Mitcham Fair

"The usual three days merriment on Mitcham Common"

"The usual three days merriment on Mitcham Common" is the subject of this simple but delightful early Topical Budget newsreel item. A single slow panning shot (allowing for a slight skip where a few frames seem to have gone missing from this print) offers us an evocative panorama of the fairground's many attractions, and showcases the surprisingly formal (by today's standards at least) costumes of these Edwardian pleasure-seekers.

In 1913, Mitcham, now in the London Borough of Merton, was still part of Surrey.