2-323-957 - www.picturethepast.org.uk/Nottingham City Council /Heritage Images

Goose Fair, Market Place, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, 1908. East aspect, looking towards The Exchange from Beastmarket Hill during a heatwave. Queen Victoria's statue is at the bottom left (this was later moved to the Victoria Embankment). The Goose Fair was originally held in Nottingham's Market Place for 8 days of October, reduced to five days in 1876. The name possibly comes from the hundreds of geese which were at one time driven from Lincolnshire and Norfolk to be sold in Nottingham. Goose Fair was first mentioned in the Nottingham Borough Records of 1541, though it was probably in existence much earlier than this. It gradually became so large that it spread to other streets in the vicinity and, with the growth of traffic, there were complaints about congestion and disruption in the city. The Fair was eventually moved to Forest Recreation Ground, about a mile north of the Old Market Square.