a fairground life( secc video)

Just thought I'd post this digi clip of the secc. The event has been heaving this week. I guess the DZ alone has been doing an average of 220 full rides per day!!! No rest for the wicked as we are also open on New Years day too, so while the rest of the country is nursing a hangover we will be grafting as usual. It will be mainly Asian customers tomorrow. Happy Hogmanay everybody!

Thank's Blakey for all the help this year, what you doing Sunday night? cos bro's got pnuemonia , r will be in secc and the train needs to come out the mall.

a fairground life( hot n cold)

Hot N Cold

Bbbbrrrrrrrr! The last few days have seen the temperature plummet over night well below freezing. The water lasers have been frozen for two days and there for closed. Not giving in so easily today, I primed the pump with anti freeze and used a hair dryer to thaw the guns out. That took nearly half an hour.Problem is they will be frozen again tomorrow. I think next winter we will have to put antifreeze in the attraction from the start. It will need at least 50lts as the lasers hold about 600lts of water. As for the big rides, we have been running up the pumps for 20 mins before opening to thin out the oil. All the showmen are wearing ski trousers over their usual clobber to try and keep warm. At the other end of the spectrum is the DZ in the secc. The two extra fan blowers and fitted oil cooler are working over time to try and keep it's oil cool. So far it seems to be holding at 43C. The heat is on always in there- the queues for the DZ were over 120ft long from opening til 8pm when it eased. Even then the queue was a couple of runs (ride cycles) long. Mrs Showman and r were working hard all day and the customers were getting hot under the collar (and knarky), probably from standing in queues all day. All the rides were the same, riding to capacity right until the event closed at 10pm. Even I'm hot n cold in the miami box, the heater has my feet warm but the condensation drips have my top half freezing.

After closing last night, it was pointed out to me that the jeep had a flat tyre. No problem, just put the spare on I thought. So with a bit of help we had it all done in twenty minutes. The spare is a different size from the other wheels, something to do with space saving, AKA money saving. Driving along the motorway I heard a noise. Oh! sounds like that tyre is rubbing, wait a minute, what is that juddering?? I realised it was the diffs winding up! Because of the two odd sized tyres. Now I bought the jeep as was from the showroom, with alloys the lot, standard! So how come the manufacturer can get away with supplying a spare tyre that when used will cause this problem? I mean, if I put two odd sized tyres on myself I would get 3 points and a fine, never mind about failing an MOT! Even worse, what if Mrs joe bloggs was driving her jeep? She wouldn't know about diffs and the possible resulting damage! After a few miles I got off the motorway, blew up the original flat and put it on again to get me home.   Humbug!

a fairground life(another years end)

Well folk's, another year draws to an end. It brings on that feeling of sentiment, of looking back and I can't help noticing that the road ahead is unfortunately shorter than the road behind. So while I'm looking back on this year, what's the verdict?

The obvious measuring stick (for most) would be business, but that's not the A all and B all of a year. If there is one thing I've learned it's no matter how good the start is or the end, it all evens out, hence the statement "swings and roundabouts". Its the simpler things that make the difference to the year and here they are for me.

Time spent in the shed re-vamping the tackle, that gave a quiet satisfaction and reduced this years maintenance time.

A few days in Marbella during the open season, Sacrilege!!, but that hot tub on the veranda was ace.

Good weather and the DZ making a debut appearance at the Drymen show.

R passing both HGV classes first time, a better man than me, I needed 2 attempts at my class 1. What a difference to my work load and will open up more possibilities in the future no doubt.

Getting onto Bellshill Street fair at a sensible time!! Cheered me up no end.

New Horizons, The Black Isle show and being in the SECC. The latter is early days, but who knows, it may become something more in the future.That means I have opened equipment in all three of Scotlands centres-Ingliston,Aberdeen &Glasgow.

Finally moving into the house and realising a childhood dream- my own pool table!( mrs showman was upset with my definition of a POOL room, wondered why she bought all them towels)

All family members healthy and accounted for.

Bitter sweet moment of the year was selling the wagon, glad to see it go from a financial point but knowing my life style was about to undergo a major change, am I no longer a TRUE  travelling showman?

Worst moments... Hmm, a couple spring to mind, the first was when the DZ did the ballrace in at the Black Isle show. I was under pressure that day and the next if I couldn't get it up and running for the hire.

Gas Oil and Derv hitting record high prices.

Impulse buying that ruddy stupid Kan't' goo van, oh well.

IF you're reading this and thinking what pathetic, pishy reasons to grumble about, then I guess it really has been a good year and I sincerely hope your years complaints are equally pathetic.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

A fairground life

It's my FAVOURITE day of the year, by this time tomorrow it will all be over. Things are on an up at the moment, biz at the mall been better year on year, credit crunch!what credit crunch? How easily pleased we are and with short memories too, hope all those x-mas shoppers aren't falling into the plastic card trap (again). Sorry that's just my pessimist side clicking in, enjoy Christmas while you can, I'm sure we all deserve it. Any way DZ still working on top form, how long until we have to look at it? Me and "r" had a bet going and it already past the long shot 5 day mark. I noticed how shiny the brush contacts were, the indoor environment agrees with this ride. Some others not so lucky but they seem to have sorted things out now. Boxing day will see the start of the big rush and long queues, I better take it easy on the christmas SPIRIT.

