One of Bewdley’s oldest traditions is back this weekend. Bewdley Museum’s Cherry Fayre and 1940s Weekend returns to the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Gardens on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July, from 10am to 4.30pm each day, and it is free to come along.
Cherries and Bewdley go back a long way. North Worcestershire has been known for its cherries since at least the 1650s, and the orchards of Rock, the Wyre Forest and the land around the town were part of a thriving trade, especially once the railway arrived. At its height the fair was a big event: records show that in 1907 more than 200 carts loaded with cherries came into the town for it. A Bewdley fair was first granted by King Edward IV in 1472, held on St Anne’s Day, and at some point it became a Cherry Fair, thought to be the only one of its kind left in the country. The trade faded in the 1960s, but Bewdley Civic Society and Bewdley Museum revived the fair in 2011 and run it together today to keep the tradition alive.
Alongside the cherries, the weekend leans into the town’s 1940s past. There are 1940s re-enactors, classic 1940s and 1950s vehicles, the museum’s air raid shelter open to look round, and wartime artefacts and stories shared by the museum’s education team. You can buy local cherries, browse the craft fayre and the museum’s resident makers, and call in at the Bewdley Civic Society stall and raffle.
There is live music in the Green Theatre both afternoons from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, with Kevin Mac playing 1940s favourites and classic hits on the Saturday and the Wyre Forest Big Band bringing the swing era to life on the Sunday. The Garden Kitchen café is open through the weekend from 10am to 4.30pm, with a BBQ in the gardens from noon. Bring a picnic chair, gather the family and settle in for a relaxed summer weekend in the gardens.
Full details and times are on the Cherry Fayre and 1940s Weekend event page.
