Dredging
up memories of Polgooth Country Fayre is difficult because , while
I can remember some very vivid details , the overall picture is quite
blurred. I think this is because being on the peripherals of the organisation
meant that, like so many others , the event itself was an excuse to
let the hair down and just enjoy it. One of the main organisers ,
Henry was rumoured to have planned to spend the whole event in a specially
designed area on top of the main stage scaffolding.
My
main role was of programme coordinator, chasing people for info ,
collating designing and finally printing of the programme with all
of the details of the event. So my work was all done by the time the
event came about, but my plans to put on a silly costume and just
loon about didnt quite work out.
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But
anyway, I am pretty sure that there were two fayres, the first one being a
one day event. I jumped the broomstick at one of them , but cant really ask
my then partner for any of her memories. It was probably the first.
I
was living in Truro at the
time, running various schemes from an semi derelict building grandiosly called
The Earth Centre, producing an occasional underground magazine with my pal
Kevin (later of the mazing space reggae group , The Is, but then sometime
DJ and organisers of latenight discos. I was also working in The Pannier Market,
on market days, which is where I first met up with the main organisers. They
were mainly incomers from the South East and based around St Austell. I do
remember spending the best Christmas Day ever , with all of the organisers
, at a place I think was called Happy Valley , a truly amazing timewarp space.
Its
a shame that despite typing and retyping and then printing off, by hand. on
an old Gestetner all of the details of those who performed my brain refuses
to remmeber any of them. I do know that Al Cooper and Bert Briscoe ( brainiac
5) appearred, because it says so on their respect Myspaces. The Brainiac 5
being local were obligatory at any event on Cornwall , and were blooming good.
Kevin Coyne, of course headlined, and I think there were a couple of bands
from the Exeter Uni collective.
I
got into trouble for spending too much on the programme. I can now admit that
this was a bit naughty, as we used the excess to hire a bus to run from Truro
Each day--but we still ended up with a hefty loss. We had a stall at the event
itself , but never got it together to put anything on it except for our free
veggie curry......that no one wanted.
I
remember also attempting
to put on a prepared Street theatre Piece about " One man and his dog"
but the Dog ran off straight way , turning up two days later and the only
member of the audience claimes ownership of the stick.
I also have a memory of being sent off with a cheap 8mm camera ( used for
the broomstick wedding) to follow a person that paranoia claimed was "
the fuzz". Other highlights ..Some of the travellers stole our "
firepoint", the only one on the whole site, and i have a vivid recollection
of seeing them at a great distance, brushes over shoulders heading off into
the top campsite. (which was being overseen by someone who was made "sheriff"
and given a badge.) My lovely moroccan blanket also went missing from our
kipping area at the back of the main tent, which was heartbreaking. At the
last minute I was given the job of MC in the tent , mainly to try and get
people to stay behind to watch the late night movie...David Bowie's "The
man who fell to earth". I watched this in reverse from atop a great pile
of straw bales.
It
was basically a very weird , but wonderful event for me. It was quite a comedown
to go back to Truro, as I was technically homeless and squatting in an old
chapel. I got back in the evening of the day after the event after a monster
clearing up session, parked the dog and headed for the local chip restaturant.
There I bumped into Sid Rawle who I hadn't seen since the original Diggers
broke up in 71, and not at the event itself.
There
were a couple of other events that somehow spun off or were related to Polgooth.
One event in Truro was a complete and utter shambles, originally put on by
two local teachers, who had been overwhelmed by Polgooth, at short notice.
I remember turning up early with a couple of members of our Housing Coop project
to find that they didn't even have anyone to run the gate. A massive storm
finished it off with me having to grab the mike and hustle the band off stage
before everyone got electrocuted.
The
other was the Festival of Fools in Penzance.
Malcolm Hardee brought his Greatest Show on Legs down for that one and enticed
me to join them and move to London. I had got the performing bug ---all the
blame being on Polgooth fayre.
Later on , Bob one of the main organisers,and probably some others went onto
the Elephant fayres, invited my later
group Cafe De Gaza to perform there.
Even
later , whilst touring in the north I came across Henry , working as a Circus
Ringmaster.
The
whole entity of Polgooth had quite a bonding effect on life in Cornwall at
that time and it sowed a lot of seeds for much that came after.
Digger
Dave:Feb 08.
Hi,
there were 2 Polgooth Fayres and the main organizer was Bob along with his
wife Wendy and their friends Henry and Tina. They all lived in the St Austell
area at the time. I lived 2 miles from Polgooth at a place called Tregorrick
and along with a lot of other people had a hand in setting up the Fayres.
With
my wife Gini, Tim and Lin and a guy called Hilary we set up the kids area
and made a huge snake about 50' long that crisscrossed the little stream on
the main site. We made it with woven bamboo canes that I cut from the garden
I was working in, and covered it with newspaper and glue, painted it and built
a wooden boardwalk so that kids could walk inside, a tortuous task that took
days, and then the night before the opening it poured with rain and there
was a gale that just took the whole thing apart !!
The
first Fayre was really low key and not too many people turned up but the 2nd
was a lot bigger and attracted a large police presence and also "The
Travellers" or "The Albion Free State" led by Sid Rawle. A
lot of the people involved in the Fayre were put on fence duty to try and
stop everyone getting in free (which didn't work) and also to try and spot
any plain clothes police on the site. It became a farce with the odd copper
in plain clothes trying to get away from hippies walking behind them pointing
and shouting "fuzz" or whatever.
As
for the music.... I seem to be like all the rest...can't remember who played
except I think The Chieftans played and a band from the Shepton Mallet area
with a guitarist called Andy Kinniston . My wife remembers a band playing
"Black Jack Davy" but I'm sure it wasn't the String Band.
Actually
I think the 1st Polgooth Fayre was a one day festival called "Funday
Sunday" and was used to raise funds to get a mutual friend out of prison
in Thailand, but I may be wrong, like Digger Dave time has hazed out a lot
of detail. As for Brainiac 5, I was their biggest fan and don't remember them
playing although they did play at The Festival of Fools in Penzance a bit
later.
best regards,
Richard Rowe
Setlists
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