The following studies by Terry Spencer are now available on the Knottingley website:

KNOTTINGLEY CARNIVAL
By the last quarter of the nineteenth century the August Bank Holiday period at Knottingley abounded in fun and frolic with the Feast as the hub of the festivities. The fair was supplemented by community sports and of the sporting element within the town none was more prominent than Knottingley Town Cricket Club.

KNOTTLA FLATTS:
Situated on the southern bank of the River Aire, to the north side of Aire Street, lies Knottingley Flatts. Today, the Flatts occupy only a small portion of the original layout which comprised the greater part of Knottingley Ings.

KNOTTLA FEAST:
The modern image of the fair is one of outdoor entertainment for pleasure seeking people but such a concept is one which has developed over the last two centuries being born as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

HOSPITAL SUNDAYS:
Prior to the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948 local people relied for health care in the event of sickness or serious injury upon charitable institutions such as Pontefract Dispensary and Leeds Infirmary.

KNOTTINGLEY COAT-OF-ARMS:
The application by Knottingley Urban District Council for a grant of arms was made to the College of Arms, London, in mid 1942.

FERRYBRIDGE GLASSWORKS:
That there was a glassworks at Ferrybridge is indisputable for it was both documented and photographed. That it was situated on the north bank of the River Aire "..where the Parish of Brotherton merges into the Parish of Ferrybridge" is confirmed by map reference. The doubt lies not in the existence or location of the furnace but with its origin.

NINETEENTH CENTURY KNOTTINGLEY:
The township of Knottingley, situated three miles north-east of Pontefract in the Wapentake of Osgoldcross, developed from a 6th century Saxon settlement in a forest clearing on the south bank of the river Aire. By the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066 the settlement had acquired the status of a manorial vill

KNOTTINGLEY PLAYING FIELDS:
As the process of industrialisation and urban development gained pace in the second half of the nineteenth century the provision of public spaces such as municipal gardens and parks for the purpose of public recreation and amenity became increasingly desirable.

CAPTAIN PERCY BENTLEY:
Percy Bentley, scion of a prominent Knottingley family, was born in that town on the 18th January 1891, the son of James William and Helena Bentley, and was baptised in the parish church of St. Botolph on the 11th February.

KNOTTINGLEY WAR MEMORIAL:
On Wednesday, 25th September 1918, a committee previously sanctioned by Knottingley Urban District Council in meeting assembled, met in the Council Chamber at Knottingley Town Hall to consider the form of memorial to the men who had fallen during the Great War.

FERRYBRIDGE WAR MEMORIAL:
No less than the citizens of its larger neighbour, the inhabitants of the village of Ferrybridge decided to honour those drawn from the community and slain in the Great War.

THE 'K' SISTERS:
For approximately a decade from the mid 1940's the 'K' Sisters, Marjorie and Pamela Kellett, were prominent throughout the town and district of Knottingley as all-round entertainers who harnessed their talent to providing public enjoyment and in so doing raised large amounts of money for local charities.

THE PALACE CINEMA:
The new cinema, one of the earliest purpose-built picture houses in the country, was situated on an oblique strip of land some 560 square yards in extent, adjacent to Ship Lane at the junction with lower Aire Street. The hall was designed to seat 600 people: 500 in the area and 100 in the balcony.

KNOTTINGLEY PUBLIC HOUSES & BREWERIES:
In 1752, eighteen residents of the township of Knottingley in company with John Mitchell, the Parish Constable, agreed to be bound over in the sum of £10 each to observe the legal and moral obligations attendant upon being granted a licence as an innkeeper.

KNOTTINGLEY TOWN HALL CLOCK:
In the Spring of 1994, the recently deceased and much lamented Edwin Beckett arranged for the installation of a clock at the top of the Town Hall turret. The event was celebrated in verse by Mrs Joyce Bell who concluded her eulogy by stating that her mother, Dolly Lightowler, had always wished to see a clock set in the "bare face" of the Town Hall - a wish which had now come true.

STATUE OF THE BLACK PRINCE:
Awareness of a link between my native Knottingley and the Prince's statue came quite recently when Mrs Shirley Bedford of Knottingley informed me that her great grandfather was the master of a barge which had transported the statue from Hull to Leeds in 1903.

KNOTTLA NICKNAMES:
It was in the course of a recent conversation with Roger Ellis that the subject of nicknames arose, following which, in an idle half-hour, I casually began to compile a list of those I recalled. My list quickly exceeded fifty in number and I was seized by a natural desire to list as many more as I could obtain.

