Peterborough Bridge Fair hosts solitary children’s ride to honour Royal Charter

The Bridge Fair usually takes place over the first two weeks in October on the Embankment or in the Pleasure Fair Meadows car park.

The fair normally features more than 100 rides and attractions and usually has around 40,000 visitors each year.

A modern representaion of the 1878 charter

Rollercoaster ride as Bridge Fair opens in Peterborough

This year, however, organisers John Thurston & Sons Funfairs, decided that with the on-going Covid-19 pandemic the safest course of action would be to cancel the full event. Possibly - according to organisers - the first time this has happened in 142 years.

The fair is covered by a Royal Charter, granted by the Home Office in 1878, that states a fair must be held in the ‘Fletton Triangle’ each year on the first Tuesday in October.

In order to honour the Charter and keep the fair’s unbroken history, organisers visited the Embankment on Monday with a small children’s tea cup ride and a high striker prize stall.

A Mickey Mouse high striker, one of two attractions at the token Bridge Fair.

John Scarrott, speaking on behalf of John Thurston & Sons Funfairs, said the token presence ensured that the Charter was honoured: “Due to the current situation with Covid-19, we have cancelled the Bridge fair for 2020.

“Our priority is for the safety of our staff and customers and under current government guidelines we couldn’t see a solution to hold the event successfully this year.

“We have honoured the charter though, and we look forward to returning to Bridge Fair in 2021.”