a fairground life

Friday
Arrived at Stranraer just before opening time. It's not unusual to lose a couple of nights here completely, due to storm conditions. However the weather has been fine up to now. Business was up to par considering the duplication of rides. Again we closed at 10 pm.
Saturday
Tonight we open at the music festival with the skydiver. We have decided that my wife and son will manage this. The extra staff will meet them there before opening time. I will stay with "w" to watch the miami here. I do feel a little guilty, sending them to the "harder" event, but it does make more sense. I can handle any repairs here and look after "w", while "r" can handle the ride there and be home for uni on Monday morning. I did not get to sleep until 4:30 am when I knew they were closed and everything was OK.
Sunday
Awoke to the sounds of the Dumfries tenants coming in this morning. There are a few that come in from the second week at Stranraer. It is amazing how many people do several fairs at once now. In my child hood showmen mostly followed one run of fairs. You went to that fair with your caravan, lived there until the end of the fair and then moved onto the next. No commuting back and forth from Glasgow, no splitting up to do two fairs. I can see how this has ended though. Fairs where no caravans are on-site, our children going on to further education, showmen traveling more operating equipment so they need to catch more fairs, quicker assembly time of equipment enabling the ability to catch 1day events and finally the expense of moving a big caravan that requires a lorry just for that. These are just a few reasons off the top of my head. The weather stayed fine today and the fair closed at 9pm. By 9:20pm I was heading back to Glasgow again. On the way I swung in at the site of music event to pick up the skydiver. All back at the yard before 12 mid night.
SLANG.
When I write these blogs, I have to translate some of the terms I use. Not because I speak another language, but due to the terms we have for some things.
So here is a few, no doubt I will have missed some. Don't worry, Blakey will keep us right!
Wagon- showmen's custom built, large caravan A.K.A drag or Vaado.
Trailer- usually a residential type trailer, raised onto a 4 wheel chassis to be used ..............as a wagon.
Wee trailer- Touring caravan tow-able by car or jeep. Also referred to as a Trailer.
Jeep- any four wheel drive vehicle, not necessarily Jeep brand.
Tap on- Nothing to do with water, a power connection ( usually from mains supply)
Machine- a large ride
Wee machine- kiddies ride (nothing to do with size)
Hoopla- any round stall
Hookie- (nothing to do with playing truant) any game involving poles to catch or hook, ie hook a duck.
Balloon- usually any inflatable device, (nothing to do with hot air unless talking about a person!)
Lighting set or Set- a generator
Honda- usually any small petrol generator, not necessarily Honda brand.
Strike up- nothing to do with matches, open your equipment hence-start the generator.
Joint-(nothing to do with drugs) a game side stall.
Market Joint- side stall of steel frame covered in tarpaulin as seen on markets.
Chap/Man/Working man- any hired casual labourer. I believe sometimes known as "Gaff lads" south of the border.
Kiosk- catering unit.
Chipper- (not a 70's bike) a catering unit that does only fish & chips.
Hobby- (not a pass time) a make of touring caravan.
Cars- (nothing to do with automobiles) usually referring to carriages on a ride.
Traveller- usually referring to another showman not another traveling person.
Flaty- Any other person who is not a showman (usually live in a house).

