Buckingham Charter Fair Cancelled for First Time in Town Cllrs Living Memory

On Saturday 17th October Head Showman, Marshall Nichols of Nichols Amusements brought the striker to Buckingham Town Centre. The striker is a children’s game. You hit the bell with a hammer and win a prize every time. Saturday would have been the first of this year’s annual Charter Fairs in Buckingham.  Mr. Nichols was greeted in the town centre by Chairman of the Town Centre & Events Committee Cllr Robin Stuchbury and the Town Crier.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions a decision had been made by Mr. Nichols and the Town Council that the Charter Fair be cancelled for this year.  In order to hold the town’s Charter the stall was set up but was not operational.
Cllr Robin Stuchbury said that “Clearly meeting Mr. Nichols under such difficult circumstances was not how we wished to meet this year, his acknowledgement of the problems nationally to his colleagues and fellow showman through the cancellation of charter fares through the Covid-19  pandemic was heartfelt and an honest expression of the realities of what has taken place”.
Mr. Nichols said in a recorded interview with Cllr Robin Stuchbury, that “It has been a shocking year.  Showman have not been operating but they are still having to pay for the insurance and testing of the rides.  All major fairs and charter fairs such as St Giles in Oxford, Wantage, Chipping Norton, Banbury, Witney Feast, Evesham Carnival and Cirencester mop have been cancelled. To make ends meet, a lot of the Showman are now having to stack shelves in supermarkets”.  Mr. Nichols does not think that all showman will be able to afford to return next year.
To hear more from this interview with Mr. Nichols on the financial burdens of cancelling this and other fairs throughout the country go to; https://www.facebook.com/512660302457008/posts/1448067615582934/
For enquiries please contact Paul Hodson, Town Clerk at Buckingham Town Council on 01280 816426, office@buckingham-tc.gov.uk.