Last week, Colwyn Walters shared some of his stories with us, stories in which Pembroke Fair stood out as a vivid memory. So it is with many in Pembroke: even today the Michaelmas fair remains a big event in the Pembroke calendar, held as it always was in the Main Street.

One of the big names of the past was that of Haggar, a name which Pembroke people continue to hold dear. Everyone loved Haggar's cinema and ballroom, a huge loss for Pembroke.

Vicki Haggar is one of our society's leading lights and I asked her about the Haggar connection with Pembroke Fair.

ROLL UP, ROLL UP, A PENNY FOR YOUR DREAMS

In the Victorian era, Haggar's Travelling Theatre was a central part of Pembroke fair. William Haggar had 11children all raised in the world of entertainment and, like their father, were very versatile. Every member of the family could play a musical instrument and between them they could adapt to any role on the stage be it musician, dancer, comedian, actor, singer or compere. All hands were available when the show needed to be built-up, dismantled and transported to another fairground and thus, William Haggar and Son' s was born. William was once asked where he got his actors from, his reply was 'I breed them Sir'.

In the late 1800s, the family would tour the South Wales fairgrounds presenting their repertoire of melodrama's plays and stories to the public. Haggar loved his audience and his biggest pleasure was to know he had put on a great show, music and laughter, lights and fun - indeed a fairground spectacular.

The front of the travelling theatre was built around two living wagons spaced as to allow room for the stage which was formed by putting two flat bed trucks together, end to end. On each side of the stage were steps which gave entrance to the theatre and were known as 'The Walk Up'. The main body of the theatre was built of wooden frames and panels and the whole was roofed with a large canvas tilt, securely pegged down.

In the early days, lighting was provided by oil or gas lamps which were operated manually. The front of the theatre or 'Fit Up' was always brightly painted in many colours and decorated with wooden statues and scrolls covered in gold leaf; catching the eye was always an important part of capturing the crowd, dancing girls and music were always a prominent feature.

Bioscopes and traction engines

The advent of steam enhanced the world of the travelling show and one always knew when the fair was arriving in Pembroke as all the young men would rush up to Penny Bridge, at the top of Holyland Road, to watch the steam belching traction engines pulling their loads up the hill and around the intricate bends to the town.

By this time, the early 1900s, Haggar had advanced from merely a travelling show to a Bioscope with Cinematograph which enabled the showing of moving films; a new phenomenon.

It wasn't long before the charismatic entrepreneur took a big step forward and started to make, and show, his own films. The electricity generated by the traction engine allowed for the show front to be lit up by hundreds of dazzling lights and also provided power to operate the beautifully decorated Marenghi fairground organ, the mellow tones of which floated across the fairground attracting the attention of the crowds. A beautifully painted show front lit by dazzling lights with music and dancing girls showing a real moving picture show. The crowds were spellbound and Haggar's business flourished.

A visit to Haggar's at Pembroke fair became a 'must', especially as one of the films 'The Life of Charles Peace' was made in Pembroke Dock in 1905, the notorious villain being played by my grandfather, Walter. The most famous film made by William Haggar and the one that made his fortune was 'The Maid of Cefn Ydfa', made in 1914 and starred my great-uncle William Haggar jnr. and his wife Jenny Lindon.

Opening

the cinemas

When traction engines were requisitioned by the War Office in 1915, Haggar's life on the fairground was over and he opened cinemas in several towns in Wales, the most remembered being in Mountain Ash, Aberdare and Pembroke.

William jnr. and his wife Jane (Jenny Lindon) settled in Pembroke and I remember visiting my great-aunt, the actress Jenny Lindon, in Merchants Park, Pembroke.

Haggar's Cinema Pembroke was initially managed by William Haggar jnr, followed by my grandfather Walter and then my father Leonard.

Haggar's was closed in 1982; no one left to say 'The Show Must Go On'. The end of an era, but the legend of William Haggar the Welsh film pioneer and fairground showman will always stay with us.

Thanks Vicki. Last autumn, we organised a Haggar's Night at Pembroke Town Hall, which coincidentally coincided with Pembroke Fair. It proved to be hugely popular, demonstrating the continuing interest in William Haggar and his films.

Contact

If you have any stories or photographs for this column, please contact me, Linda Asman, on 01646 622428, email [email protected]">[email protected] and visit our website http://www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk">www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk