Wednesday 9 October 2013

Roll up, Roll up ...

The fair is coming to town ...

Every year, on the two Saturday each side of October 11th, the Fair comes to town. My lovely High Street is closed at midday on Friday and the trucks roll in. They spend all afternoon banging and screwing and throwing bits of kit about, and somehow the street is transformed into a fairground. By Saturday it is full of children and balloons and thumping music, strobe lights, the smells of old cooking oil and fried onions. Which brings out the child in me - it is rather wonderful.

This year I took a trip along the street last Friday afternoon, while the whole thing was taking shape. And began to see some of the problems faced by the men (it is always men) putting these rides up. For our High Street is on a slope. And the rides have to be horizontal ... and so they must devise safe, secure ways to make sure everything stays upright.

Some are secured by a game of Jenga:


This looks a little sturdier, I'm sure it will be fine once it's checked with a spirit level:


I couldn't work out quite how the helter-skelter was kept upright - but it wasn't blowing in the wind, so it must be fine:


And this ride - which is one that throws everyone around until they vomit - relies on some interesting poles:


At the end of all that - don't you just want to:


12 comments:

  1. I want to come to the fair! Oh I don't fancy the jenga one. I hope you'll have lots of photos to show us after the event. This week end I'm going to visit the venue daughter has booked for her wedding,it's a big country house so should be lovely.

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    1. I don't have pics of the thing in full flight - so hard to get good pics with all the movement and the flashing lights, they give my little camera a headache! Enjoy the wedding investigations!

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  2. Dear Jo, what fun to have a fair right there in your High Street. I wonder where the traffic goes when all the fair rides take over. Love the Freak Out sign.

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    1. Maybe I should take a photo of the traffic. That would be easy - it crawls through side streets. Not a day to go anywhere in a hurry!

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  3. He he...I'd keep a look out for the health and safety guy! Lol

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    1. I think health and safety must look the other way, for once!

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  4. Ooh, never thought to wonder how fairground rides are kept up! Something else to worry about now :)

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    1. None of them have fallen over in the last thirty years, Jenny, so they must be fine ... I think ...

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  5. WE have loads of fairs on Harpenden Common - I often wonder if the rich tories who bought their sumptious houses round the outskirts were aware of how many roll up. Currently we have Cottle's Circus too. DD loved the fairs --always went on the scariest rides. I live seeing them at night, when the lights create a chiroscuro'd tapestry.Beautiful. As for the freaks...historically, fairs always had a ''freak show''. Now we have Big Brother and Britain's Got Talent. hahaha

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    1. Our fair goes back to the old Hiring Fairs - and most of our mansions are well away from the mayhem of the High Street! (Oh yes, we have our Tories too!)

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  6. I thought you must be joking when I saw the pics, but then I realised you weren't. You mean people actually get on these rides after seeing all that? I'm all for a bit of excitement, but surely safety should be paramount, don't you think?
    I am a wee bit biased though, as I was on Margate's roller coaster when it came off the rails. (not my idea of fun at all!)

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    1. When it's all flying, nobody notices the Jenga holding it up. And we've had no accidents in the thirty years I've been here, so I must assume it's ok - but I'm really sorry to hear you were on the Margate roller coaster, do hope you're ok.

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