a fairground life

Friday
"r" and I drove over the the music event. The site co ordinator was there. With his measuring wheel he marked out the plots. Funny, I thought, we showmen only use a tape when it is extremely tight, most of the time we just pace it out, 3,6,9 and so on.
With that we started to get the skydiver under way. Only a slight problem with a siezed backflash panel hinge. A couple of squirts of oil , a knock with the hammer and we were back on track. The weather was fine and by 2:30pm we were trying the ride out. With that we came back to the yard to pick up a few things and then off to Stranraer, stopping briefly at Girvan for a fish supper. It was just on 6pm when we arrived. The fair was fully open by 6:20pm. Its easy to keep track of time here as there is a tower clock on the harbour masters office at the end of the ground (funfair site). I have opposition here this year as there are two miami rides present. This did affect my business, but that said, there were definately less numbers of customers present than last year. By 10 pm we were closed and I drove home to Glasgow again. So day 1, that's 5 hours driving and only 3 hours 40 minutes on the fair, you can see where all the time is going to be spent this week, behind the wheel!
I spoke briefly to Mr White who runs the fair, his grandfather took the running of the fair just after WW II. However the fair dates back even further than this and in a local pub there are some pictures dating back to the late 1800s. In my life time the rides attending have changed. In the 70s Whites had 4 rides, waltzer,dodgem,big wheel, twist. Now the dodgem is still there but under a new owner. The Waltzer is now another showmans, the Wheel position is now occupied by anothers Dropzone and whites only equipment on the fair is a ghost train occupying the twist plot. In fact this branch of the Whites have no large rides at all now!
Other rides that have come and gone over the years at this fair are- dive bomber,octopus,rock o plane, superbob,paratrooper,skydiver,superstar,trabant and all this was in relatively modern times 80s-90s. Some rides have also been replaced by newer ones of the same type- two twists, two tagadas, three miamis.
Right now the line up is- miami, dodgem,miami,dropzone,twist,waltzer,ghost train,crazyfrog,tagada plus numerous stalls and juveniles.

a fairground life

I went over to the site of the music event this afternoon. The marquees were well under way. I know roughly were our rides will be standing but I need the OK from the event co ordinator and he was not about. I need a definate " that's the spot" so there is no chance of any hick up. The last thing I need is a phone call asking me to move a couple of feet. Tomorrow will be a full day- hopefully build up here and then drive to Stranraer in time for opening. I like the town of Stranraer. Unfortunately the way things are unfolding for the next couple of weeks I'll be spending more time travelling back and forward than actually being there!
In the early eighties, the town accepted the Irish Punt in the shops, so we accepted it on the fair. At the end of the time my parents gave my brother and I the loose change to buy toys with (only a few quids worth). I remember getting a red battery helicopter that the rotors spun on. It had a green and red light at the rotors end. It was great until the batteries run down. My brother broke his, trying to watch it in the dark, he went into the outside toilet and turned it on. Problem was in the dark he knocked it against the panel and broke one of the rotors off. Another year, one Sunday afternoon (before Sunday trading in many towns) our cousins and us had our noses pressed against the toyshop window, checking out our potential future purchases. Suddenly a gust of wind blow open the shop door! Immediately we went and got our parents to come. They in turn got the police, who contacted the shop owner. We waited while he came, in anticipation of some kind of reward- a toy or so. Not to be- he locked the door and promptly left, not even a thank you. Oh well. I can think back thirty years of being at this place. I can think back the same for many other fairs. Our elders can think back even further, 50-60 years! How can people think that we are here today and gone tomorrow?

a fairground life

Saturday
I finished off the miami for 8pm. Wasting no time I set off for Stranraer. It was a pleasant trip down and I got there just after 10pm. The carpark was almost empty and I pulled right onto my plot. Next I set the caravan, got it levelled off and plugged onto the power. This is the first time on the town power here. The tenants of the fair clubbed together and had a supply fitted. The previous years had been on a generator. The town supply will work out cheaper in the long run and its on 24hrs. I nipped up to the Chinese for my supper and then into kip.
Sunday
Up at 7:30 am and (with the aid of two bolts I hammered into the ground last year) I set the miami inch perfect. This fair is very narrow and tight , so there is no room for mistakes. I erect the ride ready for opening. Now I must return to Glasgow again to where the other equipment is open. On our way back my wife comes up with an idea- Lets go and see our friend on Millport island. My initial reaction is no- we must get back to the fair where our rides are open. She has a lesser commitment than me, the rides are being looked after by "r" and "m" and are perfectly fine, so I reluctantly agree. Any way it will only be for an hour, right? We arive on Millport island via the ferry. I leave the jeep parked in a carpark at Largs. The crossing is the short, only 10 minutes, in fact I could see the carpark in Largs from the jetty in Millport. I have never ever been to Millport before, I expected it to be dull, weather beaten. NOT the case, it was lovely and the houses were brightly painted, coloured lights hung right around the bay. There were numerous pubs and a couple of resturaunts. We went out for a meal with our friends, had a drink and that was that- we stayed the night and got blitzzed!!! I didn't get to bed until 2am.
Monday
Up for 10am and headed back to Glasgow for opening time. The weather was wet and miserable, I thought we were in for a wet pulldown, but the rain went off at 6pm just in time. We started to pulldown at 7pm and had the DZ and Skydiver finished for 10:30pm. I took the DZ back to the yard and parked it. The Skydiver is open at a music event this weekend-at the same place it was opened at! We have pulled it down to literally move it 200 yards and build it up again. It does not matter if you are moving 2 yards or 2miles- you still have to pull it all the way down to move it.
Tuesday
went back to the center to erect the skydiver on the new position for the music event. The layout plan was not finalised yet, so it will be put off until tomorrow. This knackered my plan for the day. Hopefully we will get set tomorrow. We open at Stranraer on Thursday night, I could do with getting the skydiver built up before then.

