Wickham Horse Fair
WELGORA
(WELGORA is the Romani word for Horse Fair)
By ancient charter of King Henry III, 1269
2019 and still an unmissable event!
WELGORA – ISBN: 9780992722067
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In his book
WELGORA
artist Alan Langford writes:
‘I have visited Wickham Horse Fair, in Hampshire, more times than I can remember.
Alan greets a friendly cob.
There has been an annual Charter Fair at Wickham since the thirteenth century, always in late spring, and always, at least in my recollection, a rewarding experience.
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Wickham Fair – large oil painting on canvas by Alan Langford.
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The square becomes a busy profusion of merry-go-rounds, bumper cars and other fairground paraphernalia. A section of the Fareham to Winchester road is closed to traffic and used as a ‘flashing lane’ by the Romani horse traders.
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If you are fascinated by skilled bareback riding then there is no other event, at least in Britain, to compare with it. They are followed by horse-drawn sulkies, their drivers often leading more horses behind them.
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The confidence with which the lads and raklis rush down the gradual slope of the flashing lane, mounted on their coloured Vanners with no saddles or hard hats and unforgiving tarmac underfoot, though dangerously reckless, is also skilfully impressive.
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They are followed by horse-drawn sulkies, their drivers often leading more horses behind them.’
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John – see below.
Among the characters I notice when studying the milieu of visitors, those that are of Romani extraction differ in both posture and expression from the curious clusters of the local gorgias.
Many of the Romani are possessed of weathered strong-featured countenances, suggesting a long ancestry of tough individualism.’
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Watch Alan at Wickham Romany Horse Fair (WELGORA) 2019
The 2019 Welgora at Wickham was no exception, as full of excitement and life as ever.
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Horses are brought from as far afield as Birmingham and Newcastle.
High-trotting, coloured horses with big feathered feet are favoured by the Romanies.
Mugs and caddies illustrated with paintings by Alan Langford.
John has been coming to Wickham Fair for 70 years.
A pretty driving horse.
ILLUSTRATIONS
more about the book >
The book launch was supported by a large group of guests who came from as far afield as Devon. 
Mike Roussel spoke at the launch about how he had ‘discovered as it were by accident, three gentlemen who were air crew with Fleet Air Arm 849 Squadron’. In writing the book, Mike travelled to interview Arthur Page, Norman ‘Dickie’ Richardson and John ‘Buster’ Brown, all of whom had all flown in the bombing raids on the Palembang oil refineries. He also heard from them about their fellow airmen who never came home from the war, among them the captured air crew known as the Palembang Nine who were cruelly executed by the Japanese after the surrender on VJ Day.
Julian Lewis in paying tribute to the veterans, said, 
Her story is full of suspense as well. The period of Japanese occupation was precarious for everyone and then with the start of the Second World War, the dangers for Westerners living in China escalated tenfold.
One of the Methodist missionary doctors was my father, Frank Ivor Tovey OBE FRCS, who arrived as a young surgeon in 1951. His first role was to open a men’s department, this being a requirement for nurse training to continue. He worked at Holdsworth Hospital for 16 years, during which time the hospital developed its work and became an Indian run institution.
