As the full effects of the ‘Rona’ started to become apparent, we pretty much decided to write 2020 off, and expect to lose a god chunk of 2021. August surprised us when out of nowhere we suddenly picked up a number of bookings, about 12 in total. Well down on the usual 60 or so w would do that month, but still a nice surprise.
Sadly we were excited for all of a week, by which time we started losing events, ending up back down to 5, as they were steadily cancelled. Oh well, thats 5 more than we had expected.
One event which did actually take place was a closing down party for Superflora. Part of a giant Dutch conglomerate, the factory at Holbeach in Lincolnshire was closing and production being moved to Hull. Quite possibly to take advantage of the Hull-Rotterdam ferry services, seeing as the business brought flowers from Holland to be repackaged for sale in garages, supermarkets etc.
Catering Lines
A line of catering carts
They were very keen to have a selection of catering options, so after a bit of discussion we settled upon mini doughnuts, French fries, candy floss and popcorn, churros and frankfurters. Catering for 200 to allow plenty of spare if necessary.
Personalisation
Branded Doughnut Flags
Playing around with our branding tools we supplied personalised napkins, little flags in the doughnuts and branded each cart front up.
More Branding
Thrill Rides
They also wanted some traditional funfair rides, so we supplied a nice dodgem track and twister thrill ride.
Twister RideDodgems
Covid Secure
Like all events at the moment we took great care with our covid precautions. The catering units all had full length sneeze guards. Our staff treated the surfaces and touch points with Zoono 30 day anti microbial. Hand sanitisation stations were provided at each attraction.
Our Boris Said, Social Distancing Jackets
The event went off without a hitch. Becoming however rather poignant. Many of the staff breaking in down in tears as it drew to a close, some of them had been there 15 years. Their friendship circles and daily lives being built around it. It’s also not the best time to be looking for a new job, with the virus and all.
One of our most popular attractions at events is our range of compact sidestall hire. With a range of Victorian games from the iconic traditional hook a duck and coconut shie. To modern treats such as mini basketball and knock the cans off the shelf. All of our games can be custom branded, as the examples here show on a recent job for Amazon.
Possibly the simplest game ever. Catch a duck to win. If you need to make it harder then we can mark some of the ducks as winners to reduce the odds. This is ideal for the kids but tends to be a bit simple for most adults.
This one adds a bit of skill into the mix, on the surface its quite simple, throw a ball into the bucket. However the catch is, the ball needs to stop in, harder than it sounds.
Another of the olde tyme favourites, knock a coconut off with a wooden ball. On some traditional fairgrounds the coconuts would be made out of either wood or metal painted to look like wood. Ours are actual coconuts so you have a chance of winning.
This one is a little different to the others. More of a traditional village game, it is oh so simple to play, but fiendishly difficult to win. The operator drops a toy rat down the drainpipe, as it shoots out of one pipe into the other you need to whack it with the bat. Thing is rats don’t really like being whacked. So as a result they move fast, like a, well, like a rat down a drainpipe. So you need to move like Jason Bourne to actually hit one.
Cans Off The Shelf
Tin Can Alley
One of our harder games. Easy in concept, you just knock the cans off the shelf. But due to the weight of the cans, and the lightness of the balls, you need to really wind up and throw.
Ball In A Milk Churn
Amazon Branded Ball In A Milk Churn
These fall in the mid range for difficulty. You just need to throw one of the baseballs into the top of the churn. We can adjust the throwing distance to make it easier or harder.
Covid Secure
Sanitisation Station
In line with the current situation we are all dealing with, all of our stalls come with hand sanitisation stations attached, allowing the players to ensure they remain safe from the virus. Additionally all of the surfaces on the stalls are treated with Zoono, 30 day anti microbial treatment, which actively destroys the virus on contact. This is to ensure that sidestall hire is offered safely for your event.
Like most of the rest of the events industry, our previously full order book for 2020 disappeared literally overnight due to the pesky little microbe doing the rounds. Like all of our compatriots in the industry we sat and wondered if we would ever work again, and if so when. So when we suddenly started picking up bookings for August it was both a godsend and a worry.
A godsend obviously as we would be earning again. A worry about how things were going to be under the ‘new normal’ as it is being called. The first of the jobs to arrive was for a previously regular client, Amazon. Usually through the year we do a mixture of work ranging from handing out catering goodies during Prime and peak periods, to providing a full fairground for their summer barbeque.
The first job was giving popcorn out at one of the Northern fulfillment centres. We had done the same thing a number of times over the years at the same centre so usually this would be a nice easy repeat job. However after talking with the client and doing our own research we put together a package of anti Covid-19 measures.
