a fairground life

Sunday afternoon, "r" and I head back to WL to pick up the DZ and two touring caravans to take them to Selkirk. We will have to leave the Miami for a second trip as there aren't enough drivers. We pick up the water hoses etc and couple the trailers ready to leave, but when we try to start the DZ lorry- nothing. I mean nothing, not even a groan from the starter to indicate a flat battery, no dash lights, no ignition click, nil , nada , zilch, zero, squat, absolutely nothing! We tried to bridge the battery isolator incase it had failed, we tried to bridge the battery bridge incase it was faulty, we put on the booster starter too- still nothing, as if there were no electrics at all on the vehicle. So by now I reckon this problem will be very simple or impossible. I started by removing the control panel and looking for jumped circuit breakers-none. Next I started checking all the fuses (all ok) and finally I messed around with a big lump that was the main solenoid/contactor unit-at that everything sprung to life, lights,buzzers etc. So simple it was (LUCKILY, as I was running out of thing to fiddle with) and at that we started the engine. I think it was just corrosion on a small 5A fuse on the solenoid. We set off for Selkirk and arrived on the lovely Victoria Park 90mins later. The Fair was already marked out and we set the DZ on its plot. The trailer was set and the power put on then "r", "bj" (who was getting a lift with us) returned to WL for the next loads. On our return we stopped at mickydee's for take out lunch. Just before arriving at WL I got a call to say the skydiver was tripping an RCCB on the switch board, I though I was going to have to go there to fix it but by the time we arrived at WL my father in law had solved the problem. So "r" set off in the Foden & miami, bj in his car and me following with the L200. This time when we got back to Selkirk we set the miami and started to build the DZ right away. This was so that we didn't have to worry about holding anyone back in the morning. It was nearly 9pm now and the DZ was levelled with the tower swung around ready to be raised in the morning.

Monday morning about noon we started to setup, we must have been tired from the day before because we didn't wake up til after 11am. It was a lovely sunny day and we spent all afternoon finishing off the two rides. That night we headed over to Hawick for 9pm to help the family move to Selkirk.

Thursday was nice weather wise, in fact the whole week was how I remember summers used to be (way back when), dry and hot weeks at a time. Although biz was nothing special we did knock out a turn. Friday was similar but at night the local bevvy boys were drinking their capacity and then some. Saturday was fine too, although this fair is probably unique in the fact that there is no Saturday afternoon. The fair didn't open until after 3pm and that was only to burn fuel. It was well after 7pm before any weight of people turned out, however they did hang around until 9pm. The bevvy crew were out in force again with as many bottles of "buckie" I have seen in a long time (most other local authorities have stamped down on drinking in public). Some had drunk so much that they were spewing up pure red coloured buckfast and then drinking on again. At 11pm when the fair did close this lead to some problems and the Police had to be called to clear the fair. This resulted in retaliation and we were awoken at 2,3 and 4am by some idiots throwing missiles at the caravans.

Sunday I was back at BI to do some maintenance on the skydiver namely adjust a limit switch, grease up the ride and replace a solenoid coil.Then back to the house, it was good to be back and get a proper hot shower instead of the tricklings of the caravans one.

Monday I had a couple of jobs to do before heading back to Selkirk via BI. It was well after 6pm when we arrived. Not much to speak of before we closed at 8:50pm. "r" and I had the two rides down and away for 11pm. Again the DZ lorry needed a fiddle with that solenoid, so I better remember to have a look at it this week.