a fairground life(washed out)

Picture of the crazy frogs at B of A, The freakout is in full swing in the background.

Disaster Disaster, that's all I can say regarding this years Bridge of Allan fair. On the opening night we opened at 6:30pm. It was slow until nearly 8pm. There was a few people on the groung until around 10pm and business was on par with last year. Unfortunately that was the high point of the fair. Thursday was well back on last year, Friday night was a major let down. The rides should have been busy until 11pm, but the fair was closed by 10:30pm! Saturday afternoon was quiet, as was Saturday night. Now we can't blame the weather for these days as the rain was very light and only for short periods before closing.
Sunday was a washout. The rain started at 10am and never stopped until Monday night 6pm. The crowds never appeared on the fairground. The games did go ahead, but the fairground struggled all day. By 8pm the fair was pulling down and to be honest any time after 7pm would have been late enough. "r" and the labourer started on the skydiver and I pulled down the miami. The rain was falling that heavy, we were all soaked right through to our under wear. At 10:20pm these two rides were done. We had to leave the dropzone until the next morning as other rides were in the way for lowering the pole. I would have left it anyhow as I was totally soaked, cold and demoralised due to the bad business and weather. Speaking to another showman about the situation, he said to me-"just shows how fragile our trade is, I mean, it's not an earthquake or natural disaster! It's just rain."
He was totally right. Monday late morning and we started to pull down the DZ. The ground was sodden with water and a tractor had arrived to start towing out some of the loads. I managed to get the skydiver and miami out under their own steam, but the DZ needed a tug to get it onto the path. I took the miami and skydiver and parked them a showmans yard in Stirling as they are closed this week.
Tuesday
Two rakes to St Andrews today. First was the Dz, parked in a layby awaiting the street pull in. The second was the caravans as these park on the Links. St Andrews is an unusual setup. It is two seperate fairs. The first is in the town square from Friday thru to Tuesday. The other is in a street just off the square for Monday and Tuesday only. Both fairs are regarded as Gaffs (very good business).
I have came to this fair since I was a child, our arcade stood in the square and we had to cut it down to fit the plot. Eventually my father made it modular so it could erect properly into a smaller size for St Andrews. In the heyday of the fair back in the seventies, when the arcade was open, we had to stand outside as there was not enough room inside for all the customers.
I spent most of the day with my nose pressed up against the toyshop window just across the road. I wonder if it is still there? This is not the first time I will stand on the street part of the fair, I did so about 18 years ago with a juvenile ride.
The Dz build up will be tricky, as the street is not broad enough to swing the pole around when the ride is set on the plot. We will have to set it back from the building line, swing the pole around into position, raise it slightly, re couple the lorry and shunt the ride onto the correct position, then raise the pole fully and finish off. Could be an interesting build up!!!