KNOTTINGLEY SILVER BAND:
The origin of Knottingley Band is obscure. In 1980 the Band celebrated its conjectured centenary year, the date being taken from an old letterhead of 1880.  However, a subsequent documentary source has been located which indicates that the genesis of the Band may lie much further in the past.

KNOTTINGLEY TOWN HALL:
The burgeoning spirit of civic pride found practical expression on 29th October 1864, when a group of prominent citizens of the town formed the Knottingley Town Hall & Mechanics’ Institute Company Limited.

FIELD SYSTEMS AND PLACE NAMES OF OLD KNOTTINGLEY:
The purpose of this study is to consider the topography of modern day Knottingley and formulate a theoretical model concerning the development of the settlement during the medieval and post medieval eras as reflected in the field systems adopted.

GAZETTEER OF KNOTTINGLEY PLACE NAMES:
An A-Z listing of Knottingley field and place names.

WAR SAVINGS WEEKS:
Conflict is fuelled by finance so it is unsurprising that following the outbreak of war in 1939, local savings committees were established to encourage people to curb personal expenditure and invest surplus cash in the National War Savings Scheme in order to assist the cost of the war.

SELECT VESTRY RIOTS 1874:
The township of Knottingley became a semi-autonomous parish in 1789 following the ecclesiastical reorganisation of that period but remaining under the patronage of the Vicar of Pontefract until it became an independent parish in 1846

KNOTTLA FEAST

by TERRY SPENCER, B.A. (Hons), Ph D

FROM FAIRS, FESTIVALS and FROLICS,
KNOTTINGLEY, Circa 1840 - 2003
Volume One (2003)

<PAGE ONE | PAGE TWO

In both 1907 and 1908 the fair was held at the traditionally observed date and although a variety of attractions featured on each occasion the brouhaha of the former year engendered a degree of uncertainty. "Much uncertainty is felt in Knottingley due to the Council action in declining to let the Flatts at the usual time which has met with much condemnation."

To drum up support in anticipation of the arrival of the fair "Mr Tuby instructed the Town Crier to inform the inhabitants and another proprietor, Mr T. Brannan, also intimated he would be there as usual." (75)

Opinion concerning the practical effect of the uncertain situation appears to be mixed, one source declaring that the attendance was "not very great and interest less pronounced than in previous years" while another refers to "an enormous crowd of visitors making passage for ordinary business in Aire Street very difficult."

The uncertainty does, however, appear to have inhibited attendance by some showmen for "It was expected in many quarters that other amusements would be there but they did not turn up." (76)

Perhaps the reason for the reported congestion in Aire Street was due to the fact that the Council having declined to let the Flatts at the customary date had not closed Aire Street and its environs to vehicular traffic as was usual at Feast time. (77) The situation was repeated in 1908 with the K.U.D.C recommending the closure of the Flatts between the 25th and 29th July when the Feast would normally take place and access being provided by Thomas Worfolk at the due date. (78)

Having been presented with a fait accompli for the second year the Council sought to assert its authority by demanding tolls from the showmen but many refused to pay saying that they had made arrangements with Mr. Worfolk, and although Mr. Tuby wrote to the council seeking water for his machines and offering to pay whatever price was demanded, the Council decided to seek a legal injunction against Worfolk. (79)

The longer term effect of the controversy was seen in 1909 when despite settlement of the legal dispute it was stated that "nothing near the usual number of shows and stalls [were] on the Flatts"

A factor influencing the decline, however, was that the Feast was held for the first time on the occasion of the August Bank Holiday, a time it was considered "when other places could be visited more profitably" by the itinerant showmen. (80)

By 1911 it was claimed that "despite many and varied amusements there was a decrease in interest, mainly due to the Feast falling so long before Bank Holiday when the works break up."

Clearly, the fair was being held on the old established date but the employers were holding to their decision not to close their factories to enable the workforce to play. (81) There seems little doubt that the decision of the manufacturers had dealt the Feast a hard blow for in reporting that "the feastground was not so crowded as formerly, perhaps on account of feast week falling the week before Bank Holiday and the playing of the local works later." The local newspaper stated that "the proceedings were practically closed on Tuesday night." (82)

The situation stood in stark contrast to the optimism of 1910 when it was stated that the Flatts were now "the property of the ratepayers and should prove a profitable source of income."