Merry Christmas everyone, thanks for reading.

a fairground life(we've did it ourselves)

We've did it ourselves!

There is a man, whom I went to school with as a kid. When it comes to the secc he is experienced as any and more knowledgable than many, nobodies fool is he. He has been attending the secc over the last 20 years with multiple attractions. He has bid for his plots, been on wristband deals and now the ticket / voucher system. Some of these systems he has incorporated at his own fairs.

True- The other day whilst minding the miami at the mall, a lady came up and put her two children on the ride. She commented to me that she had seen me in the secc on Friday night. She asked how I thought the secc (voucher system) would work out. Not wanting to be too committal either way I pointed out a couple of ying and yang points for each system (cash & voucher). She said (possibly being polite) that she preferred the mall (cash). Now at the mall it is £2 a ride, the secc is £1 a ride but you have to buy a minimum of £10 of tickets to enter (non refundable single day use only). Strange choice? I don't know. So 140,000 visitors times £10 equals a cool £1.4 million without extra tickets bought. The showmen don't get that, the secc have it all wrapped up now. In real terms we get a couple of pennies per punter, but hey!, its the closed season and any watering hole in a drought. So how did we give it all away? Well in those early days of bidding for plots income (for secc) was finite. During those early 50p a ride days the attendances were 250,000 + and on most days when the hall was at capacity they had to close the doors. Finite space means finite revenue unless the rate is increased. Increased rate on a bidding system led to increased fares. Increased fares led to decreased attendances. Some years the showmen made losses or profits so small that their staff had earned more in wages than the man making the bid and taking all the risk. So something had to give. Enter an enterprising showman, who hires the secc hall. He hires all the equipment on set fees and introduces the wristband system . All of a sudden no risk. Why did it fail? So you sell wristbands without limits and human nature kicks in. People ride till the equipment wears out or they pass out from excessive motion sickness (joke).No, that finite space problem again and when the hall is full you cant sell any more wristbands. Then the ride operators are not happy because the equipment and themselves are being abused.People fighting to get on rides, trampling over children to get ahead in the long queues chanting IF ITS FREE, ITS FOR ME!, well you get the idea. They even argued to put small children on rides too big for them and vice versa just because they had paid for that wrist band. Plus they stayed from opening till closing to maximise the use. So again the doors had to be closed at peak times.  Just like the all you can eat buffet, even when you're stuffed you've just got to pack in those last half dozen chicken wings. Something had to give. A few years go by and the SECC management have been well enlightened, they dispense with the middle man and run the event direct with the rides owners. Wristbands are out and the voucher system employed. This means that a minimum fee is £10 per punter. When the hall is full and they close the doors they are still generating income from extra ticket sales inside. Because the tickets are £1 each, people wont abuse the rides by being more selective about who is riding or what they are riding on. When they have spent their quota they leave and make room for the next £10 admission sale.There is also the invisible windfall of tickets bought, but unused every night. The showmen have given the big money away, but to be fair the secc management do have the £100M building, power supply,security,police,cleaning,advertising and other running costs. And, as my learn-ed friend said, "We did it ourselves".

One problem though, how long before something has to give again? We are running out of schemes.

Totally my views only, your view / criticism welcome, just leave your initials, no anonymous please.

a fairground life

At the risk of tempting fate, things have started off quite good. The last couple of days at the mall have seen an improvement on last year. The weather was bad during this period year on year. Meanwhile in the SECC the DZ is working more reliable than ever.The warm, dry, indoor climate with town power obviously agrees with its over elaborated, delicately sensitive, electronic plumbing! We did give it a good going over before hand though and I have reached the conclusion that because it is riding to capacity most cycles, this means the carriage is balanced & heavy thus minimising vibration on the electronic brush contacts running gear. Obviously less vibration means less wear and tear. My theory any how and time will tell how long before we have to replace a brush. That said, it has been a bit slower in the secc than I expected, we are still riding almost full, but with short periods between cycles. No doubt the calm before the storm. Not much to report up here (Blakey has a tale to tell though), however I heard of a large fire on showmen's premises in the North of England resulting in the loss of amounts of equipment,vehicles, tools etc  that were all stored in large sheds. 

Be careful with those fairy lights folks and have A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.

