Travelling business people

We live in dark times and need celebrations. These were the well-chosen words of the chaplain to the Showmen’s Guild after the Wells May Fair was opened on Saturday morning, and how right he is.
Everyone knows about the problems of the world economy, the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, worries about flu pandemics and the personal tragedies reported daily.
There is not much we can do about any of that, but we can resist the tide of gloom sweeping 2009 and stay positive.Regular doses of fun will always help, which is where the Somerset fairs come in.
We are fortunate to have several in the county – Glastonbury’s Tor Fair and Axbridge Blackberry Carnival are two more examples.
Not everyone likes them, and there were grumbles that the Wells fair had stopped the regular Saturday market taking place, but they do add their own colour and life.
The people who run the fairs are also often maligned.
As it is a cash-based operation they are assumed to pay no tax. In fact they have accountants, pay tax and national insurance. T
hey are not gypsies but travelling business people whose families have often been running fairs for several generations and abide by the rules of the long-established Showman’s Guild.
Philip Welch