It is interesting to note that despite this claim, one stallholder who refused to pay a toll on the grounds that he was a ratepayer, was ejected from the site, a situation reminiscent of an incident in July 1907, when owing to an administrative error, a Dewsbury based trader was denied a pitch even though he had paid a deposit as early as the previous January. (83)

Following several years of reputed decline in enthusiasm, in 1913 the Feast made a remarkable recovery with throngs of people in attendance, blocking Aire Street in their determination to enjoy the long anticipated event. (84) Fluctuating attendance was nothing new, however, such ‘decline’ had been reported in the 1890s and whatever the degree of deterioration in attendance it was more imagined than real, it being reported that some people had "returned to work no worse for their temporary cessation; others with aching heads and empty pockets." (85)

Returning to work in a ‘hungover’ state was almost bound to be bad for production, a fact not lost on the employers and one which doubtless underlined their determination to secure the transference of the Feast to the August Bank Holiday. By 1914 it was reported that the town’s works did not shut down for the Feast and there was "…a growing feeling that the date ought to be changed to Bank Holiday." (86)

The outbreak of the Great War which occurred immediately after the Knottingley Feast of 1914, created a hiatus in the matter of the Feast date and although it is known that the Feast took place in 1915 there are no further reports in the years 1916-1919, for fairs were prohibited by order of the government and the showmens engines and horses were utilised for active service. (87) In addition, fairs were generally felt to be inappropriate given the condition of the war with its grim, unprecedented slaughter.

A local example of implied disapproval is evident from a report of 1915 when a Knottingley woman broke her right leg while riding the helter-skelter. The unfortunate victim was the wife of a soldier who was at that time serving on the western front. The newspaper report, while confining itself to the bare facts concerning the mishap, adopts a tone of subtle disapproval of the action of a wife engaged in such a frivolous pursuit at a time when her husband was in a state of mortal peril. (88)

In 1920 however, the Feast had resumed and the fairground attractions were retained during the week following the Feast. (89) Similarly, the following year an element stayed behind for the Bank Holiday when it was reported that there was "plenty of fun and frolic and a fair amount of money in circulation despite the lean time experienced of late." (90)

The profusion of money, despite local unemployment, ensured a bumper fair in 1922 and the development of public transport in the form of a regular bus service was a major factor in bringing hundreds of sightseers and friends of residents to the town. (91) The following year all the local works closed on Feast Monday in addition to the following Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday, not through any benevolance on the part of the employers but out of financial expediancy in the face of diminishing trade conditions. The break enabled the fair to be well patronised although it was stated that "A long period of bad trade and unemployment has left the workers for the most part with scanty means for feasting." (92)

As the recession deepened, its effect upon the Feast was increasingly apparent. To add to the woe, in 1924 "much rain fell, creating great discomfort. On Monday instead of opening about noon the fair was closed until evening. Throughout the afternoon the attractions had a bedraggled look and there were very, very few people about." (93)

The problem of broken time regarding the Feast continued until 1926 when on the 16th June the K.U.D.C. decided to ballot all ratepayers concerning the Feast date. The matter was conducted with great propriety, the four men appointed to deliver the ballot papers were warned not to influence the voters on pain of an action for breach of contract. (94)

The outcome of the ballot, declared on the evening of Monday 28th June 1926 showed 1,001 people in favour of changing the Feast date to coincide with the August Bank Holiday and 967 in favour of retaining the traditional date. A total of 84 spoilt ballot papers could have swung the balance. The issue divided upon familiar lines with the shopkeepers, anxious to capitalise from the extra trade visitors brought to the town, holding their opposition to the views of the manufacturers. Others, particularly the younger inhabitants, claimed that holding the Feast on Bank Holiday week would be detrimental in that fairs held in larger towns and cities would draw away the best attractions from Knottingley Feast. (95) Nevertheless, despite the ambiguousness of the resultant ballot, the decision was made to move the date of the fair and in 1926 Knottingley Feast was officially transferred to August Bank Holiday week. The events was kept in traditional fashion and despite a reputed scarcity of money due to the impact of the General Strike and the continuation of the miners dispute on the local economy, the attractions remained on the Flatts throughout the succeeding week. (96) However, the continuing cycle of trade depression exerted a baleful long term effect on the local community throughout the following decade. Nevertheless, the Feast provided a focus for the inhabitants of the town and in 1928 it was stated that "considering the times the showmen have done well" [drawing] "a large number of visitors with many old Knottlaites renewing acquaintance with their former homes." (97)

However, the shortage of money detracted from the jollification producing "an absence of the general abandon which was such a strong feature of previous feasts." (98)

As in earlier days such a gloomy prognosis proved somewhat premature for a few years later it was declared, "Feast time is still ‘an event’ at Knottingley and many make a practice of visiting the town."

