Sad farewell to Southwick fair

A FAIR which has visited Southwick for more than 60 years has said a fond farewell to the town.

Charmaine Stevens, who runs Stevens Amusements, wrote to residents earlier this year, telling them the family fair would no longer be visiting Southwick.

Charmaine made the decision after a new fair, held in May, started a couple of years ago.

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“It is a well-known fact that if you follow another fair, however small or low-profile, it will have a detrimental effect on trade,” she said in her letter to residents.

For most of its 60-year history, Stevens Amusements was the only fair to operate on Southwick Green.

Despite not visiting last year, Charmaine and her family were hoping to return this July, but eventually made the sad decision to stop visiting the green.

Speaking to the Herald this week, Charmaine said: “It is a shame, because it was one of our favourite places.

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“Everyone looked forward to Southwick and the residents couldn’t be nicer.

“Everyone would come along and say ‘hello’ and talk about old times. It was almost like a bit of Southwick’s heritage.”

She added: “I really felt for the residents, because they have all become friends of ours over the years and, really, generations.

“It was my father who originally went to Southwick, then me and my children and then my grandchildren.”

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Charmaine’s grandfather, Billy Smart, ran the biggest touring circus in Europe.

When her parents were married, her father took on the running of the fairs.

Charmaine has been running Stevens Amusements for about 30 years, first with her father and now with her son and son-in-law.

She still hopes the fair will be able to return to Southwick one day.

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Mary Gibbs has lived in The Green, Southwick, for 67 years and has visited the fair since she was a little girl.

“I feel it is a great pity they are leaving,” she said. “This has always been the only fair to visit Southwick.”

She added: “It was quite a shock, really, because, ever since I was about three or four, they have had the fair on the green.

“It just seems a great pity that they are not going to come any more.”