a fairground life (newcastle)
We went to the Hoppings Fair today for a visit. A sign of the times is that the sellers on swag mans alley were few and their merchandise was even fewer. Also I've been told that 30 round stalls had given up their tober. This was plainly visible as there were large voids on the fair. The weather was hot, the earth was baked hard and the grass was completely worn away on some of the walkways so people were out in numbers just not spending. I've attached a few pictures, sorry that the TopBuzz video is sideways (how do you rotate video then???) but this ride is still impressive to watch in motion.
Labels: The Hoppings Newcastle
posted by showman @ 20:50
12 Comments
12 Comments:
good day all i have been blogging on this site now for over 2 years now and i think its time i told you guys my profession, as you all may no im not a showman infact im a farmer as i told "b" at hawick, we farm over 3500 acres spread over3 farms one 5 miles outside langholm and one near hawick which is our main farm and the other is on the outskirts of dalkeith, the latter is our main arable farm which we grow potatoes,malting barley,spring barley and peas, the border farms are mainly stock with 400 cattle and 2800 between the two and a few crop fields and all of the silage is harvested on farm every year. We are currently seeing prices of lamb and beef rising but also prices in red diesel and petrol (every farms necessity) on the rise which is daft when you see barrel of oil declined since this time last year. anyways i have a spare week off inbetween silage and harvesting so im of to the island of kos to see some friends and relax will be on the greek web every day to see the latest installments of your border run showman many thanks. borderer
It has been mentioned to me before, by an engineer that does work for showmen and farmers that we are very similar in lifestyle-we are family orientated in our business, we are all self employed, we are born into the lifestyle and learn our trades that way, we work mostly outdoors, we are affected by the weather,we will improvise to make something work, we will repair rather than throw away and fuel prices affect us hard.
maybe this is why you like the blog? anyhow have a good holiday. ps blakeys relations are farmers at Hawick, I bet you know them. small world!
where does blakeys family farm about then as im more than likley to no them? yes its true what the chap said to u in relation to farmers and showman were all in the same boat. i arrived in kos 2 hours ago its now 7.55am two hours infront of gmt time and i have just read the news michael jackson has died i have had no sleep since wed nyt and the hotel is good but the room looks onto a huge air con tower and wall so no pool view that i was expecting ha ha my other half is not happy at all so shes giving them to tommorow and we are moving eeek ha ha. where are you after gala showman was buisness any good last night i will have to pop up for a day when you get back to braehead and meet you all and blakey if hes about many thanks borderer.
Well the gala today was poor. Small ex mining town and judging from todays take they are feeling the bite. This is a strange one as normally in the past even if the weather was bad they would still turn out in numbers. This year the weather was not kind and with a heavy fog to start the sun never came out. A reasonable crowd was out but with much much lower spending than previous years. More kit on the ground this year so maybe the cash was just spread a bit thinner? Borderer the farmers in our area also find it hard going and most have diversified into other lines building groundworks etc to increase profits, the farmers round here have been very good to me over the years with welding done repairs done and storage sheds provided for dry repairs. I have a lot to be gratefull for the farming community!
Back indoors sun so hope its busy.
Enjoy the hol borderer and i hope the regs are enjoying better weather wherever they are!
ah the holiday is good well day one we arrived and the room looked onto a concrete wall with gas pipes and water mains coming out it and smashed glass pains my other half well she was not impressed with this so complained to reception 24 hours later we were in a room with a view of the back gardens heck anythings better than a wall thats what 600 quid for a room for 6 nights must get you here a room with no view ha ha, ah yes us farmers i will admit were never happy the dry spells have been great for our crops especially barley and potatoes and the slight rain at night has kept the moisture level good but all the pests get attracted to the warmer climate so all crops are sprayed and tatties being watered every 24-36 hours so im home on thursday and we have a job of picking a new double decked stock wagon from wales so god its a nice life ha ha, anyways showman how was gala this year the cash rolling in or not many thanks borderer. hope all well showman,jesters,blakey from borderer and miss borderer.