Catering Carts
Covid-19 Screening
The first change was to install clear polycarbonate screening on the carts we use to separate our staff from the guests. Although we could still interact with them to a degree, it did feel weird and somehow strangely disconnecting. Usually we engage in a bit of banter and joking, but this felt more ‘institutionalised.’
Zoono Anti Microbial
Zoono 30 day surface treatment
After researching most of the sanitisation options, we settled on Zoono. Not a cheap option, this bonds a film to the surface of whatever you spray it on that lasts for upto 30 days. The product actively kills virus molecules after application, rather than just during the cleaning process. For complete safety our standard operating procedure is to apply it at the start of each job. We also use their hand sanitiser, which creates a similar barrier on your hands, this time lasting for 24 hours.
Boris Says, Hands – Face – Space
Sanitisation Stations
The carts have a hand sanitiser mounted for the guests to use. We also built a number of portable units that can attach to hand rails, counters, carts, rides etc. This means that even when we are using sub contractors we can ensure that all the attractions we supply come with approved sanitisation facilities for the guests and staff.
Personal Protective Equipment
To round off our anti Covid activities, we supply all of our staff with full face shields to help protect them and the guests from each other. These are far more comfortable to wear for extended periods of working than the little face masks that we tried. Well and truly back in the saddle
Working For Queen Victoria. A lot of people think that corporate entertainment is a relatively new industry. The thinking seems to be that the big corporations are relatively young and so it follows that offering them entertainment services must be equally new.
Looking back through our records, one of our earliest private jobs, was provided entertainment to Queen Victoria at Windsor castle. Not me personally I hasten to add. But a couple of generations back in the family. The Millers had a sort of a cross between a circus performance and a variety show. What exactly Queen Vic thought of them isn’t on record anywhere. Hopefully they didn’t get the “We are not amused”, the Victorian era equivalent of no X’s on Britain’s Got Talent.
Corporate Branding
I also came across a picture dating from about 1926, of one of our vehicles that had been branded up for Thorne’s Toffees. I believe it was Henry Thorne & Co. Limited of Leeds, England. The bit of history I could find was;
“From humble beginnings in a mustard and chicory shop in the 1830s, Henry Thorne’s business grew into a leading name in confectionery. Them having similar Quaker roots to Cadbury, Terry and Fry; by the time the 1960s rolled around, the Thorne business was producing over two million pieces of confectionery a day.
This lasted until 1971 the business closed with the factory being demolished. Thornes, and their distinctive slogan The World’s Premier Toffee, had their factory in the middle of Leeds. Next to the old bus station – now wasteland being used as a car park.”
Early Branding For Thornes ToffeesA Selection Of Thorn’s Toffees, Along With Spot The Dog
Myth Busters on the funfair. Growing up in a funfair community, before making the move into full time corporate entertainment. I came across over the years some stunning examples of ignorance concerning our industry.
I will attempt to expel some of the most common, and in same cases hilarious examples I have personally been witness to.
Be Careful They Don’t Steal Your Kids
I think this is a holdover from people thinking we are gypsy’s. As I have heard the same comments directed at them. As far as I can find out from a medical point of view, people brought up on the fairground, have the same levels of fertility as the wider community. So why an earth does any rational person think we need to steal kids. The community also being extremely tight knit, wasn’t really very accepting of outsiders. So anyone magically acquiring a kid they had purloined from the outside world would find it very quickly ostracised.
As an aside, there have been occasional cases in the news where people have abducted children from hospitals etc, and been caught. To the best of my knowledge, none of these people have ever had a connection with our industry. So perhaps we have more to fear for our kids being stolen than the other way around.
All The Men On The Fairground Have Tattoos
Hmm, looking at the popular media portrayal of the fairground worker you would think so. Only we don’t, tattoos are considered about on par with halitosis or scabies, you don’t want them. The actual fairground owners just don’t have tattoos. Dave, who you met on the waltzers will almost certainly have them. But here’s the thing, Dave is a local lad that has been employed to help on the rides. He is one of you, not one of us.
The Lads On The Fair Will Steal Your Girlfriend
This is one that I have to hold my hands up and admit has more than a grain of truth. To some teenage girls the bright lights and big rides seem exotic. And there are many cases of hook ups between said young ladies and guys on the fair. It was usually followed the next day by punch ups between irate boyfriends and guys on the fair.
When The Fair Is In Town Crime Goes Up
This is a persistent one that we could never seem to shake off. Some towns we visited would see many of the shops close the week we were there. It’s a stark contrast to the continent, where the fairs and the local chamber of commerce and shops all work together. Indeed on many Dutch Fairgrounds, the shops will sponsor prizes for the best ride or attraction.
