It was definitely an Irish theme to the 2006 May Fair, and it extended over 3 and a half days, from Friday evening until the late afternoon of Bank Holiday Monday. So we’ll have three entries to do it all justice, starting with some photos gleaned from Nigel Baynes’ laminated archive.
Between the delightful Pet Show and the thrilling Strong Man competition, there were also plenty of friendly stalls, as Stephanie Atkinson exemplifies with her Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey competition.
Everyone loved the annual crowd-pleasers, the Catton Line Dancers, and of course the two little maids in exotic kimonos would have been awarded the Jock McConnachie Trophy for best entertainment.
It turned out that we were rather lucky with the weather for this year’s Fair, as elsewhere in Tynedale the heavens opened, as Paul Mooney, BBC’s Look North weatherperson and also one of the karaoke judges at the finals, would have been aware. We’ll consider these matters in greater detail in our next entry.