Despite the industrial situation with its corollary of heavy unemployment "the most is made of the Feast..." the town being "agog with excitement and merrymaking." (99) Yet in 1932 the Feast was said to be "one of the poorest ever."

The meagreness of the attractions was held to be responsible for the poor public response, engendering an enquiry by the Council, concerned about the non-appearance of attractions and the economic consequences in terms of lost revenue from tolls and also the effect on the townsfolk. The clerk pointed out that the Feast was now in direct competition with two others and Cr. G. Brown, Vice Chairman, K.U.D.C., revealed the effect of such competition by pointing out that one showman had decamped for other pastures despite having paid for his pitch on the Flatts. The Council had become a laughing stock in consequence of the resultant debacle, claimed Brown. (100) The situation seemed to justify the earlier prophecy that rearrangement of the date contained the seeds of the fairs destruction, but the following year the event was declared a big success, as indeed was the subsequent year, 1934, when it was reported; "King Feast held successful sway at Knottingley with a bigger collection than ever on the Flatts of popular up to date attractions which were well patronised." (101)

On several occasions following the debacle of 1932 the Feast reverted to its traditional date. On such occasions the local works did not close and in 1935 it was asserted that there were "signs that the townspeople have not much room for feasting when it falls the week before Bank Holiday." (102)

However, the variability concerning the staging of the event seems to have depended less on the date of the Feast than on more generalised social and economic factors. One may deduce that if anything the Feast was marginally less successful in terms of size and spectacle when held over Bank Holiday weekend. The reason was clearly seen in a report of 1938 which stated that "other big holiday feasts had affected the scope a little."

The effect of the changed date was still evident more than a decade later when overlapping engagements and the need to get the show on the road led to some amusements at Knottingley being dismantled before the last day of the Feast, to the disappointment of the townspeople. (104) The pattern was repeated the following year when despite the Flatts being full of entertainments the financial returns failed to impress the attendant showmen, one of whom described trade as "wicked". While admitting that trade was not good anywhere at that time many ceased trading on the Monday evening instead of Tuesday night. (105)

A subtle yet increasingly perceptible change in public tastes was taking place in the period following the Second World War, which resulted in a decline in the popularity of the Feast in the post war decades. Even at the height of its popularity the fair was not welcomed by everybody. Quite apart from the objection of the local manufacturers to the disruption of the work cycle and the inconvenience caused to some traders by the prohibition of vehicular traffic in chapel street and Aire Street at Feast-time, other objections were raised.

One source of complaint, mainly by those who adhered to strict religious observance within the town, was the excessive amount of alcohol consumed at such times and the frequent acts of anti-social behaviour consumption produced. Prior to the introduction of more restrictive licensing laws following the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, drunkenness was a common problem at Knottingley, as indeed was the case generally, and the town was an active target for temperance activity. (106)

Prior to the last decades of the nineteenth century fairs featured numerous drinking booths which, supplementing the outflow from local inns, promoted undesirable behaviour. The scale of the disorder at Hull Fair in 1875 was such that the city authorities considered prohibition of drinking booths but as late as 1890 magistrates granted a license for the sale of intoxicants at Knottingley Feast. (107) As an inland port, Knottingley had numerous inns and beer houses, many of which were situated in Aire Street and its environs. The public houses were even more well patronised than usual at Feast time and were often the undoing of many a patron. Thus, in 1907, a labourer named Alfred Mosley appeared before Pontefract Magistrates and was fined 6s 6d for being drunk on Knottingley feast ground. As a result of this action Mosley was found to be absent from the local militia and was duly remanded to await a military escort. (108)

Whatever the objections and misfortunes of others, the Feast was always welcomed by local victuallers. The extant accounts of the Buck Inn, which was situated directly opposite the fairground, reveal that in Feast weeks throughout the period 1875-87 takings at Feast weekend were in excess of 40% more than those produced in the four days following the departure of the fair. Viz:-

It is interesting to note that whilst Feast takings for the two dates continued to yield the same ratio of profit over normal takings a considerable fall is evident in the overall amount of money taken at the Buck Inn in the two years which form the comparative sample. It would be interesting to know if this was due to circumstances unique to the feast-time (eg. good/bad weather or cyclical trade depression) or if the figures indicate a decline in the sale of alcohol and if the latter, was this a general trend or due to circumstances solely affecting the Buck Inn?

