by the end o b conflict military vehicles and temporary army camps had moved the side-shows and stalls away.

In the post-war years the fairs carried on drawing the crowds, special bus services linked the outlying parts of Southampton to the Common and market stalls became more of a feature.

Running the fairs had now become the responsibility of an outside contractor and so the sight of policemen carrying a special leather bag to collect the stallholders' dues became a thing of the past.