Honley Feast (1880)
The 1880 Honley Feast took place between Sunday 26 September and Wednesday 29 September.
Unusually, the 1880 Honley Feast commenced with a concert held in what would soon become Beaumont Park, near Lockwood. The Chronicle reported that between 200 to 300 vocalists were watched by a crowd of around 5,000. The singers made use of a temporary stand that had been erected for the park's sod-cutting ceremony which had taken place at the end of May that year. The performance stated before 7am and included choruses from the "Messiah". Afterwards, the singers and musicians were treated to refreshments at Lockwood Town Hall.[1]
The main fairground was situated near Lockwood Baths and featured "peep shows, ghost entertainments, swing boats, cake and toy stalls, roundabouts and the usual adjuncts to a fair." There was also a number of fat women, including one "from Moldgreen." One popular attraction was a roundabout that had been modified so that children could ride in boats or on dolphins, which went up and down. At the centre of the roundabout was a lighthouse and it was apparently powered by an old horse.
A correspondent, signing themselves as "A Parent", complained that school children in Lockwood had not been given a day off to go to the feast. As a consequence, attendance at the local schools had allegedly dropped by three-quarters during the feast.[2]