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King’s Lynn Corn Exchange display of Mart fairground snowy behind the scenes photographs of showmen and women




A collection of unique behind the scenes photographs of showmen and women taken in 1977, including extraordinary images of Lynn Mart in the snow, is contained in Behind the Big Wheels on Wednesday, February 22, 10am-3pm at Lynn's Corn Exchange.

These photographs were taken by Bob Chase, who grew up in Lynn, as part of his final college project in 1977-78. They are now part of the National Fairground and Circus Archive at the University of Sheffield.

"The families were generous to me and largely appreciated that I was doing my best to represent aspects of their culture and life other than the bright lights and music that visitors see," said Bob Chase.

Mart: Behind the Big Wheels
Mart: Behind the Big Wheels

The slide show and exhibition images, selected from over 800 digitised negatives, will be projected alongside the exhibition prints made by Bob in 1977. Images from Lynn, Northampton, Brighton and Norwich are also included in the show.

Showmen/women and visitors to the Mart are invited to drop in and see the slides on the big screen in the cinema and images during the day. It is a free event and no booking is required.

Some new photos which Bob has taken of this year’s mart will be shown too.

Mart: Behind the Big Wheels snow
Mart: Behind the Big Wheels snow

Bob will be present during the day to chat to visitors about the project alongside Joanna Whittle, a painter who is currently involved in a project with the National Fairground and Circus Archive, exploring both Bob’s photos and the history of King’s Lynn Mart.

This event has been made possible thanks to the generosity of the Alive Lynn Corn Exchange.



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