Photography Day Out
Tom Pearse, Tom Pearse, lend me your grey mare,
All along, down along, out along lee;
For I want for to go to Widecombe Fair,
Wi’ Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy,
Dan’! Whiddon, Harry Hawke.
Old Uncle Tom Cobley and PHOTOGRAPHY’s feature team who, last Autumn, paid a visit to this colourful event in the heart of Dartmoor and found a treasure trove of picture material waiting to be harvested.
Ours were not the only cameras; and the coach loads of visitors—all toting equipment of varying sophistication—must have been equally attracted by the scene, for Widecombe-in-the-Moor is picture-book England; the England of calendars and greetings cards (and no doubt a number of chocolate-box lids); the England sold to tourists by their travel agents.
It also happens to be genuine for, apart from a few obliging local characters dressed up as Uncle Tom and Co. for the benefit of visiting shutter-bugs, Widecombe Fair is primarily an agricultural show and gymkhana at which splendid specimens of horse flesh and Devon livestock can be seen competing for the various prizes and challenge cups. Other attractions included a children’s fancy dress parade (mounted and unmounted), the diminutive entrants all wearing costumes of delightful ingenuity; novelty races; and a display of axemanship.
Widecombe Fair | Photography | September 1967
The adjoining fairground was an equally fertile source for colour; its garishness softened by the spreading green trees beneath which it was situated. Here were brandy-snaps and ruby-coloured toffee apples; fresh fried fish and chips; foaming blooms of candy-floss—a medley of aromas blending with a comparable cacophony from bravos trying to ring bells with mallets or sell ‘Batman’ caps.
In short, happenings like Widecombe Fair must be included among the reasons why photography is now one of Britain’s most popular pursuits. And with today’s equipment, such as the Konica Auto S2 and the Fujica V-2 that we took along—virtually foolproof instruments that only require you to aim, focus and shoot— the success of winter slide shows is guaranteed.
This year, Widecombe Fair is on Tuesday, September 12th. So, if you can get away, try and escape to Dartmoor with your camera. But take plenty of film. If you don’t, you’ll feel a lot sorrier for yourself afterwards than Tom Pearse’s old mare.
Word seems to have got around to many young photographers that the only camera capable of producing any kind of picture story is the SLR complete with a battery of different lenses.
This feature was obtained on fixed-lens rangefinder cameras, and in practical terms meant that for several of the illustrations we had to get in fairly close. For the shy and timid soul this is of course a problem that only his psychiatrist or a 1000mm ‘long tom’ will be able to resolve, but most people have no violent objections to being photographed providing you’re not too sneaky about it. Human vanity also helps, especally with children who always love having their picture taken if you take the trouble to explain what you’re trying to do.
Widecombe Fair | Photography | September 1967
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