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Reproduced by kind permission of the Fairground Association from their 'Fairground Mercury' (Vol. 12 No. 2.)
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Mop Day in the large Warwickshire village of Studley, famous for its needlemakers, is September 28. Before the war the fair usually drew on to the Mop field two days' before. Then, as now, it was held.for three days, the actual dates depending on the nearby Alcester Mop, held on the first Tuesday in October. In the 1930s the Mop was held on Newlands, a field off New Road, now the site of a junior school. |
The chief showman at the Mop was Alf Peters of Worcester, the principal roundabout being his set of three-abreast Gallopers (two rows' of horses with cockerels on the inside) made by Walker of Tewkesbury. In 1932 the Gallopers were supplemented by a set of Dodgems, run by Alf Peters' father, Frank.
Other showmen attending the Mop included W. Brewer and Sons, who were based at nearby Astwood Bank. Their amusements consisted of a set of little horses (dobbies) which were hand driven, skittles stall, coconut shy, hoopla, roll-a-penny and a shooting gallery
A. Stevens had a coconut shy, skittles and darts. Powells also had a coconut shy. There were several other stalls, including skittles, darts and' shooting. Rocky Herbert and his wife still came with their "Mop Rock" and sweets stall, although they must have been in their late seventies by then.
There was always a set of swinging boats present (owner's name forgotten) and usually a couple of side shows which differed each year.
An attraction which attended for about three years during the mid-30s, providing a great thrill, was the tall Mountain Glide, sometimes known as the Jack & Jill Glide. Harvey's Cakewalk was another ride that sometimes came.
In the 1930s Alf Peters' Gallopers generally travelled from fair to fair as follows. Instead of a large traction engine he had a 1924 Foden steam lorry called Worcester City. This engine had a dynamo on a bracket at the front for' supplying lighting power. The steam waggon carried the platforms of the Gallopers and the centre truck gantry. (A photo of this engine can be seen in Crawley's Fairground ~ngines in Focus). It hauled a box truck containing rounding boards, swifts and platform rods, with the twisted brass horse rods mounted on the truck's sides, and the 89-key Gavioli organ truck. An ex W.D. lorry with solid tyres pulled the centre truck and water cart. This lorry contained the horses, with the remainder of the horse rods attached to its sides.
| There was a slight slope as one entered
the field, and the Gallopers always held the central position at the top of this slope,
with the Dodgems immediately behind. The Foden steam lorry was parked on the right hand
side' of the field, opposite the Gallopers. Next to the Foden, between "the Gallopers
and the Dodgems, were the swinging boats. Between the boats and the entrance were placed, firstly, one or two minor stalls, then Brewer's joints and Powell's coconut shy. The transport and living waggons relating to these stalls were parked behind them. |
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On the left hand side of the fair, Rocky Herbert's rock and sweets stall stood by the entrance. Then there was usually a sideshow, such as the African witch doctor who breathed fire and danced on broken glass and iron spikes. Another year it was "Young Samson", who bent iron bars and had bricks broken on his stomach. Other shows that attended were the Fat Lady and Funny Mirrors.
In the centre of the fair, between the left and right hand sides and below the Gallopers, were situated various round stalls and Brewer's dobbies. These dobbies, which were well-patronised by the younger children, were hand-propelled. Old Mr. Brewer, who turned the wheel, is best remembered for the hook he wore on one arm to replace a hand lost in an accident.
That is roughly how Studley Mop looked between 1930-38, when I was between the ages of seven and fifteen years.
© F. Horton 1992