I once asked a local superintendent about this, and what he told me was that in his experience the opposite was true. He said that most of the toerag thieves and druggies tended to visit the fair, rather than be out on the rob, so he claimed a reduction in things like housebreaking.
We Know He Was Off The Fairground Because He Wasn’t Wearing Socks Or Shoes
This was an actual quote made to me by a police officer. We had all arrived to set up in Preston Park for an annual event. A squad car turned up with a couple of young officers in. The officer in charge started enquiring if any of us were missing a member of staff. He explained that a body had been found on the motorway about 20 miles away. When I asked why they thought a random body was anything to do with us, that was his reply. “He wasn’t wearing socks or shoes.” Funny thing, I looked down and all of us had socks and shoes on. Well at least we had shoes, without going round pulling trousers legs up I couldn’t swear to the socks. Obviously the officer in question had failed the intelligence test to become a Unigate milkman and joined the police force instead.
We Have A Large Suspect Pool, It Consists Of Everyone Who Was Working At The Fair
We have endured similar over the years. I once received a message from the police that they would like to interview me. It is only routine they said, but they were interviewing everyone who had attended Stokesly Show Fair due to a young lady being sexually assaulted. I told the female detective that she couldn’t see me that day as I was just leaving to an event in Ripon city centre. “No, probs, I did my probation at Ripon nick, could you pop in and see me, only take a minute.”
I duly popped in, and as I sat down in front of her she told me that I was free to go. Turned out they weren’t actually interviewing people, they had a description and if you fitted it they would arrest you. Just out of interest I enquired as to how they intended to track everyone who had attended the fair to see if they fit the description. “Oh we don’t, we are only interviewing people off the actual fair!”
So there might well have been 100,000 people visit the event. But the suspects were strictly limited to the couple of hundred showmen. Who would actually have been hard at work during the time of the fair. Sometimes in compiling these myth busters I truly despair as to the levels of prejudice.
Harrogate
A similar thing occurred a few years later at the Harrogate stray funfair. It seems that someone had been knocked off of their bike and killed on a country road leading to harrogate. Because that particular week the fair was in town, it was decided by the local Stasi, erm sorry constabulary, that it must be a funfair vehicle that had hit him. I mean, there was at least 20 funfair vehicles used that road on that day compared to only a few thousand non funfair vehicles, so its obvious isn’t it.
Anyway said local force turned up armed with paint scrapers to scrape paint samples from all the vehicles on the fair. I must admit this still annoys me all these years later as I had just had my vehicle resprayed, some two weeks before. Again I asked if the paint vandalism was being carried out on all the local hauliers vehicles. Silly question that I knew the answer to before it was asked.
They Don’t Pay Taxes
Another common misconception that we can use in our myth busters. Oh, if only. If I didn’t pay taxes I would be able to afford that 4 seat Cessna airplane I fancy. Or a nice motor cruiser. Obviously there will be some who don’t declare everything to HMRC. But the proportion will be no different to the wider world who aren’t showmen. I don’t for one minute think there are enough funfair operators fiddling their books to keep all those tax inspectors in employment.
Myth Busters They Just Turn Up And Set Up
In January I used to be able to tell you almost every fair I would be attending that season. There would be an occasional gala I might pick up at the last minute. Or occasionally the weather would cancel a fair and I would manage to secure a plot at an alternative. But by and large the events I attended were regular events. That had in some cases been going on for hundreds of years. Even the smaller events would still need permission from landowners, liaison with the police and other local emergency services, sometimes road closure orders, and all would need the layout and mixture of rides and attractions sorting out well in advance. We also needed to advertise the event in advance to ensure we had enough patrons to make it worthwhile.
I cannot remember in 50 years, once ever just turning up and deciding a plot of land would be nice for an immediate funfair to be opened.
Hopefully we can add some more myth busters to our list in the future.
Sat here locked down, like everyone else, I am looking through the window at a beautiful day. This is turning into one of the nicest years weather wise we have ever seen and the full funfair industry is non existant.
I know some that are struggling with the lockdown, it’s not just financial, but the mental strains are starting to tell, after a friend took his own life at the start of the year, a lot of friends actually started talking more about mental health. What became clear was just how fragile some people are, with an awful lot of friends I know personally on anti-depressants to control their moods. The strain of the lock down is starting to open some cracks up and its worrying.
6 Years Of War
With it being VE day I have sat and thought about what they suffered. Almost 6 years of being at war. Nutcase German pilots visiting nightly with the express intention of dropping a bomb on your head. Loved ones serving in the forces, away from home sometimes for years at a time, and you had no idea from one minute to the next whether they were safe, or some crazed little Japanese man was trying to stick a sword up their harris.