The more censorious citizens regarded fairs as vehicles for criminality, providing opportunities for pickpockets, tricksters, cheapjacks, lewd behaviour and gambling. While there is scant evidence of such behaviour at Knottingley Feast there are occasional glimpses of aberrant behaviour from time to time. A comment of 1888 that the fairground contained "the usual gathering of itinerant time killers collected in bold array."

Whilst, perhaps merely an aspersion cast by a jaundiced observer on revellers in general, encapsulates the attitude of a section of local society, doubtless shaped by an awareness of undesirable elements commonly associated with fairground activity. (110) Similarly, a report of 1892 refers to "plenty of rabble."

Although here again, the phrase may refer to the noise as much as dubious characters amongst the general throng of merrymakers." (111)

Noise was a natural adjunct to fairground activity and was supplemented by music from the adjacent inns. In July 1880 for instance, a successful application was made to the West Riding Petty Sessions at Pontefract by Robert Pickersgill, landlord of the Ship Inn, on behalf of himself and other victuallers, to have music on their premises during Knottingley Feast. (112)

From the 1890s, steam driven organs added to the noise of the fairground, providing music for the roundabouts and some of the accompanying booths. A further noisesome feature from this period was the introduction of the bioscope or cinematograph shows. Although the film stock had no soundtrack, loud extraneous sound effects were produced to lend dramatic effect to the filmed image. (113)

Except for Saturday when the fair closed at midnight in respect of the Sabbath, fairground entertainment continued unabated until the early hours of the morning and one can only imagine the effect of the noise upon the residents of Aire Street which was at that time the principal residential area of the town.

A report of 1880 complained that "Hurdi-gurdies, mingled with blatant rombone and ear-piercing gongs have presented the noisiest and most discordant sounds" (114) while three years on it was stated that there was "plenty of noise, some persons may think it was music." (115)

In 1903 a letter from Mr W.E. Milburn, an Aire Street druggist, was accompanied by a memorial signed by several fellow tradesmen with premises near the Flatts, was presented to Knottingley Council complaining of the continuous playing of organs and instruments on the Flatts at Feast-time. As a result it was decided by the Council that space for the forthcoming fair would only be let to tenants complying with regulations to be drawn up. (116) Whatever steps were taken appear to have been largely ineffectual for in 1912 an observer, reporting on the motley throng crowding one end of the fairground from one end to the other, making Aire Street practically impassable on Saturday night, stated that it was not the noisy throng that drew comment but that "certain shopkeepers will not deplore the passing of the music." (117)

As late as 1929 it was recorded that the town "resounded with the blare of horns and organs playing the latest musical items."

Whether held to be popular or deplorable it is clear that Knottingley Feast catered for the musical fashion of the period long before the advent of the ‘Top Twenty’ hit parade. (118)

The fairground was ever the source of potential hazard although such accidents as are recorded are of a minor nature. One of the most serious occurred in 1866 when an inmate of Pontefract Workhouse, allowed to attend the Feast along with others, died from the effect of a ruptured blood vessel. A subsequent enquiry launched by the Poor Law Guardians revealed that the group were drunk and that the Workhouse Master had no authority to allow the inmates to attend the Feast. (119) Several accidents occurred in the early decades of the twentieth century in which cuts and broken bones occurred, mainly to young people and involving fairground apparatus, most commonly featuring the swingboats. (120) Several such accidents occurred in successive years, prompting the local paper to remark in 1923, "fortunately there were no accidents on the feast ground." (121)

One of the most bizarre accidents concerned Mrs Clewlow, Salvation Army Captain, who was knocked down by a cyclist and sustained an injured leg in the course of conducting a service in Aire Street on the evening of Feast Saturday, the accident being the more ironic for the fact that the road was closed to vehicular traffic for the duration of the Feast. (122)

A serious consideration, particularly in the pre-electricity days was the danger of fire. Naptha flares, fuelled by canisters of volatile spirit which provided the means of lighting were an obvious hazard. Lamps hoisted above the heads of an audience had to be lowered and extinguished prior to the commencement of theatre shows. In the closing decades of the nineteenth century cinematography became an increasingly popular feature of the fairground, the highly flammable film stock multiplying the risk of fire. The film show had first made an appearance at the Feast in 1902 and by 1907 was reputed to be the most popular attraction on the Flatts. (123) Taking advantage of the popularity of the new medium the local Salvation Army used the platform of Farrers’ cinematographic show for their service on Feast Sunday that year. (124)

