Barnet Fair (1883-90)

Social History (Museum of St Albans)

'A Novice' detail from Scenes at Barnet Fair (1883-90). Wood engravings and photo etchings from September editions of the Pictorial World (1883 and 1885) and Daily Graphic (1890). Barnet Fair was Hertfordshire's largest, and one of England's great horse and cattle fairs. In its heyday it had showground attractions and horse races for the visitor, while 50,000 head of cattle and countless horses were bought and sold. But in the 1880s Barnet Fair was in decline, following an outbreak of cattle sickness. A few horses are still sold in Barnet to keep the memory alive. Horse fairs were notoriously rough places, and in Barnet's case the reputation was well-deserved, being close to London. The comparison with the second-hand and stolen car trade one hundred years later is easily made: horse dealers knew every trick to make an animal look a better buy than it later proved to be.

ph8669

120 transparency

1) Photo Studio

Barnet Fair, Barnet (formerly in Hertfordshire, now the London Borough of Barnet), UK.

Herts Before the Car, 2001