Event Planning Archives

Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events, Funfair Rides

Tales Of Misadventures, Helter Skelter Woe’s

28 March 2021

We are proud of our safety record in the funfair industry. Having never had a serious accident or incident with members of the public.

We have had a couple or three minor ‘incidents’ usually involving me, or Arthur (a one time collaborator) or in one case a poor sod we had shanghaied to work for us for the day. For some weird reason, they all involve helter skelters in some form. Perhaps subconsciously that’s why we got rid of our last example a few years back.

Fred Thompson’s Lighthouse Helter Skelter

My maternal Grandad, Fred, was one of the industries characters. He owned a massive amount of rides over the years, but also seemed to buy things like dodgems with no cars, only to sell the track and then buy a set of cars with no track. The helter skelter however he did own and operate right up to his death.

Not one of the smaller square latticework rides, this was the huge steel structured ride which was shaped like a lighthouse or pepper pot. Whilst Grandad was basically on his death bed, the famous Nottingham Goose fair rolled around. Due to some internal family politics, the offspring that usually took the ride to the fair refused to do so. So Uncle Garry, my dad, and by extension me were drafted in to set the ride up. None of us really knew what we were doing, but there were a couple of long time staff members helping, and another operator with the same type ride at the event, came and offered advice when we needed it.

The Great De-Rig

We managed to set up OK, and we ran the attraction for the three days of the fair. On the Sunday morning, we got up for the derig, only to be welcomed by a torrential down pour. Great, to compound matters the two staff members had done a runner, couldn’t blame them really. So it was left up to the deadly duo (Uncle Garry and Dad) and me.

Not fancying pneumonia, I had wrapped myself in a rubberised wet suit, and wellingtons. I had started in the top chute (the U shaped part of the ride that you actually slid down), undoing the bolts that held them together. You unfastened the twenty odd chutes then usually started at the top chute and took them down one at a time. Due to the water, I slipped into the chute and started to slide down. Because of the wet suit I couldn’t generate enough friction to stop my descent. Not a problem I could slide to the bottom and walk back up the steps so I just sat back and accelerated.

Which would have been OK, had not the other two started removing the chutes at the bottom and working their way up. The result was me imitating an Exocet missile exiting a launch tube as I shot off the number 7 chute, about 15 feet in the air. Luckily they had handily stacked all the other chutes in a nice row on the floor to break my fall.

After recovering from my high speed exit, I pulled myself together and climbed back up to try again. Now at this point, some poor innocent funfair enthusiast happened to walk past. Little did he know the fun he was going to be subject to. Looking back he was a bit like a Turkey strolling past Bernard Matthews just as he finished sharpening his knife.

“Oy Mate”, shouts Uncle Garry, “Fancy a job on the fair?” The poor sod did. Fifteen minutes into his new career he managed to fall down the steps at the front and break his arm. We packed him off the the local hospital, not expecting to see him again. Given that a&e was usually synonymous with about an eight hour wait.

He Comes Back

In the event he surprised us, as about forty minutes later he came back. Walked up the front steps into the centre of the ride, then holding his newly potted arm aloft like a badge of honour, perhaps Nottingham’s version of a purple heart, he shouted up, “Its me, I’m back!”

Now, this had an immediate and unfortunate effect. Uncle Gary and I were at that point taking side sections off the top of the ride. These were held on by massive bolts, think of something the size of a lemon. Gary had in his hand one of these very bolts, just as our unfortunate hero shouted up to us.

Garry turned quickly to see who it was, and unfortunately lost grip of the bolt he happened to be holding. With an aim worthy of William Tell, the bolt hit the guy slap bang in the centre of the forehead. Dropping him to his knees and producing a rather large egg shaped lump and a rather unfocussed look.

“Erm, listen guys”, he managed to croak feebly, “I think I am gonna resign, I don’t wanna work on the fair no more.” This time we didn’t see him again, can’t say I blame him really.

Some People Just Never Learn

Now, I swore this was enough to put me off helter skelters for life. So of course, a few years later, Rennie (another occasional collaborator) suggested purchasing a square type helter skelter that he knew of between us. It was a bit rough but we had the skills between us to rebuild it, and like the fabled lemmings, I hadn’t had any brushes with death for quite a while so I went for it.

We got it back to the yard, semi erected it and started on the multitude of jobs. One day I had climbed to the top and noticed that the bracket holding the highest section of steps on was cracked. Badly cracked, in fact it was held on by a sliver of paint. I thought to myself then that the next job should be to weld it back together. Just then, fate, in the form of my mother in law, turned up with a bacon sandwich and coffees for me and Renny. Being partial to a bacon sarny I shimmied down for breakfast.

After wolfing them down, and feeling recharged. I collected a large 8ft by 4ft wooden panel that needed affixing to the top of the ride and ran up the steps with it. As I stood on the topmost tread of the topmost section of steps, the malicious gods looking down decided that was the instant that the sliver of paint holding the steps on would finally expire.

