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Yet another part of our diverse chaplaincy ministry takes place at the Fairground – and why not! This parish just happens to host the largest travelling fun fair in Europe (eat your hearts out Nottingham!) Yes, it’s the mighty HULL FAIR which visits the Walton Street site every October. More rides, better rides, eight days and a chaplain! During the Fair the Vicar will be at the Fairground most days for a number of hours ... visiting the showmen and organisers. He is sometimes seen to take to the rides too! The opening is a formal, civic affair. It starts with a Grand Procession down Walton Street to the Fairground before moving to one of the large rides for the opening ceremonies. These proceedings always start with prayers led by the Chaplain. Speeches follow and finally the opening by the Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull.
Each year the following
prayer is offered at the Opening:
Dear Lord and Father, we give You thanks for all the richness and colour of life and for the privilege
we have in its enjoyment. We thank you for our Showmen and their families as
they continue to bring such pleasure and happiness to this City and our neighbouring
Boroughs. We now ask for Your blessing upon this great Fair of Hull, that within
its spectacle of light, sound and gaiety, it may stimulate the enjoyment of all
who come - especially our young: and evoke the happy memories of those who can
recall the Fairs of earlier years. Grant that we may be blessed with protection
and safety and that Your love may be with us … in the Name of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
During the Fair each October a special School is opened in the nearby West Park specially for the children of the Fair. This is run by the local education authority and their special Traveller’s unit. The Chaplain is alongside in support. Some times we hold a Harvest Festival Service with the children and then distribute their gifts to the nearby Sheltered Accommodation.
Twice we have been involved in special activities at the Fairground. First, in 1989, we organised a Sponsored Helter Skelter, probably the first ever! This raised money for the Church Urban Fund and proved very popular!
Next was the Hull Fair Challenge in October, 1995 when over £2000 was raised for our 125th Anniversary Appeal to re-roof St Matthew’s Church. The Showmen set us a course of twelve rides, from comfortable to chronic! Alongside children from our church and local schools we had a number of guests taking the Challenge to complete the course. The Lord Mayor, the West Hull M.P. (Stuart, now Lord Randall), Mark Robinson (cricketer), players from Hull City AFC and the coaches from Hull F.C. (Rugby League) and a journalist from the local newspaper.
Some years ago the showmen invited our Vicar to take on the additional appointment as Chaplain to the Yorkshire Section of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain. Since then he has been involved in those special pastoral experiences of baptism, marriage and burial. The showmen are very grateful to have their own chaplain, someone who understands their very special lifestyle.
Did you know that
the most popular hymn chosen by the Showmen (for Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals)
is “One more step along the world”? Somehow it comes alive for them. In October,
1999, the B.B.C. broadcast a special edition of ‘Songs of Praise’ from
Hull Fair. It was part of the Hull 700th Anniversary and we were reminded that
the original Royal Charter granted the right to hold a Fair in the town. Seven
hundred years on the Fair still comes to Hull. ‘Songs of Praise’ gave a number
of our travelling showmen the opportunity to tell their story and it was very
moving and most memorable. A choir of Primary School children gave a fantastic
rendition of “One more step” on the dodgems!