By 1907 naptha lights had been replaced by electric lighting, the power being generated by portable steam engines specially designed for the purpose. First introduced in 1891, the engines were not in common use before the first decade of the new century. Harry Tuby used one such engine in conjunction with his cinematograph show in the early 1900s. The advent of safer electric lighting did not obviate the potential fire hazard posed by the volatile film stock however, as shown by an accident which occurred on Feast Tuesday 1909. A portion of the reel of film caught against a live wire and resulted in an instant conflagration. Fortunately a plentitude of help and an ample water supply enabled the fire to be extinguished within minutes, the only casualty being the loss of two rolls of film. (125)

Michael Farady’s discovery of magnetic electrical induction via dynamo and generator during the 1830s provided a theoretical solution to the problem of applying electric power to the fairground although it was many decades before the apparatus was developed to enable its practical application, initially for arc lighting. By 1912 however, mobile generators were providing motive power for fairground rides. (126)

The introduction of steam powered and later petrol-fuelled vehicles relieved the showmen of the more restrictive limitations of horse power. The initial expense of auto locomotion and the problems of technical adaptation however, meant that many of the more modest fairground proprietors retained the use of horsepowered wagons and trailers until after the Great War.

Initial constraints were the laws requiring auto-powered vehicles to be driven at a maximum speed of four miles per hour and preceded by a man waving a red flag. In built up areas the speed was further restricted to two miles per hour with permits being required from local authorities allowing the transit of heavy vehicles on local roads. (127) Prior to the 1920s the fitting of rubber tyres to the huge fairground vehicles was not compulsory and damage to local roads could be quite extensive as shown by an incident in Aire Street in 1902. One of Tuby’s wagons ladened with heavy components for a steam driven roundabout sank into the surface of the road to the tops of its wheels. The wagon was only slightly damaged and no one was injured but it was some considerable time before the jacks were obtained to facilitate its removal (128)

The replacement of horses by steam-driven vehicles and eventually automobiles, was something of a mixed blessing to some local inhabitants. While it seems probable that a number of the showmens horses were tethered along the riverbank between the Island and Garner Haven, there would presumably be far too many for the grazing afforded by that area to suffice and alternative sources of grazing and stabling were doubtless obtained from local farmers, smallholders and publicans. In addition the procurement of corn and straw from local sources provided supplementary income for local suppliers. With the advent of auto locomotion such inputs to the local economy were lost.

Henceforth, the necessity was for water to enable the generation of steam power. In earlier days the procurement of water had largely been for domestic use by the showfolk and for watering the horses and show animals and obtained from the numerous wells serving the inhabitants of Aire Street and its environs. (129) From 1893 when the recently created Local Board undertook arrangements with Pontefract Corporation for the supply of water to Knottingley township, the emphasis changed. (130) and by the close of the decade the fairground proprietors were paying the K.U.D.C. for the supply of water to the fairground site. Something of the quantity of water supplied to the showmen may be gained by reference to a report presented to the K.U.D.C. by the Council’s Manager of Works following the 1907 Feast. The report showed that Tuby had used about 1,000 gallons for washing his ‘motor cars’ [i.e roundabouts]. The estimated daily use in a normal period was between 560-600 gallons per day. It was therefore decided to make a minimum charge of 5d per gallon for two days and two shillings for each additional day, with washing of shows etc. being two shillings per day and one shilling per week for each caravan. (131)

Access to the towns water supply was at the heart of a legal dispute between some of the showmen and the Council in 1907. Tuby and others had been admitted to the Flats by Thomas Worfolk in defiance of the Councils order preventing access by the showmen. (132) Risking the threat to public health and the possibility of litigation in the event of an ensuing epidemic, the Council refused to supply water to anyone refusing to pay tolls to them for the use of the Flatts, which the showmen, having paid their dues to Worfolk, declined to do. However, a roundabout proprietor, Thomas Brennan, ordered his employee James Brown, to take water as required and was subsequently sued in the local Magistrates Court for stealing water. (133) At the hearing, held on the 10^th August 1907, the Council, having asserted its authority, agreed to withdraw the charge on payment of ten shillings, plus costs by the defendant and the case was closed. (134)

