ST Giles Fair in Oxford has provided fun for generations of families, as these photographs from the Oxford Mail archives show.

Picture 1 shows Rachael Skinner and Helen Little, two 13-year-olds from Headington, on one of the rides in 1985.

Two-year-old Philip McCabe and sister Leanne, three, in Picture 2, opted for a more sedate mode of transport at the 1986 fair.

Accompanied by their cousin, Shelley Townsend, they were happy to take a ride on one of the children’s roundabouts.

The big wheel never ceases to attract customers, and among those who hit the heights in 1987 were, left to right, Sandra Everett, 14, Claire Mulligan, 13, and Tina Jennings, 13, seen in Picture 3.

Picture 4, taken in 1986, shows one of the men who make the fair happen.

David Wilson, then 32, was one of those agile young men who take your money, swing your car and keep their balance while rides like The Waltzer swirl round amid a clarion of sirens and galaxy of coloured lights.

Like many showmen, he travelled the country attending feasts, fairs and carnivals. “It’s more or less 24 hours, seven days a week,” he said.