a fairground life

Tonight I'm off to Stranraer. I'll finish at the shopping center after T-time and pull the miami down. This is two days before the fair ends here, but there is nothing I can do about that. Stranraer fair is located in a long narrow carpark on the quayside. There are only two gates and they are located at each end of the fair. When the equipment is all in there is no vehicle access through the rides. Since all the other equipment is in and setup by early Monday morning I could not get onto my plot unless I was in by then. So it is easier to go in late Saturday night. I usually setup Sunday morning and the return to Glasgow to finish off the fair here. I only return to Stranraer just prior to opening night.

a fairground life(green machine)

Hi everyone, I was sent this picture by an anoymous reader. Well done I thought.

More running about today to organise coming events. While I was passing through the west coast town of Greenock, I got caught in traffic jams caused by the presence of the QEII, returning to where she was built exactly 40 years ago. I could just spy her Bridge behind the shipyard buildings as I passed by. We all slipped up there, surely some enterprising showman should have had a funfair open nearby? Any how, that will probably be the closest I get to a cruise this year.

a fairground life

I took my daughter to school and then carried on out to pick up paint from a nearby supplier. I got some silver for the cheque plate on the miami, pink for the interior of the funhouse and white for the roof of the wagon. By the time you add in a couple of liters of white spirit and a roller that was nearly a £100 pound spent. The cheque plate on the miami has lost it's sheen, washing may leave it clean, but you cannot remove the rust or pit marks. So to spruce it up I got "r" to paint it silver. I would have done the skydiver floor aswell but since it will be getting re-newed shortly it seemed like a waste of time. I spent all day on the roof of the wagon preparing it for the winter. I gave it a good clean at the seems and painted the entire surface with gloss white paint. Oh! my aching arms and shoulders, I did it all with a four inch brush! It looks very clean and will prevent any leaks during the miserable weather that we will be sure to get in the next few months. Painting is something that seems to be done less and less these days. I suppose it is because of the change in materiels used and the finishes on them. For instance nearly all construction is of steel or alloy now. If it is steel then it may be stainless , galvanised or powder coated- so no paint required here. Other materiels used are colour inpregnated fibreglass. Any panels are mostly aluminium and paimted with tougher chemical paints similar to the ones used on cars. The backflash on the skydiver was painted ten years ago. I have never polished it in all that time and it still looks vibrant. Also because most parts are fold up now there is no handling them and causing dents or scrapes. Compared to the old upright paratrooper where all the arms and components had to be dismantled, man handled to be packed onto racks on the lorry. The radial arms were so heavy that the only way to move them was to drag them into position. One build up and pull down made the paint look like it had been set about with a ball pien hammer! The old wooden front handrails and head boards were painted by sign writers (Hall & Fowle) with oil based paints. The flamboyant faded terrible. To try and stop this the panels were rubbed down and varnished nearly every year.This was also good for keeping the wood from rotting. Unfortunately varnish eventualy made them look yellow and the wood rotted after a few years. Painting the arms was a horrible job. All those spars in a narrowing shape. I used the spray gun for the job in latter years. This meant using more paint and the over spray coloured the whole top deck floor of the lorry in bright yellow. I wore a balaclava to try to protect my face and hair but I always looked like I had jaundice after that job. Wonder how much over spray I inhaled over the years?????? This is why I made those fibreglass hand rails and stainless steel headboard panels.