Don’t forget, we didn’t have email, Whatsapp, Facebook or mobile phones then. A husband or father could have been killed, and it might well have been weeks, if not months before you found out. I should imagine every knock on the door, or visit from the postman became a psychological ordeal.
Funfair In The War Years
To a large extent the funfair started the war as it is now, closed. Eventually the government came up with the idea of holidays at home to boost morale, and allowed some limited operations. Some enterprising operators managed to set up inside buildings and operated throughout the period.
In many ways it was actually easier for them than dealing with the virus. With radar and air raid sirens you did have a bit of warning that Franz and his Heinkel were coming to get you. The virus doesn’t afford us the same courtesy.
Today
This should have been one of the busiest days in our calendar, not just the traditional funfairs, but the corporate hire market was well booked up to boot. Obviously nothing will actually go ahead, and for a change we will all be sat doing very little on a bank holiday.
I saw an interview on morning television the other day where the gentleman being interviewed had a clear acrylic ‘Tommy’ sat on his desk. He was asking people to put them in the window for VE day, the funds raised from making them directly supports ex armed forces. Unfortunately it was too late to order one for today, but we have placed an order and will put it in the office window in tribute. As bad as this virus is, I don’t think it can compare to charging into machine gun fire on the beaches of Normandy, or trying to hold Japanese Banzai charges back in Kohima.
They were a tough breed then, woman keeping the family together, little more than kids taking to the skies in Spitfires and Hurricanes to face overwhelming odds in the sky. Sailors on Arctic convoys, braving the twin terrors of wolf packs and weather.
I think in the news recently, Captain Tom, sorry, as he has now become Colonel Tom, exemplifies just what Hitler was facing, poor simple silly sod to think that he had a chance against men like that.
A Commemorative Tommy
A debt of gratitude is owed to all who served 75 years ago. As the NHS front-line are our hero’s today, they are our hero’s of then. VE Day and VJ Day should never be forgotten.
For the Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres. There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England’s foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
Cannabis oil has made quite a launch in the UK recently with
CBD oil becoming a miracle cure for many health issues from skin problems to
anxiety to chronic pain relief. With many people appealing to make the strongest
form of cannabis available in the UK, with little or no luck so far.
From Hemp skin care products to CBD oil a new launch has now come to the UK. Cannabis craft beer. Green Times Brewing has partnered with a Leeds-based Northern Monk to create a 7.2% CBD pale ale which contains cannabis oil.
The pale ale named Green Heathen contains a legal 10mg of cbd oil per pint. This is legal and highly popular. It has been described as having a soft resinous tropical flavours. CBD oil is mean to be packed with natural ingredients meaning that this CBD pale ale should be good for you theoretically. With the boosted liver function that is meant to come with the oil then technically the alcoholic beverage should help process alcohol more efficiently meaning you should recover from drinking faster. There is also anti-inflammatory effects which not also could help speed up your recovery but also make sure your skin stays lush.
Perfect partnership for CBD pale ale
Green Times Brewing and the MD of CBD ultra described their CBD pale ale product as the perfect partnership. The MD said that he is honoured to be working with the ale company and that for more than 10,000 years both beer and cannabis have been used to enhance health and mood so both together is the perfect infused partnership
As well as creating the perfect pale ale that will fly off
the shelves they have helped to boost trade in the little northern area they
are from. This is a perfect way to boost income as well as create new products.
We may even have to get some of this unique and special pale ale to try on our
bar.
A man from Ripley lost his car after a night out in the town. He found it the next day surrounded by a fairground. After driving into town for a night out, and having one too many drinks he then made a conscious decision to leave his car parked and find an alternative way home. He did not however expect to go back the next day to pick his car up and find that the fairground had come into town and was setting up in that exact location. Much to everyone’s amusement the car was found in the center of the fairground and the rides had been built up around the parked car.
There is nothing worse than waking up after a heavy night
drinking to the worst hangover, the kind where you want to lay in bed all day
and pop paracetamol to shake the headache off and eat your body weight in junk
food to make you feel better but for poor forty five year old Martin Ross he
had to get up and trek back into town to pick up his white Lexus and bring it
home.
I could only imagine the fear you must feel when you drag your hungover body to town to walk down the street to find your car parking spot has turned into a full funfair. He said that after the initial scare had worn off he actually found it quite funny. When he was walking down the street and realised the fair was there he said his first thought was that his car had either been clamped or towed away. So once he located the car and realized it was still there and untouched he began to laugh.
