Topics > Newcastle City Centre > Town Moor > Hoppings

Hoppings


"The Hoppings is a major annual event in the North East and is the largest travelling fairground in Europe; showmen travel from all over the country to attend. The Town Moor Fair, which was founded in 1882, is held on a large open space, covering 28-30 acres. It all started in 1721, when the annual Northumberland horseracing meeting relocated to Newcastle’s Town Moor from Killingworth, some 10 miles away. After years of dispute regarding the races, it was relocated again and The North of England Temperance Festival Association held a two-day event on the Town Moor in 1882, attracting over 200,000 people...." (hoppingsfunfairs.com)

The Hoppings is an annual travelling funfair held on the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne, during the last week in June. It is one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs. Its forerunner was The Blaydon Races, which was held in Blaydon.

Several origins have been suggested for the name, most of which relate to dancing. The word “hopping”, means a dance in Middle English (Old fairs included dancing). Another idea stems from the clothing which the travellers used to wear; that being of old, sack-like tops and pants. Clothing often became infested with fleas from the animals that travelled with the fair. People were often seen “jumping” or “hopping” about itching from the bites which they received. Or the name may derive from the Anglo-Saxon word “hoppen” meaning funfair.

The fair began as a Temperance Fair in 1882. It was scheduled to coincide with Race Week at Newcastle Racecourse, during which the Northumberland Plate was awarded.

The fair took place at Jesmond Dene from 1914–1918 and returned to the more spacious Town Moor, just north of the city centre, in 1919. There was no Festival on the Moor between 1920 and 1923, but it returned in June 1924, where it continued annually until 1946; a non-Showmen's Guild Fair was held that year but proved to be unpopular. The Guild showmen returned in 1947 and the Hoppings was a success with a record attendance.

The Hoppings inspired the song Katie Was There by Eric Boswell which was part of his 1983 musical Katie Mulholland, based on Catherine Cookson's novel, staged by Newcastle Playhouse.

In 2013 after a dispute between the Showmen's Guild and Newcastle City Council over pitch and rent terms, an alternate fairs were held at Nuns Moor Newcastle upon Tyne and Herrington Country Park, Sunderland. Newcastle council held an alternate event with “broader appeal” which included a funfair held on the Town Moor. The Hoppings returned to the Town Moor in 2014 after the dispute was resolved.

Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 14/04/2018).
Visit the page: The Hoppings for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.
Town Moor Hoppings, 1914-1918 Leisure and Interests Fairs 1882 Hoppings, 1914-1918
from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
Newcastle Hoppings, Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne 1964

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from TWAM (flickr)
Mickey Mouse Juvenile Ride - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Swing ride - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Brooches at Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Barbara Chadwick - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Moon Rocket - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Pinder's - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Gilbert Chadwick - Hoppings

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
The hoppings, Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne, c1985

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
The hoppings, Newcastle upon Tyne, 25th June 1985

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
The hoppings, Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne, 27th June, 1974

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from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
The hoppings, Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne, 27th June, 1974

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from Flickr (flickr)
The hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Jack Powell - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Pinder's Big Zoo Circus - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Wonders of the East - Hoppings

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The Haunted Castle - Hoppings

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Drumming at the Circus - Hoppings

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Elisa Stewart - Hoppings

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Olga Rich - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Queuing for Rides at the Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Hoppings Performance

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from TWAM (flickr)
Hoppings Attractions

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from TWAM (flickr)
The Chamber of Death - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Henry Wharton - Hoppings

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Lee Bennett - Hoppings

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I Guess Your Age - Hoppings

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Culine's Rodeo - Hoppings

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The Hoppings, Newcastle Town Moor, 1960

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from TWAM (flickr)
Madame Smith Caravan at the Hoppings, 1986

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from TWAM (flickr)
Ghostbuster ride at the Hoppings, 1986

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from TWAM (flickr)
Rotor - Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
View of the Hoppings, 1990

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from URL
hoppigns with my dad
- The Hopping's is a treasured memorable place in the North East for me and my Dad because when I was little he used to take me there every year and …

Added by
Pat Thomson
from Flickr (flickr)
The Hoppings

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from Flickr (flickr)
At the Hoppings

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from Flickr (flickr)
Quiet time at the coconut stall

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Hoppings Fair at the Town Moor

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The Hoppings

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The Party's Over

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joan

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Hoppings2009 29

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Hoppings2009 28

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Hoppings2009 01

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Hoppings2009 02

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Sheriff on his horse at the Hoppings

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from TWAM (flickr)
Aerial view of the Hoppings, 1964

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from http://hoppingsfunfairs.com/w…
HOPPINGS TIME LINE
- PDF. "The following Time Line shows many of the main happenings at the Hoppings. It is organised into three areas: the fairground; the Fair Managers; and the Town Moor Fair …

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Simon Cotterill
from Newcastle libraries (flickr)
057614:No Title available

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from Flickr (flickr)
Eating toffee apples at the Hoppings

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from Flickr (flickr)
Enjoying the Hoppings

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from Flickr (flickr)
Getting set-up for the Hoppings

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from Flickr (flickr)
Town Moor - Hoppings

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