a fairground life(carbon neutral)

The weather was dull this morning so that put paid to the painting. We built up the Dropzone first and then the funhouse. While the labourer cleaned all the greasy finger prints off the rides, "r" and I did a couple of repair welds on a skydiver handrail, jack prop on the water lasers and the security fence for the funhouse. With my rides spaced out across the Boardwalk area of the mall we have to run extension cables to each ride from the big generator.This added another 20mins work on the day, but it is worth it to save the cost of running two generators. The cost of gasoil has TRIPLED over the last seven years! There will be no going back on the price now. "r" begged me to turn to bio diesel or cooking oil, but I was too lazy to pursue it. No doubt in time we will have to seriously consider it. Of course when everyone turns to that, it will no doubt be taxed to the hilt also. I think I need one of those wind turbines I seen in Cumbria, If I fit a couple of carriages on each blade it could be the worlds first carbon neutral thrill ride!!!!

a fairground life

This week we are back at the shopping center for September weekend. I took the skydiver in first. We set it on the plot but could not do any more as the generator was still on the Dropzone. Straight back to the yard to get the next load.This time I took in the DZ and "m" took in the funhouse. When we arrived on site again we removed the unit from the truck and took it down to power the skydiver. I left "r" and the labourer to erect the ride while I returned for the final load- the miami. By the time I returned "r" had the skydiver 90% completed. So I helped him finish off and then he insisted we erect the miami. I think he wants to do some painting tomorrow, hence the big push today. I must be getting old as I was not that keen. At 5:30pm the ride was finished and we headed back to the yard. The DZ will get done tomorrow. The M8 was chocka again so I headed through the town, it is only 14 miles but it took well over an hour. This is my favourite time of the year, all the gaffs are nearly over and the pressure seems off. We only have one more fair at Stranraer before we settle in for the winter. "r" got his exam results back- congrats to him he has qualified for third year at uni.

a fairground life(the crab fair summary)

The picture shows the "Energy Storm" ride with the stays in position just before lowereing the main boom. All the weight of the boom is resting on the hydraulic ram at this point.

Wednesday
I returned to Egremont on Wednesday night. It was late by the time I got there. "r" had opened the Dropzone since 6pm. It was very very quiet and some items on the fair never had a single customer. We all closed for 8:30pm. On the bright side we all went to the pub and watched Scotland beat the French 1-0 in Paris, YEAH!!!!.
Thursday
Printed off some paper work for a future event.Now all I had to do was find somewhere that had a fax service. Ended up in the local Library. The lady was very helpful and sent the documents for me. At that "d" and "c" picked me up with the van and we went for a run to Siloth. There is a local showman there who has a summer fair down at the water front. His customers come from all the caravan parks in the area. He was fortunate that his father was well liked in the town and as a result a local business man sold him an entire aircraft hanger! This is were he now stores all his equipment in the winter along with room to work on it and other showmens loads. The hanger must be 100 ft by 300 ft by 30ft tall at least! To say I'm jealous is an under statement, If only it were closer to Glasgow. An excellent building with a flat level concrete floor. I arrived back at Egremont in time for tea. Again business was poor and I was begining to get concerned. Another night out, but this time in the local Conservative club. A very nice establishment with a pool and snooker table.
Friday
Again not much to do so I went and investigated the High St. It was closed to traffic from 3pm til 11pm. There was a small market taking place and a stage had been erected for the "Gurning" competition etc. There did not seem to be many people about. At 6pm the fair opened, this time there were a few families about and the fairground did have a good atmosphere for a while. Buisness was nothing to write home about, but it did give me hope for Saturday. No pub tonight.
Saturday
11:50 am and "r" opens the Dz. There was a few families about and we pegged away until 5pm. It tapered off a bit now. Just aswell, I noticed black smoke from the generator exhaust and knew instantly I had to change the filters. There are two sets of filters on the set, I decided to remove the tank filter. It was thick with dirt, I didn't have a replacement for it so I just removed the element, filled the bowl with diesel and screwed the cap back on. The generator was re-started and after the next run on the DZ it was clear we would have to change the top filters too. After that it ran smoothly the rest of the night. We closed just prior to 10pm. We only half pulled down the ride as other things were in the way of lowering the tower.
Sunday
Up for 9am and fired into the Dz. We only had to wait a few minutes for a hoopla to finish off so we could get the tower swung around and packed away. "d" had a problem with the energy storm, he could not get the winch to work for lowering the cars and swinging the main boom. He had arranged for a hiab lorry to come, but then found a broken wire in the winch control panel. That was no doubt a sigh of relief for him. Just before noon I set off for Glasgow, the rain started to fall and the wind began to blow. It was not too bad for the lorry, but my wife had a couple of hairy moments with the jeep pulling our caravan. We made it back home for 4pm. So, all in all a very enjoyable weekend. The people seemed nice and every kid said please and thank you when paying for their ride. If only everywhere was as polite as the Egremont clientel.

