Why do we call the event the Treacle Fair?

Treacle Mine Pit HeadWhy is the Treacle Fair so called?

We often get queries as to the origins of the name, "Tadley Treacle Fair" so, for the record:

The Tadley Treacle Mines go back into old Tadley Folklore, probably because of the nature of the soil in this area. There is much heavy clay and under certain conditions this can have a consistency very similar to treacle. It is from there that the Tadley Treacle Fair derives its name. Until recently, there was also a pub in Tadley called "The Treacle Mines".

According to an article in Issue No. 18 of The Stanley Howler Stamp Journal, "The village of Tadley in Hampshire prides itself on its legendary treacle mine, but there are conflicting explanations as to the source of the legend. The options include a 'large and odoriferous pig farm', a cache of waste oil dumped by US airmen from nearby Aldermaston, and abandoned gravel pits which had turned into quicksands. But according to local paper, the Reading Midweek, in 1984, 'the idea is more likely to have come from the discovery by a small boy in a garden in Back Lane of a treacle tin containing twenty-one guineas and half guineas of George III (1768-1801)'". 

We also found the following account of the Tadley Treacle Mining Disaster at: All Things Treacle - Treacle PIE (treacleminer.com) and other places.

'Twas on the third day of July And twelve strong men were about to die At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
They were working fast without a care When a tunnel collapsed and trapped them there At the Tadley Treacle Mines.  
No noise was heard above the ground When evening came they couldn't be found  At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
They searched it here, they searched it there But could not find them anywhere At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
Then one man came from underground And told them everything he found At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
I saw a tunnel blocked with clay But it was open yesterday At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
Then all the men went down the pit And tried to clear the earth a bit At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
They dug all night, they dug all day And finally cleared the earth away At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
They found twelve men a-lying there Upon the ground so cold and bare At the Tadley Treacle Mines. 
They carried them to the light So all could see the ghastly sight At the Tadley Treacle Mines.  
So gentlemen take heed I pray And do not go to work today At the Tadley Treacle Mines.'