Wooden Parachute

They say that in moments of extreme terror, your life flashes before your eyes. Truth be told this didn’t happen, but I do distinctly remember that time seemed to slow on the way down, as I plummeted earthwards holding a large sheet of wood above my head. My first thought was “Bugger, I should really have welded that bloody step up”, followed closely by “I bet this is gonna hurt”, followed by “This is taking some time,” followed by the sound of a person hitting the wooden floor, followed even more closely by the sound of a large wooden panel hitting a person, and almost simultaneously the sound of a section of steps hitting a wooden panel.

Suffice so say, I survived, a bit battered but without breaking anything important.

Arthur

The final entrant into our tale of woe, didn’t really involve the helter skelter, beyond the fact that I happened to be midway up the ride when the problem was brought to my attention.

We were at a corporate event in Salford. Renny ,Arthur and I with a range of attractions. Arthur, being afraid of heights tended to steer clear of the Helter Skelter, instead bagging the job of looking after the moonwalk. This was an inflatable attraction, that was enclosed in a dome. Arthur got himself comfortable on the front step, in front of the slit in the front that acted as a doorway. Because the dome had a high speed fan continuously blowing air in to keep the thing inflated, you tended to get a high speed stream of cold air blowing out the front. On perhaps the hottest day of that year this was a bonus for Arthur keeping him nicely chilled.

Glowing

Anyway, there I was half way up our slide, when Arthur wandered over and shouted up “My head hurts”, oh FFS, “Look in the glovebox of my car there are some headache tabets” I replied without really taking any notice, tricky things these big slides so I was paying attention to what I was doing.

“I didn’t say I had a F**KING headache”, said Arthur, “I said my F**KING head hurts!”

When I looked I could see his issue, “FFS Arthur don’t walk out the gate of the park”

“Why he asked?”

“Cos you will stop the traffic, you look like a set of traffic lights on red”

Dear me, his full forehead and face were glowing, and I mean glowing, like he had been stood a bit close to Chernobyl when it went up. I saw him about a week later when the skin had started peeling off and he looked like the singing detective. He ended up with scars on his forehead the sunburn had been that bad. Serve him right for lazing on the step all day.

It’s Not Just Us

Another operator I know of ended up with two broken legs, when one day he was at the top of his helter skelter painting it. He happened to glance upwards, where the clouds were moving due to a stiff breeze. Becoming disorientated, and believing it was the ride moving he threw himself over the side, in the belief that it was better than being inside the ride when it hit the ground.

And yet another guy, was at Yarm fair in the North East, and managed to fall from his ride landing on a street sign and breaking a number of ribs. Whilst in hospital he was laid in bed with his hand dangling over the side, when his visiting mother leaned over the bedside cabinet to give him a kiss. Unfortunately the cabinet was on wheels and being shoved against his hand managed to break three of his fingers.

Eventually the health and safety executive decreed that fall arrest equipment needed to be worn when working on these things at height. To give them their due most operators did both buy and use said kit. The one guy I know that put them to test still managed to break his ankles, when I enquired how, he explained the the standard fall arrestor worked by expanding and slowing you descent without too much of a jerk. Sadly it needed about twelve feet to work and he was only ten feet high when he fell, so he hit the deck before it arrested his fall. He seemed quite cheerful though and vowed that in future he would only fall off higher up.

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Event Planning, funfair events, Funfair Rides

6 Tips For Hiring A Ferris Wheel

24 March 2021

A Ferris wheel is one of those iconic funfair rides that everyone remembers. They not only make regular appearances at funfairs up and down the country, but you can also hire them for private events. Here are 6 tips for hiring a Ferris wheel to make sure you get the best for your money.

1 What Size Wheel

There are two basic wheels you will see in the UK. What we tend to term a traditional wheel, which in actual fact is more than likely to be American in origin, more specifically from the Eli Bridge company of Jacksonville Illinois.

This is the type of wheel that was in the final scene of Grease, the movie. They are also what you most probably rode as a child, and they are what is usually hired for private events.

The other big wheel type, is big, really big. They have been christened Continental Wheels in the UK, but are generally referred to as giant wheels on the continent. They come in a multitude of sizes, the travelling models tending to be 50-60 metres in height, with some fixed models of 100m up over. These can be hired privately, however keep in mind that a typical 50m wheel would come on 5-6 trailers, with each one being towed by a vehicle averaging perhaps 6-7 MPG. They would take a number of days to set up and similar to take back down, using a crew of perhaps 6-8 staff members. So unless you are Elon Musk or the likes, you aren’t going to hire one for a 5 year olds birthday party in your back garden.

2 Where Will The Wheel Be Built

We will proceed under the assumption that you aren’t Elon Musk and wish to hire the smaller Eli Bridge type wheel. For the other type, much of what we advise is equally valid, but you would need a specialist survey to ensure the ground can take the weight and stress of a true giant wheel.

