I was so looking forward to going to the Lost Trades Fair in Kyneton. We were heading off to Daylesford for the weekend and thought it would be an interesting thing to look at on the way. ( Last year we stopped off at Hanging Rock on the way to Daylesford)
Unfortunately some bright spark from Vic Roads thought it would be a good idea to do road maintenance on the Calder Hwy near Woodend at the start of a Long Weekend. With lots of events in country Victoria over the weekend and families going away on holidays it is hard to believe that this could happen. We have a radio in the car and were listening to Truck drivers talking about bumper to bumper traffic at Woodend. Sure enough we got stuck in it. The bank up of traffic could be seen from a distance with no where to exit.
We finally got off the main road and headed towards The Lost Trades Fair and were then stuck in a gridlock of traffic. By the time we got closer to the carpark we were well and truly pissed off. Waiting in a massive queue to get a park is not what we wanted to do.
Now instead of a morning visit to the fair it was well after lunch time and David was HANGRY and desperate for a toilet stop. Finally getting a park we headed off towards the entrance with our pre purchased tickets. ( glad I did this otherwise it would have been a wait in line to get in)
The toilet block was near the entrance and guess what? More queues! Next task was to find something to eat however looking around there were massive lines to all the food stalls.
At this point we decided to go our separate ways. When David is hungry he can be extremely unreasonable and impatient – especially after the traffic and queues we had experienced to get to this point. Dave disappeared into the crowd and looked for the shortest food queue he could find and I took some deep breaths and meandered off into the masses of people.
Pushing through the crowds to get a glimpse of the action
There was so much to see however the stands were small and there 3 or 4 people deep surrounding them. Lots of patience required to get through the crowds of people to see the talented crafts people at work. I managed to get some photos and have a good look around.
There were quite a few old fashioned wind up organ players scattered throughout the fair cranking out lovely music adding a great atmosphere.
I came across Dave and he had found a food stall with a short queue and was feeling more human. The amount of people visiting the fair was amazing. We had seen just about everything there was to see there and on the way out I noticed a pop corn stand. I bought a bag of salted caramel flavoured pop corn and it was delicious. Dave enjoyed munching on some too.
Plenty to see and fascinating to watch
There is so much to see and it is a rare opportunity to see such talented people in such a wide variety of skill-sets. Unfortunately it was hard to recover from having to get through all the traffic jams, queues and lines that it put a dampener on our visit.
If we ever go back to visit the Lost Trades Fair in Kyneton we would get there at or before opening time, with plenty of food and water in a back-pack and most importantly lots of PATIENCE!
We have since heard from friends they knew that visited the Lost Trades Fair that they had exactly the same frustrating experience – there were just too many people making viewing the crafts people extremely difficult.
Lost arts, rare trades and forgotten crafts. Keeping theses skills alive is what the fair is all about – so that they are not lost to history.
What can you see at the Lost Trades Fair?
Continuous demonstrations of all sorts of trades, from talented crafts people including:
- Armourer
- Basker Weavers
- Blacksmith
- Bell Maker
- Bladesmith
- Bookbinder
- Bowyer (Long Bows)
- Bootmaker
- Bridle Maker
- Cabinet Maker
- Calligrapher
- Cane Weaver
- Carriage Builder
- Ceramicist
- Chair Maker
- Chandler (Candle Maker)
- Cotton Spinner
- Cooper
- Cookie Cutter Maker
- Corn Dollie Maker
- Cricket Bat Maker
- Cutler & Horner
- Cuttlefish Caster
- Decorative Painter
- Felters
- Fletcher (Arrow Maker)
- Fly Rod Makers
- French Polisher
- Glass Artist
- Golf Club Maker
- Goldsmith
- Hedgelayer
- Heritage Plasterers
- Horologists (Clockmakers)
- Hemp Building
- Instrument Makers:
- Harp maker
- Guitar maker
- Jeweller
- Joiner (traditional)
- Locksmith
- Luthier
- Violin Maker
- Knifemaker
- Lace Maker
- Leadlighter
- Leather Tanner
- Leather Plaiter
- Leather Worker
- Letterpress and Typesetter
- Milliners
- Mechanical Organs
- Penny Farthing Maker
- Pinstriper
- Potters
- Printmakers
- Reaper (Scythes)
- Rocking Horse Maker
- Ropemaker
- Saddler
- Saori Weaver
- Sawyer
- Silhouette Artist
- Silver Smith
- Spinners & Weavers
- Spoonsmiths
- Stonemasons
- Tailor
- Tatter
- Tinsmiths
- Tool Makers
- Toy Maker
- Upholsterer
- Weavers
- Wheelwright
- Whipmakers
- Woodfire Potter
- Woodturners
- Woodworkers