Memorial to George Scarrott
George Scarrott with his son's George and Ben
GEORGE SCARROTT
1950-2013
LAMBOURN looks after its friends – and remembers them when they’re gone
The memory of popular showman George Scarrott will live on, after the Lambourn Festival Committee dedicated a bench to him on the Mill Lane Playing Field where each year during Festival Week the Fair is placed.
An inscribed plaque on the bench reads: “Remembering George Scarrott, a true friend of Lambourn.”
Mr Scarrott, who died in April 2013, aged 63, was a proprietor of his family’s old-established travelling fair and in 2000, he visited the House of Commons to address MPs about the plight of his trade.
He told the Government committee investigating travelling fairs that they remained popular but that many of the traditional sites they relied on were being developed.
He was able to hand the committee letters of appreciation he had received over the decades from local authorities across Wiltshire, West Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
Mr Scarrott was at least the fourth generation of family funfair proprietors George Scarrott & Son, who continue to provide entertainment on local village greens, fair fields and showgrounds. His sons George and Ben, who attended the bench dedication ceremony, continue the family business for the fifth generation.
David Wickens, from Lambourn Carnival Committee said: “Whenever Lambourn had any type of event and needed some small entertainment, even if it was just a couple of rides in the square, he would always oblige.
George always donated to our local charities, too, over the years. His was a real, old fashioned family fairground business. “He was a lovely man with a wonderful Wiltshire accent; tall with a mop of hair. He loved to spin a yarn over a drink in one of the village pubs of an evening and was well known here and well loved and he will be missed.
Mr Scarrott’s widow, Bridget, cut a ribbon to formally dedicate the bench.