Ideally a perfectly flat tarmac or concrete surface such as a car park is what we like for a wheel. Realistically, this isn’t always possible. Grass is fine, as long as it isn’t too soft. This is more for the vehicles carrying the ride rather than an issue with the ride. A wheel is a stable structure, well balanced and with large outriggers to prevent it tilting. Getting it into position on extremely soft ground is where the problems arrive. We carry wooden boards to drive on across soft ground, and if you need us 50 or 60ft across a field its not an issue. If you want us half a mile across a swamp it isn’t going to happen.

Access

The other issue people seem to be oblivious to, is actually having an entrance large enough to drive the ride through. We have turned up on site visits many a time, to find out that although there is a 300 acre field available, the only access is through a gate 4ft wide, or around a sharp bend that you would be lucky to manage with a classic mini without a couple of shunts. Imagine the large vehicles you see on the motorway, then widen it a foot and add perhaps 10ft on the end. That will give you an idea of how long a typical ride is.

If in doubt ask about a site visit. There may be a small charge, but a decent operator will waive this if you end up booking.

3 Ensure It Carries The Correct Documentation

Thankfully, with the funfair industry being so highly regulated, the cowboys have pretty much been forced out. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still undertake due diligence when hiring attractions. Circumstances can conspire to create a situation where someone may cut corners, be it down to greed, or desperation. The best way to ensure your safety, is to make sure your chosen operator can actually supply a full set of safety documentation. The following list are all legally required documents, if they can’t provide any of them, run away, quickly:

Public Liability Insurance (Self Explanatory)
Risk Assessments (To how the ride has been assessed to ascertain what risks exist)
Fire Assessments (Like the Risk assessment, but looking for fire based issues)
Method Statements (A document showing what has been put in place to mitigate the risks identified)
ADIPS Certificate (Much like an MOT, showing the ride has been tested by an independent engineer for safety)
Daily Inspection Record (To show that each day the ride is operated it has been checked by the operator)

Adips

One the mentioned documents, the ADIPS cert bears a little more explaining. Each ride has to undergo an annual inspection to ensure it is safe to operate. This includes electrical and mechanical safety, and may well include non destructive testing such as x-rays or dye penetration inspections to check for metal fatigue and cracking. A certificate is issued once the ride is passed as safe. This has all the relevant information about the ride. It also has two important things to look out for. One is the ADIPS inspection number, If you visit their website, you can actually input this number to ensure the document is correct and up to date.

The other is the photograph in the top right hand of the document. This should match the ride you have hired. If it doesn’t it could mean that the ride you have hired isn’t covered by that document. A big no no.

Above is an example of what the DOC looks like, you can see the image in the top right hand corner, directly below this image will be the DOC number.

4 Ask For Photos Of What You Are Hiring

There are some absolutely immaculate wheels on the hire market. There are sadly a few poor examples, and the majority are comfortably in the middle, quite presentable rather than exceptional.

You are certainly entitled to ask for a photo of what the operator is proposing to hire to you. Beware of tiny thumbnails that show no details, and ask for how old the photos are. Something immaculate 20 years ago could look very different now.

Any professional operator wants his client to be happy. A successful job isn’t just one where they earn money, its one where the client is happy and will use them again.

Take a look at the wheel above, this can quite accurately be described to you as one hot wheel without telling any lies. Thing is, it’s hot, not because it’s a fabulous wheel, but because it was in the vicinity of Chernobyl when the nuclear reactor exploded. So don’t trust to descriptions alone, unless it is someone you have worked with before and trust.

5 Ensure The Quote You Have Includes Everything

Although we haven’t really heard of it happening with wheels. A favourite tactic of one competitor when offering dodgems for hire, was to quote a price roughly halve of everyone else’s. When your ride turned up, it didn’t have lights or music. There was no top cover so it wouldn’t work it it rained, and you only got 4 cars. They would inform you that the ride supplied was exactly what you had paid for. If you wanted all the additional extras and the more usual 14 cars, then they were extra. Your choice at that point was to pay what could end up being more than you had been quoted from other operators for the same service, or put up with half a ride.

Most companies quote within a narrow price band. If something is exceptionally cheap it is for a reason, and not usually a good one.

Another Cowboy

Another cowboy we came across had an ingenious scheme. He would quote a price about 40% less than anyone else. To secure it you had to pay an immediate £500 NON REFUNDABLE deposit. The day before your event, you would receive a phone call informing you that sadly, the ride you had booked had been destroyed by fire/stolen/kidnapped by space aliens. But not to worry, they had a couple of children’s roundabouts they could bring you. When you complained the event wasn’t for kids and you were cancelling, they were happy to let you do that. Of course the deposit was non refundable.

Is it legal? Hmm, probably not, getting you money back by going to court probably outweighs the £500. If you give the guy too much hassle he had the option of refunding your money to stop the case. He kept far more than he lost though.

6 If You Have Any Unusual Requirements, Agree Them Beforehand

Do you want only Max Bygraves records playing on the ride. Or the lights switched off for some reason. Perhaps you want your pet donkey to be allowed to ride. Talk the to supplier and make sure this is possible, before the day of the event. It isn’t fair complaining that they had none of Mr Bygraves songs to play, if they were totally unaware that you were a fan.

