I REFER to your Goose Fair front page article on December 12.

As a newcomer to the town I had read much about the medieval origins of the Goose Fair and its traditions with Tavistock and was looking forward to visiting it for the first time. But what a big disappointment!  I'm not surprised that it is losing money year on year.

The majority of the stalls were frankly tacky, selling cheap goods, by stall holders who had obviously not come from Tavistock or Devon, but from much further away, judging by the addresses on their stalls and vans. The same is true of the majority of the people visiting the fair who had come in coaches which weren't even from Devon, but again from much further afield.  

So income made by stall holders wasn't benefiting Tavistock traders or Tavistock at all, but was going out of the town again after the fair had ended. I had also heard that roast goose sandwiches and rolls would be sold in keeping with the fair, but all I found was the usual unexciting hamburgers, hot dogs and fast food stands.

I was interested in speaking to some shops and traders in the pannier market afterwards, to be told that most of the shops and pannier market, apart from cafes, restaurants and pubs, were closed for the day as it wasn't worth their while to stay open as they have no trade.

So apart from the food and drink providers, most shops in Tavistock make no money out of the Goose Fair as they are shut for the day, and therefore weren't in favour of the fair, as they lose income.

The money spent at the stalls goes out of Tavistock, so again no benefit to Tavistock. Having spoken to  Tavistock residents since, it appears that many give the Fair a miss and only families with children come to enjoy the fairground rides.

The Goose Fair seems an opportunity for some stalls showcasing many of the wonderful things that Devon and Tavistock have to offer and which would be more of an interest to local people, and people from Devon to encourage them to visit.

Surely we should be trying to encourage this more, rather than visitors from many miles away, who will probably not visit again during the year and bring any revenue to the town?

As for the fairground rides, perhaps a field or land could be rented for the week for them, so that all the revenue from the Guildhall and Bedford Car Parks is not lost and people can park in the town centre during the Fair week.

The annual Goose Fair has great potential but unless things radically change for the better and for the benefit of the residents of Tavistock the Fair will continue making big losses year upon year until it eventually disap-pears, which would be very sad after so many centuries of tradition.

Mrs Marysu Godfrey, Whitchurch