At the end of the 19th century this was still a notable affair, lasting for two days. The first day was for cattle & sheep; Sheep pens were erected by the estate (with wooden hurdles) and a charge was made for their use. The second day was the horse fair; This used to extend for half a mile along each road. Large droves of mountain ponies came, amounting to several hundred; cobs, hunters, cart horses, in fact every sort, size and quality — it was said you could buy or horse at Bron Fair from half a crown up. Dealers came from as far afield as Cambridgeshire and Bristol (the latter to buy the best quality Shires; They walked back to Bristol in strings of up to 20 tied head to tail, one behind the other, with one man in charge. The farmers of the village kept open house: Mr E.D. Moore remembers 144 people having lunch at the farm one day. A jug tied outside the door was a recognised sign that free cider was to be had within. Number 6, the cottage on the corner of the blacksmith shop, then the estate office, was used as a temporary lock up — conveniently just across the road from the Oxford Arms. After the Oxford was closed down there was always a bar in the carpenter's shop.
Bron Fair cakes, very rich and crumbly and something like Shrewsbury cakes, were sold at the fair.
The decline of the fair set in at the beginning of this century, when the first day gradually died away. The custom of keeping wethers to graze on and be sold in June changed; sheep were sold at 12 months old, that is early in spring. Cattle were taken to auctions more convenient to the railway. The first day's fair had disappeared before 1914. The horse fair has been more tenacious but is now a mockery of its old self. This year there were only about 30 horses and very little business was done.
Extract from the Womens' Institute Book on Brampton Bryan, 1955 (courtesy of the Harley Archive)