a fairground life(the crab fair)

Shortly after 1pm we set off for Egremont. I was driving the Dropzone, my wife and "r" were both following with touring caravans. I went out past my daughters school, thinking I might have seen her in the passing, but the school was already back in. It was simple enough down and through Carlisle. After a few more miles I phoned ahead to get some directions from another showman who was already there. There seems to be plenty of windfarms in Cumbria, I counted three between Carlisle and Egremont. When we finally arrived at the funfair site- it was a carpark just off the main street. Most of the other attractions were in and set. We set the touring caravans onto plots. Then onto the ride.The DZ is standing first in the gate. With me guiding and "r" driving we managed to jack knife it onto the position without too much fuss.It was a couple of feet bigger than the measured space, but luckily the next plot had a few feet to spare. A couple of hours later it was set up and ready for cleaning. Other rides here are the waltzer,superbob, energystorm,skyliner and miami. The waltzer ride is setup on another piece of land seperated from the main body of the fair by a chain link fence. Last year the fair was moved off this site due to fears of subsidence! This year a part of the car park is fenced off and marked with cheverons. This is the part supposedly under mined. It is twenty feet in diameter and is in the middle of the site! The fair we are attending is known as the crab fair, where in days gone by crab apples were tossed onto the street by passing floats. This fair is also known for the "gurning" -old men pulling faces.
The picture shows part of the fair, if you look close you can see the fenced off area.

a fairground life(corp event end)

The weather was dull this morning. We headed off to the event just before 9:30 am. It only took twenty minutes to get to the factory. I finished off the funhouse while "r" and the labourer washed the front steps on the skydiver. The event kicked off at 11 am. Thankfully it stayed dry. All the clientel seemed to enjoy themselves how ever the numbers seemed less than in previous years. Just before 5pm the heavens opened and we had a short sharp shower. That was the end of that and we started to pull down. The extra staff had arrived and we started to dismantle all the rides at once. The miami and funhouse finished first, not wasting any time "m" and I got them away to the yard. By the time I returned the DZ was ready to go. I took that with the skydiver unit as I need the generator for next week. To finish the skydiver "r" tapped onto the twist set. Leaving the dz outside the yard I returned for the third and last load-the skydiver. All rides done for 8:30pm, not bad I think. So I'm off tomorrow to Cumbria for a weekend fair. This is a new one for me-Egremont.

