UP TO 50,000 visitors are expected to flood into Appleby every day during this year’s horse fair.

Visitor numbers were up on its first day yesterday with an extra 100 caravans when compared with previous years.

Roads were congested with tailbacks during the morning as caravans queued in the town centre waiting to get a pitch on the official campsite.

Police were encouraging travellers and tourists to take extra care on the roads to ensure the safety of visitors.

Superintendent Sean Robinson, who is co-ordinating this year’s policing operation during Appleby Horse Fair, said he was expecting between 30,000 and 50,000 visitors each day over the weekend.

He added that there were already 734 caravans in the Eden area with the equivalent of 10,000 people camping in the district.

“We are urging visitors coming to the event to be very mindful of fast horses,” he said. “People don’t normally listen for horses’ hooves. We are also asking the horse people to be sensible in what they are doing.”

Inspector Keith Hogben, from the RSPCA, said his officers had already had to deal with a couple of animal welfare incidents.

He added: “I am based on the river at the moment just to monitor the river and keep any health and safety issues in check. We’ve had two little issues this morning. One with a harness rubbing on the horse and one where a chicken was kept in a bucket. We offered advice on how they should be kept.

“On the whole the travellers are very good horse people. ”

Among the visitors was 75-year-old Alan Coates, from Newcastle, who described himself as a ‘council house traveller ’.

He said a lot of north eastern travellers visited the fair every year and added: “You haven ’t seen them for a year but you see them here.”

He said that everybody had a good time and if it got a little rowdy it was down to a minority of visitors.

John Cooper, a 76-year-old from Blaydon in the north east, said he had only missed a couple of years since his first with his father in 1943.

He said: “He had just got back from Burma. When I was a kid my father used to say ‘this fair isn’t the same as when I was young’.”

George Watola, from York, said that his mother-in-law wanted to see the horse fair, so they had called in on their way to the Lake District.

He added: “She’s always wanted to come here. It’s really interesting – it’s nice to see the people and soak up the atmosphere. ”

Last weekend there were some problems on the edge of the golf course at Appleby after a number of vehicles setup camp there.

A Cumbria Police spokeswoman said that the landowners were advised to issue notices requesting the travellers to move on and the vast majority had vacated the site.

From The Cumberland News on Friday, June 6, 2014.

Town gears up for influx of 50,000 visitors

APPLEBY welcomed the first of an expected influx of 50,000 visitors to the town on Thursday, at the start of this weekend’s annual horse fair.

Fields at Fair Hill were opened from 4am on Thursday, with more bowtops and trailers expected to take up position over the following days during Appleby New Fair.

Organisers praised gypsies and travellers who avoided an early arrival and officers in charge of safety during the event said that numbers were down on Thursday, compared with previous years.

Sergeant Dave McGinn, of Cumbria police, said that by lunchtime on Thursday there was a good atmosphere and everyone seemed very happy. He added: “It seems quiet so far, but it’s early days — the main days are Friday and Saturday.”

He said feedback from residents and local businesses had showed that most people were pleased with the preparations put in place by a co-ordinating group ahead of the event.

Adrian Goring, a 58-year-old electrician who moved to Appleby from Northumberland 12 years ago, was enjoying the view from the doorstep of his home in The Sands.

He said he enjoyed the event and added: “It makes a change and it’s just what happens. The only problem with these things is getting in or out — which is why I’ve got a couple of days off work.”

Mr. Goring said there were some problems with a minority of people, particularly after they had been drinking.

Vera Doyle, his 73-year-old neighbour who was born in Appleby and ran a taxi business before she retired, said she looked forward to the event and added: “I just love the atmosphere. You get trouble but you do wherever you get a crowd like this — it goes without saying.

“It’s changed drastically over the years — it was a gypsy fair but now it’s a horse fair. I was born here and I’ve seen a lot of fairs.”

She said that some complaints about the fair may come from people who had moved to the town from elsewhere. She added: “It depends on your outlook. I am quite laid-back — it’s only for a couple of days.”

Julie Baxter, who runs Jaybeez Knitz woolshop in Bridge Street, said that trade was up compared with previous weeks and added: “Not dramatically, but it has been better than it was.”

She said a lot of shops were closed during the horse fair and added: “I’d heard their complaints in the past and that almost put me off opening, but there have been no problems.”

However, Davina Osman, who runs Collectibles, in Boroughgate, said numbers in the town centre were down on previous years and that could be because coaches bringing visitors to the fair were made to drop their passengers off on the outskirts of Appleby. “The shops that are open have lost a lot of trade,” she told the Herald.

She said she saw the same people returning year after year and described the “craic” to be had during fair week as “fantastic”.

Eden Council chief executive Robin Hooper, the chairman of the Multi Agency Strategic Co-ordinating Group (MASCG) which organises the management of the fair, said he wanted to thank visitors for listening to the message about not arriving too soon with their trailers, because it had helped to reduce the impact of the event on rural communities.

“The operational plan that the various agencies involved in MASCG have drawn together this year has worked well in the lead-up to the fair,” he said.

“The amount of traffic congestion on Thursday morning was also considerably reduced, which is another positive step forward so credit goes to the gypsies and travellers involved and Cumbria police.”

From The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald on Saturday, June 6, 2015.