Interview with Graham Downie
As part of the National Fairground and Circus Archive (NFCA) at 30 Podcast series Graham Downie talks about his lifelong passion for fairgrounds and how he became involved in the creation of the NFCA.
Graham Downie is a book illustrator with 30 years experience working in printing and publicity. His interest in travelling funfairs stems from his childhood days in Warwickshire, when he lived immediately opposite the ground used for the annual Studley Mop Fair. In 1978 he was one of the founding members of the Fairground Association of Great Britain, an organisation established to provide a forum for people interested in fairgrounds. He was elected to the post of chairman at the foundation meeting and has retained that position ever since. He is also the editor of their quarterly journal 'The Fairground Mercury'.
Graham was involved in the foundation of the National Fairground Archive at the University of Sheffield thirty years ago, of which he has been a member of the Management Board since.
Credits and Additional Information
Interviewer
- Arantza Barrutia Enzenarro, Senior Archivist at the National Fairground and Circus Archive.
Editing/Post Production/Mastering
You can discover some of the collections that Graham talks about and more by searching on our Discover our Archives and NFCA Digital databases.
You can view more images from the collections Graham is taking about by clicking on the links below:
George Tucker collection
Jack Leeson collection
Lionel Bathe collection
David Braithwaite collection
More information on how to access the National Fairground and Circus Archive collections can be found on our website.