A fairground life(corp event2)

The loading bay was cleared by 3pm and we were granted access a wholie hour early. It took 20 mins to set everything out and then we fired in. The extra staff were a little late in arriving, but we still had all our rides up and finished for 9pm. I will go a couple of hours early tomorrow to clean up etc. The pictures show the hanger of the loading bay and part of the lorry park. The area is on a slope and this slowed the levelling off of the rides. All the games will be using the corporate sponsors merchandise as prizes. It will all be over at 5pm, then pack it all up again.

a fairground life(corp event)

At last something to do- We are permitted access to our corporate clients premises tonight. The event is on Sunday, but we can't start to erect until late Saturday afternoon. This will mean a long shift late into the nigfht to get all the rides etc set up and operational. To help speed things along we asked for access into the loading bay this evening as it takes a while to get all the vehicles through security at the gate. The first lot got in at 6pm, by the time we returned with the next wave it was nearly 9pm. "m" got lost with the funhouse and after circling a roundabout three times seen the twist ride appear and followed it in.There will be several teams erecting tomorrow afternoon to try and reduce the setup time. The area is well floodlit as this client operates a 24hr system, just aswell as it is going to be a late late shift tomorrow night.

a fairground life

Since we are not operating at any fair this week I have some free time. So I went and give my father in law a hand to repair the porch on his chalet. It was a simple enough job to remove the double glazed window, 18mm thick plywood panel that was rotten and then replace it all again. Unfortunately I cracked the outer pane of glass on the window! It was when I was trying to free it from the silicone sealer that was surrounding the edges. I wanted him to replace it with a new one but he would not have it.
After a couple of hours the job was done and we even fitted new moulding. The only problem is that cracked pane- not only will it annoy me every time I see it, but I will probably never hear the end of it! S@*t happens.
He had new central heating fitted in the summer time. As a result the old radiators were in his garage. I took them down to the scrapy to get rid of them for him. It was very busy! It seems everyone has cottoned on to the price rise in steel and scrap. Every piece of waste metal or leftovers were being turned into cash. No more leaving the odd bits behind after the job has been done. The price of steel is through the roof just now. I only noticed this as I am planning to put a new frame on the skydiver floor before next season starts. The old one has done 14 years now and the box section is starting to go due to the rain water laying inside it. New plan is to use angle iron. I don't want the hassle or expense of having to galvanise box section.

a fairground life

We are not operating at any funfair this week. We are waiting to do a private corporate hire. So I returned to Stirling today to wash the equipment in preperation. The skydiver was first, we folded out the floors and scrubbed the treadplate. After that it was the funhouses turn, then the water lasers, van and the skydiver unit with generator.
The first corporate event I did was way back in June 1987 or 88 I can't remember exactly. It was in Torness power station on the East coast of Scotland near Dunbar. It was with the Paratrooper ride. I went to visit the site to assess the layout ect. I was given a visitor badge to wear and it also opened various electronic doors. Thinking back now- it was probably a radiation monitor aswell! Any how after getting the grand tour and looking through a small window into the main control room ( a massive high roofed room covered in dials and clocks from left to right and top to bottom with two men sitting at a small desk in front of two monitor screens. Very impressive! ) , I asked my contact if it would be possible to get a "tap on" (power supply) for the paratrooper. I think he thought I was taking the mick, as this was a power station! Any way I did get a 3 phase power supply but had to borrow a transformer rectifier from a friend who owned the permanent funfair in Portobello, Edinburgh. I opened the ride for two afternoons during the stations open days. The pace was calm and all the patrons were very polite. It was a good, easy event for me with decent money to boot. I thought to myself then, I need to get more into these corporate do's. That night I pulled the ride down. It was very tight to get the lorry turned and I had to do a three point turn in between some large boulders to get off site. As I was heading back to Edinburgh (11:30pm approx), I passed my father in law going in the other direction, he was taking a load for my father down to Kelso. The next morning when I looked around my lorry (that old 1965 ERF) I noticed that the metal air pipe on the rear airtank was crushed to almost breaking point! I must have done it against a boulder while turning the lorry. That was lucky, another millimeter and the pipe would have been blocked! No air pressure=No brakes!
I wonder if I will get invited back before they de-comission the power station?

a fairground life(end Blairgowrie)

The photos are a small section of the fair on Saturday afternoon and the Skydiver at night.