Most reasonable requests we are happy to comply with. We enjoy a bit of fun, and want you to be happy. (Not sure about letting the donkey ride though). But be aware of the fact that we will not, compromise safety to please you. No amount of offering to sign waivers will make any difference, (and for the record, judges tend not to view the practice very kindly, their take is that the fact we had a waiver signed meant we knew it was unsafe to do), we want the job, and we want you to be happy with it, but not at the risk of hurting or killing someone.

If you want any more info on the ins and outs of hiring a Ferris wheel, drop us an email, or pick the phone up, we are quite happy to talk to you about it without obligation.

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Event Planning, funfair events, Funfair Rides

Mack Rides Gmbh, A Manufacturer Profile

21 March 2021

A German entry into our manufacturer series today. This company can trace their roots back to 25 year old Paul Mack who began building wagons and barrows in the German town of Waldkirch in 1780.

His son took over in 1787, and diversified into building stagecoaches, as well as building pipe systems and drilling wells.

Showmen’s Wagons

Mack continued to expand and build wagons, stagecoaches etc. By 1880 they began to receive commissions to build showmen’s living wagons, as well as parts for rides in the growing amusement ride arena and stalls for showmen.

Roller Coaster

In 1921 Mack built it’s first wooden roller coaster. Built for Siebold & Herhaus the ride first operated in Switzerland before touring Europe. It’s first car ride followed in 1936 and a bobsled ride in 1951. By this time the company had a steadily growing export business to the United States.

Classic Rides

The company created a number of well known classics, including the Music Express (a caterpillar type ride), Sea Storm and Wild Mouse coaster.

Their client list pretty much covers the globe, with Mack rides both old and new operating both on travelling funfairs and fixed parks.

From Builders To Operators

The Mack family visited the United States in the 70′, seeing the amusement parks over there were inspired to build their own. They purchased the park attached to the historical Balthasar castle in Rust. The resulting park named ‘Europa-Park‘ opened in 1975. Despite scepticism, it actually had some 250,000 visitors the first year. Rapidly climbing to over 1 million annually within 3 years. The park is now the largest in Germany, and the second most popular in Europe after Disneyland. It now averages 5.75 million visitors annually. The park has also regularly been voted the world’s best them park.

In its 240 year history, Mack Rides has built a huge number of both travelling funfair rides, and 146 roller coasters, the vast majority of which are still operating.

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Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events

Elmer McCurdy, Bankrobber Who Wouldn’t Die

13 March 2021

Now, we are a corporate entertainments company. We specialise in catering, funfair rides and photography services. So why are we posting about a little known bank robber from the days of the Wild West?

Well, read on to hear about a macabre tale of how the star of our tale, ended up as an exhibit on a travelling carnival show.

A brief bio shows that McCurdy was born on 1st January 1980 to an unmarried mother, and an unknown father (allegedly his mothers cousin).

He joined the army in 1907 as a machine gun operator and received (minimal) training in the use of nitroglycerin. Which for those who don’t know is an explosive compound used in the early years for blowing things up.

The Robbery Years

McCurdy decided to incorporate his explosive training into his outlaw activities. Sadly like many an idiot, his skill with the stuff fell short of what any semi competent bank robber required. Indeed many of his robberies were marked by him blowing the safe and its contents to smithereens. A case of “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off”, as a certain Mr Caine would later remark.

After his final robbery he was tracked down by a posse, and whilst being drunk was killed in the shootout.

Embalming

Now this is the point where the tale would normally end. If he was a particularly famous outlaw, he might have ended up in the famous Boot Hill cemetery. More likely being a third rate clown, he would have been dumped into a paupers grave, unmarked and unloved.

For one of those reasons lost in time. The body was taken to Joseph L. Johnson, an undertaker in Pawhuska Oklahoma. Here it was embalmed with arsenic, shaven, dressed and stored in the back of the funeral home.

The body remained unclaimed, and the undertaker, unhappy at working for nothing decided to exhibit the body to earn a little money on it. Variously known as the Embalmed Bandit, the Oklahoma Outlaw and The Man Who Wouldn’t Die. Johnson charged a nickel a visit.

The Carnival Con

It would have remained an obscure and quickly forgotten piece of folklore. If it wasn’t for James and Charles Patterson, owners of the Great Patterson Carnival Show.

They turned up claiming to be McCurdy’s brothers. Having already gained permission from the local sheriff, they took possession of the body to give it a ‘proper’ burial in San Francisco.

Instead they redirected it to Arkansas City in Kansas. The erstwhile McCrudy was exhibited as ‘The Outlaw Who Would Never Be Captured Alive.’

Museum Of Crime

In 1922, Patterson sold his carnival to a Louis Sonney. He exhibited a travelling museum of crime, featuring wax replicas of famous bandits and outlaws.

The exhibited corpse accompanied the official sideshow that toured the country with the first Trans-American footrace, a multi day race across the USA.

Narcotic, The Movie

The corpse had a slight diversion when it was used by a director, Dwain Esper to promote his exploitation film titled Narcotic. It was actually placed in the entrances to theatres as The Dead Dope Fiend. A bandit who supposedly died robbing a chemist to support his drug habit.

