Funlands funfair has been visiting Wellington since the 1960s on its annual tour of the South-West and the owners, who have run the fair for the last 18 years, say they love coming back to the town.

Dean and Tara-Jayne Bailey, who own the funfair with their son Charles, say they visit 22 sites a year on their journey around the region and always look forward to setting up at their Rockwell Green site.

Dean said: “Everyone is very friendly and welcoming, and we are grateful to everyone who walks the two miles out of town to come and see us. Wellington is our home when we are here – we shop in the local shops and bank in the town.”

The funfair is a big logistical undertaking with ten generators – probably enough to power Wellington, Dean said – two miles of electric cable, which have to be set up every time they move locations, and 30 to 40 staff.

Dean and Tara-Jayne live in a beautifully designed 1920s-style mobile home which somehow concertinas into itself to be driven to the next town.

The weekend before last, when it rained all day Saturday, four boys turned up and Dean and Tara-Jayne kept all the rides going for two hours. “The boys were drenched but still went on every ride,” Dean said.

Dean and Tara-Jayne run the fair from March to November but winter means a change of gear. Tara-Janye said: “We go to places in Europe that have huge fairs for ideas. We have even bought new rides from places like Prague which costs thousands of pounds.”

In winter they also overhaul all the rides and Dean and Tara-Jayne are proud of how they care for them. Strict rules are in place and the machines are tested daily, which is all logged. Steel work and the construction are inspected yearly a company which also checks submarine bases.

Dean and Tara-Jayne are generational showmen and took over the Funlands funfair 18 years ago. Dean’s great-grandfather started the fair at the end of the First World War when he could not find work, starting with ‘swingboats’ before slowly buying rides when he had enough money.

During the Second World War he was asked to open his fair in Union Street in Plymouth, in an area called the Snake Pit, with the aim of entertaining the troops when they returned home. He then joined the famous Cornish Fair T Whitelegg & Sons.

Tara-Jayne’s grandfather was living with his father in very difficult circumstances when, at the age of ten, he found work with Thurston’s fair when it came to his town and moved with them. Tara-Jayne said: “He literally ran away with the fair.”

Dean and Tara-Jayne, who met through their travels, say the ‘showmen community’ is very small. In their travels around Europe they discovered they were able to communicate with European showpeople using a type of slang which is probably Romany-based.

Dean and Tara-Jayne belong to the Showmans’ Guild, which in the Second World War bought nine ambulances and a Spitfire called ‘The Fun of the Fair’. The National Memorial Arboretum, near Lichfield in Staffordshire, has a memorial to all the showmen who died in the world wars.

BEVERLEY COOPER

The funfair is open tomorrow (Thursday), Friday and Saturday, with all rides just £1 as a thank-you to local people, before heading to Exmouth.