Wednesday
5:30 am and the alarm goes off. By 6 am we are on our way to Blairgowrie with the first loads, skydiver and touring caravans. It is a little after 7 am when we arrive. The car park is clear and we position the skydiver and fun house on the plots. The caravans are parked on a tiny piece of waste land about 75 yards away. The grass is over 3ft tall, but we stamp it down as we check for obstacles. I use the jeep to position both caravans. We have to pack them in tight to make room for everyone. Just before 9 am we head off to Dundee to pick up the miami ride from the lorry park. My brother gets a lift with us to bring in his twist ride. When we return, these other two rides are set on the plots. The hired help had kept the car park clear awaiting our return. The plots are tight and everything has to be positioned exactly so as not to pertrude over the boundaries onto the road. We help a friend of ours to set his rock o plane on its plot. After that everyone gets stuck in and the rides are nearly all erected by 7 pm.
Thursday
First job today is to fit the new running light box on the miami. After an hour its up and running, (pardon the pun) it looks great with the new sequences. "r" then spends an hour replacing faulty bulbs. I do the same on the skydiver and spend some time replacing a triac in the lightbox only to find out the problem is a slack fuse!!! The rides are totally greased up ready for the weekend. I phoned to get a delivery of gas oil for the generators, It was last minute and luckily it will come tomorrow. Spent another few hours doing odd jobs on the rides. I must admit I do feel better when I've done a few jobs about the equipment.
The rides opened tonight at 6:30pm, it is always quiet (hence the stalls and kiddie rides stay closed) but I open anyway just to try everything out. We are all closed again for 8 pm.
Friday
We setup the water lasers in the morning. It has stopped leaking since "r" fibre-glassed the seam. (good job done). Shortly after the generator fuel arrived (relief). Next on the list was to make sure all the spot lights around the rides are working, then check all lorries for oil, water and derv. Again it was a 6:30 pm kick off. This time the whole fair opened and we slowly pegged away until 9 pm.
Saturday
This is the gaff day and yippee-No Rain. We open from 1:30 pm but don't get busy until after 7 pm when the buses return from Braemar Games. I always have extra staff here and just before 7 pm they arrive. The crowds did appear shortly after, but not as strong as in previous years. I did reasonable business though. This fair has never ever let me down. Even in heavy rain the locals still come out. It is a bit less hectic the last two years, I think it is due to the alcohol ban on the streets. In years gone by you would be tripping over bottles at the end of the night. This year there was only one " Bucky" bottle to be found.The ban did make it more comfortable. I only had to go out once when an idiot started to use the miami paybox as a punch-bag!! To be fair he did take a telling and that was the end of the matter. We closed shortly after 10 pm. With the extra crew we had everything down for 1 am. "m" took the fun house away as soon as it was ready for the road. The plan was for me following on with another load later, but that changed when I got finished as I could not get my caravan out as it was blocked by anothers and he was still pulling down. Anyway I was too tired. So in bed for 1:30 am with the alarm set for a 5 am wake up. I hear the other caravan leaving about 3 am.
Sunday
5 am- the alarm sounds, but no way can I get up, I roll over and awake again at 6 am. Since every thing is ready for the road it does not take long to get moving. I take the miami first with a caravan to Stirling. Then I return 3 hours later to get the next trip. I have been going to Blairgowrie for twenty years now. When I first went we had a VW Golf car. One Friday night we were driving to my wife's parents to take "r" there (out of the way for the weekend) when he was only a baby. On the way the fan belt came off the car on a back road. After driving what seemed an eternity (with one eye on the temperature gauge), I pulled in to the drive of a small house. I knocked at the door to ask for a lend of a torch. I had a spare fan belt but could not see to fit it. The occupants of the house were great, they took the baby into the kitchen in his carry seat and sat it on the kitchen table. Even luckier they let me wheel the car into their garage just to the rear of the house, where I changed the fan belt using his tools and spotlight. Shortly after we were on our way again. The next day on my return trip I stopped in to thank them with a box of Cadbury Roses and a card. Unfortunately they were out so I left the items on their doorstep. I wonder if they ever got them? Every year for twenty years when I pass this house leaving Blairgowrie I remember this story and I always wonder if the people still live there. This year I noticed that the garage is now a granny flat. The real memory is the one I have of my son sitting in his carry seat on their kitchen table. A priceless vision in my mind for ever.