a fairground life (the kelvin hall)

Things are a little slow at the moment, no doubt as you can tell by the lack of content in the blog lately. There are a number of other showmen awaiting new year fairs around the country. The SECC carnival will kick off next week too. However the Kelvin Hall was the best. I can remember back to the 1970s-80s when the fair was in there. It ran for a much longer period than the secc event does today. Every night was quite busy and when you opened the small back door to get in (trademan's entrance) the atmosphere hit you (aswell as the smell from the elephant pens nearby). The noise seemed to echo around the Hall differently than it does around the secc. All us kids from the winter yards would meet there. Don't forget this was long before texting or email or mobile phones, you had to meet face to face to network! Here was the first place I knew to have a KFC in it! The Stakis (hoteliers) family ran the Kelvin Hall cafe that became a sort of club house for us.
Many showmen worked in the Kelvin Hall during the winter.My aunty had worked for the Glasgow corporation on the turnstiles as there was an admission charge for the Hall, later she moved to the cloakroom. In earlier years both my father and aunty had worked in the circus as ring boy and usherette respectively. I can remember as a small child being shown to my seat to watch a performance and my aunty bringing ice-cream at the interval. If my father was alive today , he would be able to tell some tales of the ring boys pranks. In the very early 80s, I would visit my aunty and keep her company for a while in the cloakroom. The older kids all had jobs on the attractions. Ask anyone of our generation, it was the best time of their lives. The fashion at the time was sweat shirts with your name embroidered across the front, narrow leg jeans and kicker boots (bright coloured), every one collected the kicker tabs and some had dozens laced onto their boots. Whites were still at the top with at least four big rides in attendance here. Many showmen had stances handed down from their parents and some even stored the games in the basement of the hall until the next years event. I bet there are still remnants in there today, hid in some obscure corner or forgotten store. The last year I can remember was when Eddy Grant released Electric avenue, 82/83 I guess. The secc took over the carnival the next year, and the rest as they say is history! Anyone got some old photos from the Kelvin Hall days??? It would be great to see them.