THOUSANDS of visitors stepped back in time to celebrate the Milton Abbas Street Fair this weekend.

The biennial event that takes people back to the 18th century celebrated its 40th anniversary this year and organisers reported plenty of interest despite the wet weather.

Michael McAvoy, one of the organisers, said: “The street fair was excellent and a great success.

“We had some of the best stalls and entertainment yet, the public seemed to really enjoy it.

“The atmosphere was brilliant and the majority of people had had a brilliant time and had left by the time the rain came. The weather didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.

“People simply put their umbrellas up and carried on singing and celebrating.”

The fair offered a varied programme including Dorset folk music from local group The Muckspreaders and a wide range of activities for youngsters.

The opening of the fair at 11am saw a re-enactment depicting Lord and Lady Milton, who had the old town of Middleton destroyed in 1773 before the model village of Milton Abbas was built to house estate workers.

The event is based upon the original fair that used to take place in Middleton on the feast of St Sampson.

Mr McAvoy added that the fair had more than 100 stalls this year with more than 6,000 visitors, but numbers were down from 7,000 in 2011.

He said: “Two factors have likely caused the drop in numbers.

“The wet weather forecast for the weekend no doubt put a few people off and the economy is not as good as it has been, but overall we still had a fantastic time and it is a weekend to be remembered.”

The fair also included the launch of a new souvenir book celebrating Milton Abbas.

The book, titled ‘Portrait of a Village – Milton Abbas’ features images of the village and local countryside taken by photographer Daniel Rushall. For more information visit miltonabbas.org.uk