KOS UPDATE DAY 5
showman dont be threatned by my blogging ever day im not looking for your job ha ha,
We awoke this morning to a glorious day of 34c at 8am so we ventured down for breakfast and got ready to have a day by the pool miss borderer had her hello magazine(oh what joy) me on the other hand had richard hammonds new book he tells about his north pole adventure and sailing to calais in his camper van turned boat so that kept me amused for a good few hours with us being all inclusive you cant help eating breakfast then lunch then dinner miss borderer was in her eliment with all the healthy fruit etc not for me wheres the meat ha ha. theres a music quiz tonight so us and a couple from manchester have entered a team out of 300 people there is us 4 from britain. anyways showman hows things where are you based just now ive had a call regarding family matters so may have to go home in next 24 hours. cheers borderer.hope all well
I'm back home for couple of days. Weather was kind to us on sunday. Nice sunny day in part of yorkshire i was in. Business about same as last year so i'm not complaning. As jesters said the people not spending the same. It should have been a lot better considering the weather,and the amount of people. Yet more problems with the blakey mobile. It started ok on friday morning. Stopped at southwaite service for a break. Took a lot of starting to leave there. Started fine on sunday after pulldown. Started first turn to leave for home on monday. Started great on leaving southwaite again. Parked it in yard on return then went to shift it ten minutes later. On the third attempt the poor old starter gave up. The lorry would'nt turn over at all. Probably something to do with the burning smell,and the smoke coming from the starter. The starter is now off,and away to get reconed[hopefully]. The mechanic will then have an other go at finding the root of the problem. Need it going by friday morning as i'm of to the highlands.
It's great having all your equipment on one load when things are going ok,but i now have most of my eggs in the one basket. The blakey mobile has a stall built on the side,and another two in the back. I can get my roundabout there with the jeep,but it would'nt be worth the trip with just one thing.
Hope your having a good holiday borderer. With regards to my farming family. They also farm between hawick and langholm so you may well know them. I have two cousins who married farmers. This came about as my dads brother stopped travelling in the seventies,and took over the teviotdale lodge hotel in the late seventies. He ran it for about ten years till the late eighties. He is now retired,and living in a ex shepards cottage[that he restored and extende] on one of his daughter farms. Let me know if you know who they are from that. If not i'll tell you next week when i return.
I'm of to bed now as i'm up at twelve thirty a.m as i have a rather early driving shift tomorrow. I should have no trouble noding of as i was up at four for a shift this morning. And you all thought showman had it tough. It's a hard life.
Hope everyone has a good weekend. Will let you know how i get on next week.
Evening all, I no of teviotdale lodge hotel and im sure i no who ur family will be as soon as my brain works (all this sun is not good for it) what is the farm called and i will no as soon as the name is mentioned, when i was at hawick fair i was speaking to arthur l and carrick b and they said they had relations up that end to is this the same people blakey, god its a small world btw, i have a situation here in the island of kos we have to depart room by noon thursday and the bus doesnt pick us up to 2.00am thu nyt so its going to be a long wait, Showman where are you this weekend and next as im thinking of doing a road trip to your fair. Another fact is im just in my twentys so i may be the youngest blogger on here as my grandfather owns the farms and im taking over in 3 years when he retires. hope all well. borderer.
Sorry to hear of probs with the blakey mobile. Is the problem only there when the engine is hot?? I can understand the hardship of one towing vehicle. A second would be a handy thing in my case! The punters def arnt parting with the cash this year so far hope it picks up yet as the seasons always over before you notice! Hope the hol is good borderer and feel free to drop in for a coffee if your on your road trip at the weekend. All the best to the usual suspects.
Yes its same people. A l is married to my dads cousin,and c b is his son in law. C b is the frequently mentioned fatso by the way. If you had the misfortune to meet him you'll know why. One farm is falnash at teviothead. The other is linhope further along the a 7. If you just in twenties then you wont have drunk in the lodge as i dont think it's a hotel anymore. Your closer to the age of my cousins kids so might know some of them.
No jesters the problem there wether hot or cold. Mechanic just left again. New starter on as old one goosed. It's starting great again. On first turn 3 times. Will see what happens tomorrow as it's started ok after every other fix,then got worse again. Another two hundred bucks so heres hoping.
This blog is getting like the samaritans. A problem halfed and all that. I feel better already.
ah yes i no of linhope and falnash, i was chatting to al and cb at hawick to they seem good characters al said hes in the same yard as showman and urselfs if my mind serves me correctly what a small world we have, ah yes a fairgroundlifesamirtans.co.uk ha ha a new name for the blog showman, i have just phoned to confirm ower transfer but in true greek style depart room at noon tommrow and the bus picks us up at 2am tommrow night may have to crack into the duty free before we even get home ha ha. so is it highland run again blakey
congrats are does that mean now ur qualified ur hourly rate goes up ha ha.
hope all well borderer.
hi i use to work on a fair i looking for work i love the fair and working on it i did 6 mths if you no any one can you plz e/mail me at dominic1925@live.co.uk thack you
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