The following year Tuby made enquiry in advance of the fair concerning water charges for his machines and the Town Clerk advised him to present himself before the assembled Council which Tuby declined to do. (135) At a subsequent meeting of the Council, specially convened to consider whether the resolution of the 6th August 1907, which had denied water to the showmen at the previous Feast, should be rescinded, opinions were divided with Crs. Drinkwater and Dey claiming that as the Feast was being held at the traditional time that year it was a pointless act of meanness to deny water to people who were not involved in the issue concerning ownership of the Flatts. A proposition was made rescinding the embargo of 1907 and was carried by four votes to two. (136)

Further resistance to the payment of tolls occurred in July 1924 when following revision of the rental charges by the Council, Messrs Tuby refused to pay the new levy. (137) The dispute was protracted by the Councils renewed consideration of a change in the date of the Feast. (138) Following a long drawn out correspondence between the parties the matter came to a head when Tuby’s opened out their entertainments prior to the newly designated Feast Week. The Councils Highways Committee meeting on Tuesday 14th September 1926, decided in respect of its outstanding claim "That the full charges for the first week be charged for ground Messrs Tuby & Sons booked and that the usual charge be made for Feast Week, and that the a/c (sic) be reduced to £30 instead of £31, and £1-4-0 for water in addition, less the deposit of £1." The matter of costs was left to the discretion of the Council Solicitor. (139)

However, further resistance must have occurred for later in the month it was resolved to deny use of the Flatts to Tuby & Sons until a settlement was reached. (140) The dispute was eventually settled when Tuby’s paid a cheque for the sum outstanding but the dispute had created uncertainty on the part of the local authority and when application was made by Tuby’s in February 1927 for use of the Flatts at the forthcoming Feast it was referred by the Highways & Lighting Committee for direct consideration by the Council. (141)

Amid the anxieties and uncertainties of the situation created by the advent of war in 1939 it is unsurprising that in 1940 "the Feast went almost unnoticed", a few attractions and their "attendant paraphernalia" occupied the Flatts but workers neither sought or took a beak from local works at such a vital time. (142)

For the duration of the war manpower shortage, fuel rationing and ‘Blackout’ regulations combined with the demands of war production to restrict the Feast, echoing the situation during the Great War when it was reported as being "less pretentious than previously." (143)

It is interesting to note however, that fairs did continue to operate throughout the Second World War, albeit in a restricted way and under strict government control, being regarded as an essential contribution to public morale. While no visits to Knottingley are recorded, small fairs were held at some larger neighbourhood towns with air raid precautions being ingeniously devised from tarpaulin sheets. The present writer recalls attending a fair located in the yard of the Windmill Inn, Pontefract, about 1944, the whole of the rides and attendant attractions being housed in a gigantic marquee. (144)

The immediate post-war years afforded a glimpse of the former glory of the Feast as the principal proprietors, Tuby and Farrar, filled the Flatts to overflowing in response to a public seeking pleasure as an antidote to the war and continuing post war austerity. Again, drawing on personal experience, the writer recalls the Flatts filled to overspill about 1950 with attractions being so numerous that many trailers and vehicles had to find parking space at the back of East Parade and Island Court, a throwback to an earlier age which according to oral evidence was a normal situation in bygone days. (145)

The flamboyance of the time provided something of a valedictory before the gradual; decline and ultimate demise of Knottingley Feast. The seeds of such decline were sown by the population shift of the 1930s as Knottingley Council initiated housing schemes resulting in the development of the Broomhill and Englands Lane estates at the south side of the town.

Initially, the building programme had little impact upon the central area of the town and for a decade following the end of the Second World War Aire Street remained the commercial centre of the town and a densely populated area. However, the rapid and extensive development of the two Council estates in the immediate post-war period, followed by the creation of the Simpsons Lane – Warwick estate in the 1960s removed the bulk of the population of the town from earlier areas of settlement. The developing trend exercised an adverse effect on the status of Aire Street. It was now quicker and easier to catch a bus from one of the outlying estates than to walk to Aire Street where shops afforded less variety than that available elsewhere.

The demographic resettlement was accompanied by changes in public attitudes towards leisure activities and by the early years of the 1950s the deterioration in patronage of the Feast was sufficiently apparent for fairground proprietors to advertise impending visits in the local newspapers and on billboards in the area. An incidental indication of the declining social status of the fair is the fact that for the first time since 1880 the Feast ceased to be reported in the local press. (146)

Widespread ownership of motor cars, television sets and the advent of supermarkets and motorways revolutionised social behaviour and by the mid 1960s Aire Street had become a commercial and residential backwater with attendant consequences for the traditional Feast. The knock-out blow was delivered late in the decade when as part of the proposed redevelopment scheme Aire Street and the surrounding area was completely demolished, the work preventing the use of the Flatts for Feast purposes during the course of the demolition.

