Victorian photographs show the Fair was originally held in the High Street before its modern revival.

Esher Round Table organized the first modern May Fair to benefit local charities and the community. The inaugural committee included Noel Scott, Bob Armstrong, Bert Neve, Charles Ayling, and Arthur Lilk.

In the early days, stallholders gave a percentage of their takings to the Round Table.

The Esher May Fair has always been a traditional fair with events such as balloon races, tug-of-war, May Queen competitions, maypole dancing and fancy dress competitions appearing in the programme for many years.

In 1960 an inter Round Table tug of war was held – just think of the healthy rivalry there must have been!

‘Goons’ star Michael Bentine was scheduled to open the Fair but sent a telegram due to illness. A balloon race saw 1,594 balloons released with the winning ticket found in Brittany, France.

Of 1594 balloons released, 137 were returned despite concerns that all may be lost in the Channel!

…”a party of old people went to Brighton for a holiday with all expenses paid”

In 1963 and for a number of years thereafter Michael Bentine did in fact open the event. That year saw even greater commitment and enthusiasm for the event – the ‘Esher Freedom From Hunger Campaign’ built a true to life Basuto African village hut! Imagine that today!

Mr Dennis, an instructor with the Esher ATC Squadron,  Hartas, circled over the Green in a Tiger Moth aeroplane with a young lady called Miss Campbell standing on the wing! The ATC also sponsored a competition to win a free trip in the plane – although not necessarily standing on the wing! Finally, to complete the programme, there was a fencing display by Hinchley Wood Secondary School. Admission by programme was priced at 1/- (one shilling in ‘old money’ and the equivalent of 5 pence today). 

The Round Table capitalized on Britain’s currency change by running a “bring your old coins” stand during the year of decimalisation.

A double-decker bus was positioned on Esher Green as a special attraction for that year’s Fair.

In 1977, the year of the Queen’s silver jubilee, the Fair was opened by Mickey Mouse who was celebrating his 50th birthday that same year. What a busy summer he must have had with so many fairs to visit up and down the country!

Popular Radio 2 DJ Ed “Stewpot” Stewart served as the official opener for the May Fair.

The Fair’s silver anniversary featured a colorful parade from the old Fire Station to Esher Green with numerous fancy dress participants.

Joe Long, World Stilt Walking Champion, officially opened the event. Entrance fee was 20 pence.

This year saw a very busy programme of events including square dancing, a keep fit display from Enerjazz, songs from the Guildford Barber Shop Chorus and a re-enactment by the Surrey Folklore Society who staged a gun fight in the Arena.

Calendar confusion led to the Fair being listed as taking place on the non-existent “32nd May.”  – clearly something went wrong with the calendar that year! 

When the May Queen competition became a little ‘non-PC’, the Fair went from the sublime to the ridiculous with events such as ‘the Battling Cumberland Giants’, Gladiator Games and mini Olympics.

When dwindling membership forced Esher Round Table to withdraw as organiaDue to dwindling membership, in 1995 the Esher Round Table announced that they could no longer organise the event. Unless another organiser could be found it was clear that the Esher May Fair would not survive. Salvation came in the form of locally based Ajax Sea Scouts who stepped into the breach when they learned that the future of the Fair was at real risk.zers, locally-based Ajax Sea Scouts stepped in to preserve the community tradition.

Keith Stokes, instrumental in organizing nine May Fairs and Ajax Group Chairman for 17 years, died at age 60, leaving a significant gap in the Fair’s leadership.

The milestone 50th Fair (and 10th organized by Ajax) included the naming ceremony for safety boat “The Stokes” in memory of Keith, Christine, and Howard Stokes. Keith’s son Gordon and daughter Jacqueline performed the naming ceremony. Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart performed the task of auctioneer for the Knight Frank Auction with the top ‘lot’ being a trip on the Flying Eye – Captial Radio’s traffic plane.

John Bowler, aka PC Valentine and Kim Tiddy who plays PC Honey Harman in ITV’s The Bill jointly opened the Fair. Both live locally and we were delighted they could join us. The weather was absolutely diabolical – strong winds and rain really put a damper on things – but fortunately, despite the weather, everything bar the gazebos managed to survive. The Ferrets however, a regular attraction at the Fair were sadly missing – they had to withdraw at the last minute due to a ferret virus!

Kevin Simpson and John Moore headed a new Ajax team organizing the event, bringing experience from running the Dittons Fair. Team included Alan Coe, Ben Darlow, and Paul Williams.

Despite sometimes less than perfect weather, the Esher May Fair went from strength to strength under the leadership of Ajax Group Chairman Alison Derrick supported in particular by her friend and fellow Ajax parent, Maggie Capon. Alison’s extraordinary creative flair elevated the ‘look and feel’ of the event to new highs and her remorseless personal commitment ensured that all went smoothly on the day – despite the candle being burnt at both ends night after night in the run up to the Fair! Both Ajax and the community owe much to Alison for her considerable personal contribution to the continuity and the development of the Fair.

A new Ajax team took over the organisation of the event. This was headed by Kevin Simpson and John Moore, who had both previously been leading lights in the running of the Dittons Fair – an invaluable apprenticeship for the much more complex Esher Fair! Kevin and John had been blessed with an outstanding organisational team including Ajax parents Alan Coe and Ben Darlow plus former Ajax parent Paul Williams who, despite the fact that his son is no longer a member of the Group, has continued to mastermind the acquisition of business sponsorship as well as media relations.

Warm weather contributed to another highly successful day for charities and local organizations participating in the Fair.