100th Bo'ness Children's Fair

This was originally a festival primarily for the miners children. The traditional Gala queen is elected by her school compatriots and her many attendants are also thus chosen. The Pit may be long gone, but the fair will always remain.

The Bo'ness Fair has grown and become the largest of its kind in Scotland. The town comes alive and the community bonds in a warm hearted and generous hug.

The hedges are cut, new outfits purchased, the windows washed and the cars polished. The houses of the participents are decorated and the main priciples families pull out all the stops and decorate their houses with "Arches". These can be arches over gates or doorways, or housefronts.

This one is above and beyond most of the rest. The Queen's Champion, has to Make a Challenge to any one who would deny the Queen's right to the throne, in front of an audience of a few thousand and then dramatically throw down his gauntlet. He then has to follow her procession on horseback throught the town. The procession is full of her Fairies, flower girls, Bower girls, Lords and Ladies in waiting, plus many more attendants. Decorated lorries tractors and a bike, (called Floats) fill her procession and every possible vantage point is filled with spectators. The townspeople, cheer and applaude as they pass. It can take an hour and a half, for it to snake its way around the town.

The Champion's Arch won first prize this year. The quality of the craftsmenship and the attention to detail was wonderful, even down to the real brass pressure gauges in the cab. They only had 4 months to build this. I was really pleased they got first place and that no one has yet challenged the Champion in all of the 100 Fairs.

Every year I manage to get there, I see at least one person I haven't met from year to year and they still welcome me with open arms........they are just that type of folk.

You can take the girl out of Bo'ness, but you can never take Bo'ness out of the girl.


The Bo'ness Fair