P.S tip of the week- always carry a spare fuel filter!!!

a fairground life (secc2)

We arrived late on Tuesday morning, 1 whole hour after the doors opened. All the other rides were in and set. We pulled onto our plot and quickly discovered our first problem- the overhead gantry would obstruct the tower from rising into position. The floor manager was close at hand and we turned the ride 180 degrees and the moved it over 1m. This was ok for us but meant that the ride behind (speed buzz) had to stop and move off their plot until we had the tower erected. So off they went for an early lunch while we cracked on to get out of their way. We used the generator to erect the ride as it would take too long for the sparky to connect us to the town power. It wasn't long before the overhead extractor fans kicked in and made conversation impossible. One and a half hours later we were finished, just in time for the speed buzz crew to get started. The tower only cleared the roof beams by a couple of inches, good job I kept the ride as low as possible to the floor.Taking advantage of the indoor facilities  we painted the tower, waxed the pay box, cleaned all the panels and did every other small job we could think of. There is certainly a lot of organization in the running of this event, we had a test shut down of the whole carnival with simultaneous PA shut off on the rides, then stopping of the rides, all within 2 minutes. Quite impressive for such a large area.

Hope all is well mechanically tonight. As for the mall-RAINED OFF.

The picts are all from inside hall 4. The queue pens are the longest I've ever used, wonder how many of the expected 140,000+ visitors will ride the dropzone?

a fairground life (secc)

The weekend at the mall was the same usual routine except that on Sunday night after closing, we lowered the tower of the DropZone in readiness for this morning. "r" was scheduled to be in uni until 1pm and I was at the dentist for 9:30am, then off to an iron mongers, decorators, electricians and finally an auto factors all for items I need for  the secc irn-bru venue. By now it was 11:30am and I decided to call "r" to find out where he was at. Turns out that his lecturer cancelled today's class so he was ready to go out to the DZ to pull down. First job on arrival was to get all the washing gear out. We scrubbed the ride from end to end (that's why we lowered the tower or it would have been from top to bottom) before we pulled it down. The plan being to take it over to the secc and leave it in a car park until access tomorrow. During this time the floor manager called to inform me that there might be a delay in getting inside and although the power is there I would still have to collar a sparky to wire my main in. According to those in the know, this can be frustrating as it take's a while. Any how we set sail for the secc and managed a whole 600 yrds before I had to pull in and change the fuel filter. Just lucky it didn't happen 5 minutes later or I would have chucked it in the middle of the Clyde Tunnel! So a few minutes more and we were off again, only this time I notice a bump, bump coming from the passenger side. I did think it was a flat or soft tyre, but not the case, so I ignored it and kept going as I only had a few miles to go. The rate of bump, bump increases or decreases with the speed of the vehicle. I thought that the tyre may have an egg on it, but not so on inspection. The wheel nuts all seem tight, the only thing I can think of is that the tyre has taken on a flat after sitting, but its only been a couple of weeks since it last moved and this usually happens to crossply tyres not radials. So a closer inspection will be needed at some later date. Tomorrow it will be all systems go to try and get in, set, half built up, then touch up the tower, fix all the lighting bulbs, finish building up then clean and polish the ride. I have also borrowed a couple of bouncy castle blowers to place in beside the hydraulics to try and keep the oil cool. Its doesn't take long for the oil seals to boil when working indoors.

a fairground life

Its been a while and although I've been busy, it seemed there was not much to write about. Nor did I have much inclination either but to my defence I have felt a bit tired. So lets recap the last few of weeks. The last Saturday in November I was at Alloa for the x-mas light up. It was 6am when I left Glasgow on a foggy, icy morning (-5). Just after 7am the first rides appeared on site. As in previous years I was alone in the High St with the candy floss barrow while the fair was set up in the car park just behind Woolies. Only a couple of cars parked in the way this time and I quickly re-arranged the layout of the fair to compensate. By 10:30 am we were already to operate, but before we did it was up to Tesco's for our breakfast. This is getting to be a bit of a tradition now. We opened at noon and biz was about on par. After what seemed like a long cold stand it was 6pm and everything was packing up again. The frost and fog returned once more. The last ride to leave site was the ghost train, I had waited behind for an hour so he wasn't alone and at 8pm we were slowly driving through the thick fog Glasgow bound.

A week later and we were to attend a small west coast town for their Friday night Yuletide parade. We pulled down the Miami at the mall that morning and it took us as long to get it off its plot as we were tight for space since other attractions had come into the fair. Then I had to remove the 125A plug so I could roll up the cable as the new attractions had built over the top of it. Borrowing a dolly we pulled the miami off the plot with a chain. Just on 2pm we were heading West to the town. The Fair is set up on a long narrow street running down a STEEP slope. So steep in fact that the only large ride we could take was the Miami because we could erect this not level without it affecting the ride. So although the road was closed at 3pm, there were still cars in the way at 5pm. We managed to just get set up in time for 6pm opening. The parade went past and the fair was busy until nearly 9pm. At that we closed and dismantled. I had the miami back at the mall for midnight. It was a bit of a juggle to get it back on the plot ready for re-erecting it on Saturday morning. We didn't use the dolly this time, but managed to jack knife the ride back within 3ft of the original plot. Saturday morning and we erected the ride again for normal business. In between this I have been getting organised for the SECC. I have ordered the paint to touch up the tower, taken in the rides skirts to have minor tears repaired and run about providing management with extra documentation. A week today and the DZ should be in and setup.