All the fun of the 1980 St Lawrence Fair

There’s nothing like a fair to keep the whole community entertained – and this one in 1980 was described as “a jolly good effort”.
At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122506001At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122506001
At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122506001

These pictures were published in the Mid Sussex Times and show some of the people who took part in the St Lawrence Fair.

There were a record number of entries, including fancy dress and floats for the parade while Mrs Rose Stenning dressed up as the Queen Mother.

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Rose, who had just celebrated her own golden wedding, rode in an open carriage, waving to passers-by as they celebrated the 80th birthday of the country’s favourite granny.

At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122400001At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122400001
At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122400001

The Queen Mother’s birthday aside, the main topic of conversation appeared to have been ‘who shot JR?’

For those of you who did not have to endure growing up in the 1970s and 1980s and are too young to remember – JR was a thoroughly bad lad from the American TV hit Dallas.

He was shot by an unknown assailant and, while everyone knew he had deserved it, much fun was had trying to work out the identity of the guilty party.

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It was his sister-in-law – not Terry Wogan, as many at the St Lawrence Fair believed!

At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122455001At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122455001
At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122455001

The day was something of a fantasy event for the people of Hurstpierpoint, with everyone taking on new and unlikely personas.

The report said the day was “one in which a mystery man in drag won a special prize for bravery at the fancy dress judging and then vanished. He was later reported to be at a wedding trying to upstage the bridesmaids.”

Do you recognise anyone in these pictures? Were you the courageous man in drag?

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At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122517001At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122517001
At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122517001

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At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122444001At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122444001
At the St Lawrence Fair, Hurstpierpoint, in 1979 SUS-150716-122444001
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