Delia Daws (nee Towers), 82, of Kendal, recalls the travelling fairgroundthat came to the town in the 40s and 50s

I LEFT Kendal High School in the summer of 1947. I and four other girls were sent to work at the Provincial Insurance Company in Stramongate.

This was arranged by the school. I was never asked if this was what I wanted to do — I was put in the Fire department and never thought to question it.

Around this time was my first recollection of the travelling fairground coming on the New Road twice a year at Whitsuntide in May and Martinmas in November.

These times coincided with the hiring of farm workers by the local farmers.

All the lads who were wanting to be employed would stand on the pavements in the Market Place, dressed in their best clothes.

The farmers would then ask them if they could plough and mow, reap and sow, and milk a cow — everything it took to be a farmer’s boy.

Needless to say my friends and I went along as well, to see if there was one we fancied!

When all the hiring was finished a good number of them would go down to have some fun on the fair.

Most popular of all was the ‘Wonder Waltzer’, an exhilarating ride with all the girls screaming with delight.

We took with us a good supply of pennies, which we rolled down on to a table, but never seemed to win anything.

I remember one time I won a cup by throwing a pin-pong in to a bucket, tilted so that the ball bounced out again more often than not.

I didn’t tell my mother how many goes it gook to win one cup — I would have bought a tea set with the money spent.