Sonney died in 1949 and Elmer McCurdy was placed in storage in a warehouse in L.A. It made a brief appearance in another film in 1967 called She Freak. making him I suppose more successful than many an actor who only appeared in one film.

By 1968 he had moved on again. This time to Spoony Singh, owner of a wax work museum, and was exhibited at Mount Rushmore. He was a little worse for wear by this time, with the tips of his ears, fingers and toes being blown off.

He then moved to his last exhibition gig, being placed inside a funhouse at the Pike Amusement zone in California. Making him unusually well travelled for a corpse.

Rediscovery

Our intrepid hero’s story came to an end in 1976. The Six Million Dollar Man, remember that one, Steve Austin, who ran really quickly in slow motion, was being filmed at the Pike. A prop man moved what he took to be a wax figure hanging from a gallows.

Unfortunately it happened to be Elmer McCurdy, and in being moved his arm promptly fell off. The worker saw that human bone and muscle was visible in what was left of the arm and realised it was a human corpse.

Police were duly called and the figure transported to a coroner’s office. A doctor conducted an autopsy and concluded, quite correctly, that it was of a male who had died from a gunshot wound.

Inside the corpses mouth was a ticket stub for Louis Sonneys Museum of crime. Dan Sonney was contacted and confirmed the identity of our hero. A forensic specialist was also called in, who using techniques to identify corpses confirmed the identity.

Boot Hill

On 22nd April 1977, Elmer McCurdy was transported to the Boot Hill cemetery in Guthrie Oklahoma and laid to rest at a service attended by 300 people. He was buried to Bill Doolin, another Old West outlaw. To ensure he stayed put this time, he was entombed in two feet of concrete.

If you look at the map of his travels, you will see he travelled coast to coast.

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Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events, Funfair Rides

Funfair Rides, FAQ’s

12 March 2021

Another of our series of attempts to answer some of the questions we have happened across on the internet, as well as those we seem to be asked regularly.

Can I Go On Rides When I Am Pregnant

It depends on the ride. Some of the more sedate rides shouldn’t be any more problematic than a trip on a train or bus. We wouldn’t however recommend going on something that turns you upside down or inside out. In short, you need to use that rarest of skills, common sense.

Are Funfair Rides Safe

Well, it depends who you listen to. There was a guy on the go in the 90’s who had set his own safety organisation up. He used to have plenty to say about unsafe fairgrounds. Funnily enough, he never mentioned them, until he formed his safety group and demanded that the funfair industry pay him for inspections. When they refused he went on a campaign against the industry. Demanding amongst other things daily safety inspections by the operators of the rides, and annual inspections by engineers. Weird thing at the time was that we were already doing that.

The Health & Safety inspectorate have long been in charge of overseeing safety at the funfair. Their opinion, is that you are more likely to die from a shark attack, or being struck by lightening, than killed on a funfair ride. In fact they estimate the chance of it happening as 1 in something like 83 million.

How Much Are Funfair Rides

That depends whether you mean to ride on them or to buy one.

Nowadays a typical ride costs between £1 and £2 a ride. Some of the larger fairs or festivals tend to be more expensive. There are also a handful of rides that are fairly unique and as a result tend to command a higher price for a ride.

Danters Air, One Of Only A Handful Of This Type Of Ride

If you mean how much to buy a ride. Then it depends on what you want to buy. A second hand Miami type ride can be picked up for probably £50K. Something like a giant wheel can be upto the £5 million mark. Roller Coasters as much as some small nations annual GDP.

What Is The Most Popular Funfair Ride

Dodgems, the dodgems and definitely the dodgems. By a huge margin all of our records show that dodgems are the most requested ride. This is true for events such as weddings, as well as corporate events, festivals and parties.

Second are the tamer thrill rides such as Twist and Miami, but they are definitely playing second fiddle.

Carousels occasionally put in an honourable mention, but it tends to be mainly at weddings, where they make a great photo opportunity.

Can I Go On A Fairground Ride If I Am Disabled

There is no real reason you can’t. The problem tends to be access.Legislation was brought in requiring business’s to take reasonable steps to alter their premises to enable disabled access. Unfortunately there aren’t any reasonable steps to alter a funfair ride for this. Any major alterations of this type would require a complete set of engineering drawings and stress calculations drawing up, then a design review by qualified engineers to ensure the alterations are safe. In some cases this could cost more than the ride is actually valued at.

This doesn’t mean you can’t ride them though. Any professional operator will be happy to provide assistance in getting the less abled onto their ride.

How Old Do Kids Have To Be To Go On The Rides

Well, that depends on the ride. For the really little ones, talking toddlers here, you are best sticking to something like the teacups Children’s Ride or toytown ride, the parents can usually ride with the kids so they are kept safe.

