For more years than anyone really knows Wibsey Horse Fair was one of Bradford’s great traditions. The custom of parading and selling horses in Wibsey each October began in the 12th or 13th century when the monks of Kirkstall Abbey started the fair.
There was also one story about the fair dance in the room above the Upper George Inn which got so packed that the ceiling gave way and half a dozen pairs of legs were left dangling over the bar. Dealers would sell their left-over horses on the waste land where the Alhambra Theatre was to be built.
The annual event attracted dealers from as far away as Blackpool and Richmond. With horses in all shapes and sizes, the dealers would stand around haggling over prices while the horses were put through their paces up and down Folly Hall Road.
By 1985, though, it had been so pushed into the shadows by the motorised age that only two horses turned up.
In 2010, after a 30-year gap, the popular horse fair was resurrected, with Wibsey residents happy to have it back.
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