Tradition or invasion!

It is either a vibrant slice of a traditional way of life or an unwelcome annual invasion of the Lake District, depending on your point of view.

So said the Independent yesterday. A good way of describing the dilemma that is the Appleby Horse Fair, but unfortunately in its description giving away the fact that this is written by an outsider. Appleby is not the Lake District and the Horse Fair has little or no impact on the Lake District.

And this is the problem. Usually the people who are all for the Fair are people living a long way from it, many of whom have never been. Whilst most of its critics are the people living in amongst it. Locals' opinions range from a shaking of the head and avoidance strategy, through moaning at the inconvenience of the invasion of their town, to those with prejudices against a way of life that is so different from their own but they are forced to come face to face with. And then there are those who have very real concerns about different aspects of it.

I have decided that in this week of blips I am not going to always go down the nice pictures route. There are hundreds of these already, just try any image search engine. I couldn't get anywhere near matching the fantastic photograph in the centre of the Guardian today anyway. I will instead try to put some of the aspects of the Fair into the context of a local person's experience of it.

This picture is the iconic picture of the Horse Fair, the washing of the horses in the river before putting them up for sale. What I have deliberately tried to do here is to put the central action, the man with his horse in the water, into the background and instead highlight the context. I thought that might be more meaningful to those who have never seen this and have no idea about it.

There are a few things to notice here and you might be better viewing it large to see the details. First see the old bridge and the road into the town, lined with old houses and shops. This is a popular viewing point for the river at any time, but for watching the horses it gets very crowded. This is still early morning. By the time we walked back over the bridge, there wasn't a space to be had! The other viewing spot is where I was standing, on the grassy bank. By now that whole bank will be covered with people sitting and watching. See also the cameras. Everyone trying to get the iconic shot, maybe inspired by the Guardian picture this morning!

But obviously the main foreground focus is on the two RSPCA officers, one of whom is videoing what is happening. And this brings me to one of the main concerns some people have; the treatment of the horses. I have to admit to feeling uneasy as I see horses tied up by the roadside, being raced at tremendous speeds through the streets or when I see quite young boys and youths in charge of horse drawn vehicles with whips in their hands. Whether there is any cruelty in the washing of the horses, no one really knows. Many of you will remember the incident in 2007, when a horse drowned in front of the crowds. The horse was apparently forced under the water and was unable to breath. The culprit was charged and given a prison sentence.

One incident, however serious, cannot be allowed to colour one's judgement, but I think everyone would agree that tradition cannot be used as an excuse for cruelty. So animal welfare is very closely monitored throughout the Fair week. There is a strong RSPCA presence and precautions are put in place. Note the markers in the water, showing where the water becomes very deep and there to stop horses being taken into this dangerous bit.

Having said all this, however, the traditional washing of horses in the river attracts huge crowds and is rather remarkable to watch. I have put some pictures of it here