When you start getting on to the bigger stuff, they tend to have a height board. Usually your kids will need to be the minimum height to ride. Please, please, please respect this. The amount of arguments we have ended up in over the years, because someone wants their under height kid to be allowed a ride, is ridiculous. Look, we want your money. If we are stopping your kid riding, it isn’t to be a killjoy. It is to ensure they aren’t hurt and our insurance costs don’t go up. Your claim that you will take responsibility if they are killed, doesn’t actually offer us much protection in a court of law.

Stick to funfair rides like this, if you have little kids. Oh, and accompany them. I well remember one mother trying to jam her 6 month old baby in such a position that it didn’t flop forward and fall off. If the kid isn’t old enough to hold itself up, it isn’t old enough to ride alone.

Can I Join The Fairground If I Buy A Ride

Theoretically you can. Most large funfairs are run by members of the Showmen’s Guild Of Great Britain. To attend them you have to be a member of the organisation. At one time, unless you were either born to existing members, or married one, you weren’t allowed to join. This closed shop was stopped by legislation meaning it is open to anyone to join. If you are interested in becoming a member you can find details to join the Showmens Guild here.

However the reality is, that at most events the same families have owned the rights to the individual ride plots for generations. To buy one you need to be in a position to know they are for sale. As quite often this is discussed at social events, ie. down the pub. Unless you are part of the crowd you tend not to be involved. Some newer events the plots are advertised, but again, the operators in charge tend to stick with established family names they are familiar with. So before ponying up a large cash advance to join the Guild, I would think carefully. You are likely to have more success on a roulette wheel, or the local horse races than operating your on funfair rides.

Showmen’s Guild Logo

Are Bumper Cars Different To Dodgems

Nope, they are exactly the same ride. In the North East they tend to be called bumper cars, the rest of the UK prefer dodgems. The actual historic name is dodgems, as in you dodge the other cars.

That lot up in the North East tend to be a hardy lot, so smashing into each other is probably more fun.

If you have any other questions about funfair rides, feel free to add them in the comments and we will try and answer them.

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Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events, Funfair Rides

The Carousel, History Of An Iconic Ride

11 March 2021

Many of the rides still travelling on funfairs have been around for decades, in some cases over 100 years. Others are relatively new designs, but have still achieved iconic status. One such ride is the carousel, the first of the rides we are going to take an in depth look at.

Early History

Much of Europe and the Middle East have a long history of jousting. Knights would gallop in circles whilst tossing balls to each other, a demonstration of their skill and horsemanship. The actual word carousel takes its origins from the Italian Carosella meaning little battle, which was an exercise used by Arabian and Turkish horsemen to prepare for actual battle. essentially a training mechanism to prepare and strengthen the riders sword play.

Eventually as medieval jousting gave way to the cavelry era, this was replaced with demonstrations and spectacles that had the rides spearing suspended rings.

Eventually even the commoners began to play the game, and rudimentary carousels began to be set up at fairgrounds across Europe. An early make believe carousel with wooden horses was set up in Paris, at the Place Du Carousel for children.

The Modern Carousel

The forerunner to the modern carousel, was what in the UK is termed a dobbie set. Much like a carousel, but with one important feature lacking. The horses didn’t have an up and down motion. They were either suspended on poles, or fastened to the platform, and though they would rotate in the same manner, they lacked the galloping. They also tended to be much smaller that the rides we are used.

Then Came Steam

The first of the two breakthroughs that led to the ride we all know and love today came around 1861. Invented by a gentleman called Thomas Bradshaw, who built a ride that was powered by a steam engine. This allowed a much bigger structure, with crucially more riders. One newspaper of the time remarking that it moved with such impetuosity that the wonder was the riders not being shot off like cannonballs.

Then Came Frederick Savage

The final piece of the puzzle came from an English engineer. Frederick Savage was a builder of agricultural machinery. Who, for reasons unknown decided to branch out into the design and production of funfair rides.

By the 70’s (the 1870’s that is), he was exporting funfair attractions all over the world. He experimented with various designs, and at one point came up with the ‘Sea-On-Land’ a nautical themed attraction, that used an offset crank system to pitch and roll the boats on the roundabout.

When he took this new idea and married it to a steam powered carousel to give the horses the motion they lacked, he created what he called the platform gallopers. Steam powered organs were often installed into the centre of the ride to give it the classic carousel design, that isn’t that much changed today.

Our American Cousins

Across the pond, it was immigrants that developed the Carousel. Including Charles W.F. Dare from England and Gustav Dentzel of Germany. A number of differnent manufacturers appeared, all with differing styles, Looff had reaslitcally painted saddles, whilst the Coney Island style had elaborate jeweled saddles from the likes of Dentzel, Herschell’s and Spillman’s often having no saddles at all. Their machines tended to be large and elaborate, highly decorated affairs.

One curiosity is the direction of travel. In the U.K., a carousel, in common with most rotating rides moves in a clock wise motion. Whereas in the States and Europe it goes the opposite way.

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Catering, Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events

Hey, Do You Know This About French Fries

9 March 2021

The humble potato. Cultivated in the America’s around 10,000 years ago, then brought to Europe in the 16th century by the Spanish. One of the most versatile foods available. Can be served boiled, roasted, mashed, or as is the case here, as French Fries.

