a fairground life( Tits n tyres)

Sunday at Crieff was very windy. As a result a small trade stand was party flattened by a branch that fell from a tree.Luckily no one was hurt. I don't know how but it managed to stay dry through out the day. I assume that the wind kept the rain at bay. Business was slightly back on the previous year but in this economic climate it was nothing to complain about. The crew had arrived and at 6pm just as the game's grand finale (motor bike stunt show this year) was ending we began to pack up. Since I was heading to Irvine in the morning with the DZ I wanted the Skydiver and Miami down and away to the next gaff, namely Dunkeld. They would be parked there on site for a week waiting until I came back up with the DZ to open for the games. So a little after 9pm we were heading for Dunkeld. It was pitch black when we arrived there. I was in first with the Skydiver and headed down into the field. I followed the new gravel road that the games committee had laid right into the site of the fair. I spotted the tree that marked my position and swung onto the plot. I pulled forward to straighten the load up and then reversed back onto the position again with the wheels starting to slip. I got out for a look and could see I wasn't quite bang on but was sure it would be close enough for the ride to set up on the following week. Meanwhile "r" had brought the Miami in and he too has set almost perfect onto it's position. It was after 10pm now and we headed back to Crieff. Monday morning "r" took the DZ and I followed with his pick up and trailer. It was just over 104 miles from fair to fair. When we arrived at Irvine we quickly set the trailers. The ground was soft in patches with all the rain that had fell. Some rides were already stuck in places. The DZ was set onto a plot about 90ft further along than last year. We built up as quickly as possible as we were hindering the next two rides as they had to wait until our tower was raised. It took us about 30 mins longer to build up as Irvine is very hilly in parts and the rear side of the DZ was an extra 12 inches higher on packing. So we had to lay good foundations for the ride to set up on. We didn't return to Irvine until Wednesday night for opening. The rain fell again in sheets and biz was poor. It is a large fair and this year there were 16 big rides,2 funhouses and a ghost train plus enough side stalls and juveniles to encircle the whole fair. Again it was raining on Thursday night and the fair was getting really muddy in parts. Friday stayed mainly dry but was well back on last year. Saturday started off bright and only threatened to rain after closing at 9pm. Again biz was well back on previous years. The drinking ban is still in force and this made the Saturday comfortable. We could not pull down on Saturday night as the Topstar ride was in the way of lowering the tower so we had to leave it until Sunday morning. That night the rain was torrential all night, I thought it was coming through the trailer roof!In the morning the Topstar was pulled down but could not move out of our way until the Energystorm had finished and moved. It was 2pm before the energystorm was towed out the way by a tractor. Then the Topstar was towed out by the tractor too. Finally "r" and I pulled the DZ down. At 4pm the tractor towed us out as well. Then we headed all the way we had come the week before back up to Dunkeld.It was raining heavily again. When we arrived there at 7pm the ground was soft. The two jeeps just managed to get the trailers onto the plots in 4WD. We left the DZ on the path as we knew it would be an operation in the morning. Monday and we begin putting the other loads into the field. Since the DZ is going to be set across the gate it has to wait until everyone else is in. To be honest it was only the gate of the fair that was soft and as all the other rides were set during the week it was not that bad. Only BJ's skyliner and TI's arcade were to come in and they did so quite easily. "r" and I built up the Skydiver first, had some dinner then went out to set the DZ. The position was muddy and we had to tow the DZ onto its plot. It's small truck tyres sunk thru the mud and didn't even turn as the mud just piled up in front of them. We put the show lorry on the front with a chain and luckily it managed to drag the DZ into position.It was at this time that we worked out what was wrong with the show gearbox (whining when air building up and hard to change gear), it was simple- someone had pulled the PTO knob to engage. So when the air got to 80 PSI it engaged, but since we didn't know it was trying to engage we were not holding the clutch out resulting in a whining noise until the gears finally meshed which then made it hard to change gear. Lucky we never blew it up on the road doing 40 mph!! We can only assume that someone engaged it during towing through the mud (at Bridge of Allan) thinking it was a crosslock for the axles as this button is next to the lock diff lever in the cab. We built the DZ up and left