Earlier this month, I took a vintage steam train ride from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Amersham. Amersham is a small town in Buckinghamshire, and it is not far from the Chilterns. On the same day that I took the vintage steam train, the annual Amersham Heritage Day was also taking place. According to Amersham's town website, many events were on offer. This included a classic car show, funfair, displays of flowers/produce/jams/baked goods, music and dances, steam shows, tea, and craft and community stalls. I decided to pop over to the old town of Amersham in order to take a look.
Vintage buses were available from the Amersham train station to old Amersham. These were quite regular, and the trip took a little under ten minutes.
Upon arrival, I saw many classic vehicles lining the main street through the town, and I took so many photographs.
Next to the market hall was an area filled with items being judged. There were a selection of fruits and vegetables of all sorts, jams/chutneys, pies, baked goods, and flowers.
One of the other attractions was a moving mechanical orchestra. This used paper printed music, similar to the mechanical pianos that were used in older times.
Amersham won the gold award for "Britain in Bloom" the past three years, and they have created gardens for this year. The flowers were beautiful, and my favourite was the "Amersham Fair" centrepiece. Amersham Fair and weekly markets were happening before 1200, and the fair was a traveling fair with merchants who came with unique goods from different parts of the country and abroad so that people could buy items that were not readily available to them. Entertainers came with the fair to gather crowds, and the poorer people could watch the free entertainment, which consisted of jugglers, stilt-walkers, magicians, musicians, and dancing bears. The fair was always held in the middle of September. (Along with the fair, the entertainment would have switched to rides such as ferris wheels, carousels, and helter skelters).
Amersham Heritage Day was a fun day and was quite busy. I wish that I could have stayed longer to enjoy my time. Have any of my readers been to Amersham Heritage Day?
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