In these fair isles we more commonly refer to them as chips, rather that the Yankee ‘fries’. This evidently dates back to 1769 and actually referred to fruit chips. To further confuse the matter, our American brethren, call crisps, chips.

They can be crisp, or soft, indeed the British traditionally eat them soggy with vinegar and wrapped in old newspaper.

The Variety Of Potato We Use

The idaho Russet Burbank is commonly used by fast food chains. Developed by Luther Burbank, a plant breeder. Initially unpopular, growers cottoned on to the fact that it produced large potatoes that could be marketed as baking potatoes. Then the explosion of fast food chains further increased its use.

The Best Fries Are Fried Twice

The potato is cut into strips. Traditionally it was peeled first, but now is often enjoyed unpeeled as this retains beneficial vitamins. Soaking in water removes the surface starch. Missing this step will result in a soggy, mushy chip due to the starch blocking the evaporation of moisture from the vegetable.

The best results are obtained using the two bath method. First they are blanched by being submerged in hot fat at 160C. Then briefly fried in hotter fat at 190C, to crisp them. They are drained ,salted and served.

Vegetable oil is used for frying, though originally beef suet or as one fabulous chip shop in Yorkshire still uses, beef dripping. Indeed if you are ever in the vicinity of Sturgate airfield it is well worth a visit. In fact, you can fly into Sturgate airstrip and visit the chippie.

Five Guys just had to be different, they fry theirs in peanut oil.

French Fries Might Not Be French

The French, Belgians and Spanish all claim the invention of French Fries. Though no one really knows the truth. The French claim is that they originated from street vendors in the vicinity of the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris.

The Spanish were the first to bring them into Europe so claim they also invented chips.

And the Belgian claim is that they are quite close to France and people confused their invention with a French one. In fact, they are so upset by France claiming them, that they have petitioned UNESCO to claim official heritage status for ‘their’ dish of fries and mayo.

Thomas Jefferson Introduced Them To America

President Jefferson worked abroad as American Minister to France. Whilst their he sampled the delights of the culinary masterpiece. When he returned home and became President, his chef James Hemings continued to cook them for him.

A Typical American Eats 30 Pounds A Year In Fries

Think about that. That’s the weight of a small child. Your gonna need a hell of a lot of ketchup to go with that. Look guys we all love fries, but 30lb seriously?

Charles Dickens Wrote About Fries

Yup, one of history’s most celebrated authors actually alluded to fries in his novel, ‘A Tale Of Two Cities’. He called them husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil. TBF he also wrote about dozens of breakfast foods, dinners and pints of beer. Turns out he was a bit of a foodie at heart.

Fries Are Little Kids Favourite Vegetables.

A study by the Journal of Nutrition found they were the most commonly consumed vegetable for young children. A published study by the way. I mean, you needed to waste ink and paper to discover this, come on guys. A Sunderland fan who wasn’t in possession of the communal brain cell could have told you this without wasting energy on research.

They Are Actually Healthier Than You Think

No, we aren’t saying they are healthy compared to say a salad or something. But being a potato, they actually include vitamins B6,C, magnesium and iron. So they do have some nutritional benefits.

Congress Changed The Name To Freedom Fries.

When the operation to invade Iraq was being planned. France refused to join in. Probably on account of not being allowed to be in charge.

Jed Babbin, a former deputy undersecretary of defense stated that going to war without the French, would be like going hunting without an accordian. You are just leaving a lot of noisy useless baggage behind!

To further underscore their displeasure. Congress changed the name on their in house menu’s to freedom fries, and dropped the French from the name. They would have liked to have rolled this change out across the States, but as the war fell out of favour, so did the name.

It was quietly changed back in 2006.

Burn Those Calories Baby

A medium portion of McDonalds French fries would require 47 minutes of high impact aerobics or 58 minutes of cycling to burn off. One ‘professor’ suggested that a proper portion of fries should be around six. Really, just six fries, just goes to prove what planet professors are living on.

For the 224 calories you are consuming you could also have 1.4kg of celery, 385g of apples, 588g of broccoli, 102g of canned tuna or 3 boiled eggs or a 51g piece of cheese.

Nah, we’ll stick with the fries.

Thick Or Thin

Traditional British ‘chips’ or what some called steak cut fries are actually a healthier option compared to the skinny fries typical of a fast food joint. The greater the surface area of a chip, the more oil is absorbed. So weight for weight, skinny fries have much greater surface area, therefore they will be higher in calories and fat.

Fries Aren’t Just Fries

There are actually something like about 18 different types of fries. From the thick cut steak chips, to curly fries, tornado fries, waffle fries and more.

Some People Put Sugar On Their Fries

Different nationalities eat their fries in different ways. In Vietnam they sprinkle them with sugar. The Belgians and Dutch slather mayo on. Americans love their Ketchup. The South Korean’s add honey and butter (really).

Personally we think nothing beats good old salt and vinegar.