Increasingly alarmed at the declining attendances at the Feast the fairground proprietors had begun to look for new venues closer to the resettled areas of population from the mid 1950s. The desire was reinforced when a fair was successfully located in Knottingley Playing Fields adjacent to the England Lane estate, as part of the 1953 Coronation celebrations. Such was the success of the event that the following November Mr Charles Doubtfire offered the K.U.D.C. the sum of £40 to obtain permission to hold a fair in the Playing Fields from the 4th to the 12th June, 1954. To enhance the offer (and to attract the public) Doubtfire also offered to stage two firework displays and a children's fancy dress parade. The Council resolved to accept the offer but a rival bid was made by Mr. J.W. Ling who sought the same dates and offered £50 plus two firework displays and a benefit night with proceeds donated to any charity designated by the Council. Ling’s offer was therefore accepted. (147)

By the mid 1960s demolition had already begun in connection with the Aire Street redevelopment scheme when one of the proposals being considered was the building of flats on the Flatts, ruling out the prospect of the site ever again being the venue of the Feast. (148) Again, there were echoes of an earlier age for in 1926 preparatory steps had been taken to establish an open market on the site, throwing into jeopardy the future of the Feast. (149)

The demolition of property in and around Aire Street resulted in the opening up of hitherto inaccessible areas of space. As a result, in March 1964 R.L. Tucker applied to the Council for permission to site a fair on land to the rear of Chapel Street for twelve days from the 21st April 1965. In reply the Council recommended use of land at the junction of Headlands Lane and Spawd Bone Lane as an alternative site. A rental fee of £35 with the proprietor accepting responsibility for the repair of any damage incurred was suggested, to which terms Tucker agreed. (150) The site was strategically placed to attract attendance from the England Lane and Warwick estates and must have met expectations for a further application for the site, on the same terms, was made by Tucker in 1968 and again the following year. (151)

The plan to build dwellings on the Flatts having been abandoned, the Council approved the use of the site by Mr. C. Doubtfire for a fair on the 20th-26th October 1968. Doubtfire had sought to obtain the Headlands Lane site but ironically the land was now required for use in conjunction with a road widening scheme and so the Flatts was offered at a hire charge of £20. Despite the surrounding dereliction the Flatts must have proved economically satisfactory for Doubtfire’s fair returned to the Flatts in September 1970, which was the last occasion on which a fair was held on the site. (152) It is of passing interest to note that the Flatts also provided a venue for a two day visit by Joe Gandy’s Circus during the last week in May 1967 and 1968. (153)

Doubtfire hired the Flatts in 1970 at a charge of £15 which was a reduction of £5 on the previous rent, suggesting perhaps, that the site was potentially less lucrative than previously. It is unsurprising therefore, that having made provisional arrangements to use the Flatts on four or possibly six weekends during 1971, Doubtfire should reconsider and seek to obtain a site at Hazel Road on the by then, hugely populated Warwick estate. The proposed relocation was rejected by the K.U.D.C. however, on the grounds that the desired site was required for building purposes. (154)

Meanwhile, Tucker had reapplied in 1969 for the Headlands Lane site but was informed that the site was unavailable. (155) Undaunted, Tucker again applied for the site in April 1971 and was informed that if no suitable alternative site could be found approval would be given subject to the satisfaction of the Council Surveyor regarding proposals for the siting of vehicles and equipment of the showmen. (156) In the search for suitable alternative sites unsuccessful attempts had been made to use the Ferrybridge Playing Fields, Castleford Lane, for both the Spring and August fairs of 1970. (157) The Spring fair was therefore located on the Flatts for in March the Town Clerk reported that the showmens’ caravans and accessories were still occupying the site beyond the expiration of the lease date, leaving the Council to seek compensatory rent. (158)

By the following year when Tucker made application for land on which to hold the Spring fair he was informed that no suitable site was available anywhere in the town. (159) Knottingley Playing Fields had been discounted as a suitable site for several years as a result of the contentious leasehold agreement with the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, while in the meantime the Flatts had been landscaped to provide a somewhat sepulchral adornment to yet another folie de grandeur of the politicians forming the majority of the then Council who with scant regard for tradition and even less regret, consigned to oblivion another element of the town’s historical heritage.

Dr. Terry Spencer

Reproduced with the kind permission of Dr. Terry Spencer

Knottla' Feast is copyright ©Terry Spencer 2003

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