Funfair workers find it funny
The fair workers found it a very funny situation but helped
watch him out with the car. The car managed to escape by mounting the kerb and
squeezing in between a tree and bus shelter.
Martin did manage to snap a quick photo of the cars situation to send to his friends and family. One of his friends immediately posted the funny photo and story to a social media page. ‘Spotted in Ripley’ Facebook page and received a lot of attention. One comment said how they thought it was absolutely brilliant, how a man from Ripley lost his car after a night out in the town. They also added how it made their ribs hurt from laughing so much when finding out.
Moral Of The Story of man from Ripley lost his car after a night out in the town
I think the moral of the story here is to make sure that when you’re
parking the car for a night out make sure to check any events in the area the
next day!! There’s nothing worse than a hangover, losing your car and having a fairground
playing loud music around you.
Japan a well-known country for its sea food cuisine and
cherry blossom trees, a far cry from the abandoned wild west theme park that
can be found in the city Nikko, which is
found around 70 miles north of Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
The multi-million pound theme park Western Village that opened in 1970 has been abandoned since 2007. The developers added a new section in 1995 which cost around £20 million featuring a replica of Mount Rushmore. At the end of 2006 they announced they would be closed for maintenance for a few months however it then never opened again
Japan and Wild West…commonly words used together?
Although Japan and Wild West are not words normally used in the same sentence it was a popular place for film sets to take place. It has been said that the abandoned wild west theme park now looks more like a weird horror film set with broken and lifeless robots than a Wild West theme park there are still half empty beer bottles and dust covered shelves still untouched after over a decade of being abandoned.
The abandoned park is home to several buildings now derelict
that include a sheriff’s office, a barbers, a saloon, hotel, a bank and many
more. There was also a photo booth where you could dress up in cowboy fancy
dress and have photos taken with a cowboy background making it look like you
really was in the wild wild west.
Germany Also Home To Wild West Theme Park
Wild West theme parks are very scarce however there is one
in Germany called Frontier Town that’s still going strong and providing to be
very favourable. It has been going for 50 years or so now and offers a cabin
hotel on side. The towns located just outside of Berlin and you can go horse
riding on site as well as watching cowboy shooting shows.
It is a shame that the amusement park has been abandoned as a huge amount of money was poured into it and large scale replicas was made and every detail was fine checked to fit the style. I feel like after being abandoned for so long I feel like it would take a large investment to rebuild this or try and salvage any of it. I also feel like japan and a wild west mash may have led to the down fall I mean when you think of either you don’t think of the other as well do you it’s like black and white, chalk and cheese, night and day. Wild West and japan are total polar vortex differences.
The longstanding and traditional carousel has been given many different face lifts since the first one was built by the Danish carver, Charles I.D Looff in 1876, but all follow a typical form of a revolving platform and wooden seats often carved in the shape of decorated carved horses. This is a standard American and Europe design however this is not the case in China. There has been news reports of how a shopping center has created a Carousel with a twist.
A carousel in China has been filmed, going round with real horses rather than the standard wooden ones and has come under fire by many organisation who have viewed this. The bizarre twist of the traditional fairground ride was found in the Shunagliu Wanda Plaza shopping center in the city of Chengdu and features four live horses harnessed to metal frames around the center pole of the carousel and made to walk around on the motor driven platform. Consumers are charged £5.60 for a four-minute ride.
The ride is advertised as “Different from traditional wooden horses, you can really experience the fun on horseback and let your child indulge. Let you and your child be brave.”
Backlash
The
ride has reportedly received criticism from a number of animal cruelty
organisations who have said that it is unethical to use the horses for this.
However according to the Equestrian Club who owns and operates the ride they
have trainers onsite at all time and the horses only ride for four hours which
gives them plenty of exercise. The horses are harnessed correctly to ensure
peoples safety and ensure the horses don’t run wild.
The
carousel has received mixed reviews with some shoppers saying that its worth
its money and the experience of riding actual horses makes the fairground ride
come alive. Some however have reacted in horror stating that you shouldn’t
normalise animal abuse and justify it to make money out of mistreating animals
and that if you want to experience riding a horse then you can go to a
professional riding stable where the animals are treated freely.
This is similar to the uses of horses back in the day when they were used to pull horses and carts and in the agricultural field. Horses are a lot stronger than we imagine and can be trained to carry out a heavy workload, so maybe allowing them to be rode for four hours a day isn’t too strenuous on the horse, as long as they are being cared for properly and given the opportunity to be free and have space to run around outside of their carousel duties. Alternatively the traditional carousel with wooden horses has always been more than popular and maybe this real makeover is not needed and due to the backlash this has received I feel that other carousel owners will not be adapting their ride to using real horses.