the miami until the next morning. Tuesday and the rain was falling lightly again. I built up the miami while "r" did maintenance on the DZ, fitting a couple of new brush contacts. Then we set up the show. I called JM the engineer to request the winch part be fixed for tomorrow as it had been over 18 months now. I had a feeling we were going to need it at the weekend. That night we returned to the house. I had a Guild meeting on Wednesday morning and my wife had a pile of washing to get done. My father in law came over and requested that "r" and I help him demolish his outside kitchen on the chalet as he is getting a new one built. So Wed morning at 7:30 am we head down to the yard with a sledgehammer and electric chain saw. It was raining heavily again but we just set to it and two hours later the outside kitchen was a pile of timber. I went off to my meeting while "r" ferried the waste away to the coup (civic amenity re cycling site in 21st century spin).Thursday and we pick up the winch part (hydraulic piston pump end cap). Oh no!! JM has machined the o ring grove too deep. The rubber ring sits below the face of the end cap, what a blunder considering he had a sample to copy. Nothing for it we decide to get a bigger o ring. So off we go to track one down. At Barnshaw seals in Bellshill it becomes evident that one o ring cant do the job so we double two up. Maybe it will work, maybe not. Back to Dunkeld for opening and the rain is torrential again from 5pm thru to midnight. We did open for an hour but only really to try out. Friday morning "r" put the winch together.We try it and the drum winds in the loose rope from 18 months ago. Well that seems ok but lets pressure test it. We wind the rope in and attach the end to the shows own coupling gab. Then we wind in until the rope tightens, we watch the pressure gauge climb and we stop at 2000 psi. No leaks evident but I've seen the winch working between 3500-4000 PSI! Time will tell. It stays dry that night and the local teenagers turn out to visit the fair. As in previous years they all turn up with carry outs. This is a growing problem here that we only used to see in the larger cities. There were around 80 youths and half were falling about drunk. There was only one incident when one threw a can of larger that hit a girl on the forehead and split it open. A deep cut about 15 mm across. "r" gave her medical treatment at the maimi pay box while I went over and had a word with the culprit (I later got his name and address from another youth for future reference). Thing is that they all seem to know each other and I suppose it will be sorted out at a later date. We never ever have had a wrong word at Dunkeld and the alcohol problem is going to change this. A lot of the youths also come from smaller towns nearby like Aberfeldy and Pitlochry. At 10 pm we closed and the crowd headed off. Saturday morning and it is bright and breezy. There is a lot on in this area today- Blair Atholl Bikers rally, Run Rig concert. So it was well into the afternoon before the numbers grew. The games finished after 5pm and at 6pm the youths returned with more alcohol, by the case. It seems that a bottle to share is not enough anymore, they all need a 40 oz each! At 7:30pm the local police make an appearance but they don't confiscate any drink, not even from the ones that are under age. There presence does quieten down the youngsters though. At 8pm the police leave with a promise that they will return around 9pm for the fair closing. The youths continue with their drinking marathon again. At 8 pm the side stalls begin to pack up as all the family people have left (wonder why?). The crew had arrived by this time and "r" packs up the skydiver at the bottom end of the fair. It was 9:45 pm when I closed up the DZ. "R" had just finished the Skydiver and had even got the unit coupled under it. Mrs Showman closed the Miami at 9:50pm as enough was enough. We began to pulldown as the youths headed off for their buses etc, the police never appeared again, maybe they were busy elsewhere. We pulled down the miami to get it out the way of the Tower. Then we tackled the DZ. It was too dark and muddy to attempt coupling up so at 11:45 pm we called it a night. Sunday morning and we start moving vehicles. The DZ couples up but can't move so we put the show on it with a chain and pull it out. Then the miami couples up and the Foden double drive pulls away, does a circuit of the fair to turn and gets out onto the path ok. Next is the skydiver, "r" had coupled it up the evening before, it could not pull out of its divots so we put the show on with a chain again and give it a tow out. Again no problems right onto the path. It seems that the winch will have to get tested at a later date (next year now as that is all the fields over for this year). So with everything out on the path earlier than expected we find time to change a tyre on the DZ trailer that had developed an egg (more expense). As an uncle once said-"anything with tits or tyres will always give you trouble!"