Fries Have Been Tested For Use In Space

E.S.A., the European Space Agency teamed up with Greek researchers to test making fries in a centrifuge. What they discovered was that as gravity increases, the fries get crisper. In fact perfect fries would need gravity three times that of Earth.

Sadly the microgravity found in space means they would be a soggy mess, so no fries on that trip to Mars unfortunately.

If you are planning an event, we can offer you both French fries, and dirty fries. Or even spiral fries.

Resources;

Freedom Fries

Fries In Space

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Event Planning, funfair events, Funfair Rides

PWS Rides, A Manufacturer Profile

7 March 2021

Another of our profiles of amusement manufacturers. This one is actually UK based, and both manufactures and refurbishes a range of adult rides. In terms of sales and range of products it is more restricted than many of the big Italian and Dutch marquees. It is however highly regarded within the industry, especially the home market.

The company takes its name from the founder, Perrin William Stevens, who during the 1970’s built and sold rides around Europe, and even as far as the States.

Nowadays they have factories in both England and Poland, and as well as building new rides, they also refurbish older rides and equipment. Their specialities are Twists, Dodgems, Extremes and the Frogs.

PWS Sizzler Twist

One of its mainstays is the sizzler twist. This is much the same ride as the Eli Bridge ‘Scrambler’, but the PWS version is a more hi tech take on its American cousin. It is also designed to fold up onto its transport trailer, so is bigger, and more highly decorated than the Eli version.

The Extreme

Another of the rides PWS are known for. The Extreme is an update on an older ride called the orbiter. The seats were changed to a version where the riders legs dangled, giving a more thrilling feel to the motion.

Super Trooper

Another revamp of an existing ride. Paratrooper type rides have been around since the 1960’s. Originally they were built at a fixed angle. This meant the ride had to be rotated one car at a time to load and unload the passengers. Then the lifting paratrooper made an appearance. As the ride ended it was hydraulically lowered to the ground allowing all of the cars to load at the same time.

The Super Trooper took this in a new direction. The ride started on the floor to be loaded, then once active would rise into the air, it could then operate both horizontally, and tilt to give the classic paratrooper motion.

Refurb

PWS also have a steady business refurbishing and updating many of the older rides still in operation. A revamp can give a ride a new lease of life. Keeping it competitive with the newer thrill rides permeating the fairgrounds of today, whilst keeping the cost affordable.

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Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events, Funfair Rides

Weird Carnival Rides, The Flying Cars

6 March 2021

Over the years there has been some way out and wacky rides designed for the funfair industry. Some have worked and became classics. Others were either too unreliable, vomit inducing or just downright dangerous. The flying cars could be argued to be dangerous as it did in fact kill someone. However the someone failed to fasten their safety belt so its an arguable case.

The ride was something quirky. The drum rotated and the cars were fixed to the track, similar to a roller coaster. The cars had a brake pedal which clamped the car to the track causing it to climb the drum. Once it had climbed you released the brake to allow it to fall back down and up the other side. Eventually you built enough momentum up to go 360 around the full drum.

The Ride In Action

Unfortunately someone failed to fasten their seatbelt and was killed in the fall which resulted in the ride being removed. Modern technology would probably solve that problem now with interlocked safety bars and the like.

There was records of a second, double drum flying cars ride being built for Conklin’s Carnivals, but scant records exist of that model or any other rides.

The ride was built by a German manufacturer, but despite the wonders of the world wide web, we have been unable to find out which particular one.

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Catering, Event Planning, Fun Story

Dam Raider Gin & Mosquito Vodka

4 March 2021

We use a wide range of suppliers for our catering operations. Many of them are major catering suppliers, however we do like to use small boutique companies where possible.

One such supplier is a small batch distillery that produced a range of gins, and a vodka.

Coastal Distillery

Based in the small coastal town of Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire. The company has an unusual history, being formed by a printer and an undertaker. They shared an interest in the drinks industry and a love of unconventional design.

Dam Raider Gin

Wanting to draw upon the rich RAF heritage of the region, they launched a gin as their first product. Named after the famous 617 squadron of operation Chastise fame. The famous dam busting raid in case you weren’t following. Contrary to popular misconception, they weren’t christened the ‘Dam Busters’, that was a film. They were actually known as ‘Dam Raiders’.

The bottles are fabulous, the front contains an image of the famous Lancaster bomber flying over RAF Scampton. The rear an extract from an actual pilots log book.

A donation from every bottle sold is also made to the International Bomber Command Centre and Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre. Home to the squadrons that flow out of RAF Woodhall Spa during the war.

Mosquito Vodka

Their other aviation related product is a vodka offering, named after the De Havilland Mosquito twin engined plane of WWII fame. This wooden wonder could fly faster that most fighter planes. It was used as a night fighter, fast bomber, pathfinder and reconnaissance airplane.

Again the rear of the bottle contains an extract from a pathfinder squadron crew member. The neck tag contains an airman’s poem tied to the bottle with genuine WWII parachute silk.

We tend to use these on our gin bars, especially when providing services at the many military functions we attend.

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