The equality for women movement has existed for a long time in this country. Logically there isn’t a viable argument to be made for not treating them as equal. OK, there are some niche items, usually involving brute strength where an average man is stronger than an average woman, but I can’t really think of much else.
On the fairground however, things are very different. Women have pretty much been the equal of their men folk, well, forever. Heck, who am I kidding, most of the time they are leading from the front. It’s one of the few industries where the business is usually a genuinely equal partnership between the sexes.
Global Pandemic
As you will see, his was illustrated perfectly when the Covid-19 crisis struck.
Funfairs, like much of the entertainment industry was closed down, and received little in the way of government support.
A few showmen managed to provide some local funfairs, but in many cases, even though the government gave the go ahead for this, the local authorities refused to play ball and promptly closed them down.
True to form, the showmen (and women ) immediately pivoted into a myriad of other lines of work. From delivering parcels to baking cakes to making garden furniture, they needed to feed their families and so just got stuck in.
Showmen’s Guild
Our trade organisation the ‘Guild’ as it is popularly known, has come in for a lot of flak during this time. It is commonly felt that they have neither done enough, nor been seen to be doing enough.
For the former, it’s a debatable point. I am sure that plenty has been going on behind the scenes. However they haven’t done a very good job of communicating this to the members.
When it comes to pushing our case to the wider world, it has to be said that our industry hasn’t been particularly visible either in the traditional media, or just as importantly, on social media.
Step Forward The Ladies
In an attempt to remedy this, a group of ladies from within the industry have decided to step up and take the matter into their own hands. Forming a campaign group known as “Future 4 Fairgrounds”, they have began a PR campaign to try and focus a spotlight upon the plight of our industry.
Future 4 Fairgrounds
They have made excellent use of social media, which, in this day and age is just as important as the traditional media outlets. From regular Facebook posts, to some professionally produced videos on Youtube, there has been a marked increase in our industries online presence.
Coupled with this have been regular appearances of the F4F banners, at various events around the country. Many street fairs have been cancelled due to the crises. At a few, a token children’s rides have attended to maintain the link to the fairs charter. Quite often the ride has proudly sported a banner publicising our plight to the public.
A range of car stickers were also produced and have turned up in some surprising places.
Facebook
Their campaign has been a brilliant addition to publicising our industries plight. The Facebook page at Future4Fairgrounds is fast becoming a valuable resource. Showing just what is happening around the country regarding the funfair industry. The ladies appear to be building some valuable links with M.P.’s and other influential organisations.
Like many traditional industries, ours is going to look very different coming out of the crisis. It’s arguable how much longer we can deal with being totally closed without any help. A lot of showmen may well never get started back up.
Initiatives like the F4F group are going to be more important than ever as we enter the second year of Covid. So good luck ladies, and keep flying high.
Few of the funfair rides you see today are as iconic as Ferris Wheels, or Big Wheels as they are also known.
Taking its name from the wheel built for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893 by George Washington Gale Ferris. Though William Somers installed three fifty foot wooden wheels in 1892 so perhaps they should be called Somers Wheels.
Then again Pietro Della Valle, a Roman traveller wrote of riding a Great Wheel in Constantinople in 1615, so should they be Constantinople wheels or Della Valle Wheels?
Whoever deserves the naming rights, it was George that actually ended up adding his name to one the enduring legacies of the funfair industry.
Lets take a look at some of the weird and wonderful wheels around the world.
The Original Ferris Wheel
The Original ‘Ferris Wheel’ The grandaddy that gave its name to all the others.
The original ‘Ferris’ wheel pictured here was 80.4 metres high, 264ft if you are sticking to olde measures, not sure how many cubits that is if you are even older than Imperial measurements. It was intended to rival the Eiffel Tower which had formed the centre piece of the Paris Exposition. The axle weighing 71 tonne was the world’s largest forging at that time, and the ride had a carrying capacity of 2160 people, unrivalled today Indeed the world’s biggest wheel the Vegas High Roller managing a little over half that.
The Vegas High Roller
Currently The World’s Highest Wheel, The Vegas High Roller
Currently the world’s highest wheel is the Vegas High Roller. At 550ft (158.5 metres, 366.67 cubits) high, this beats the Singapore Flyer by a scant 9ft. Rotating on two custom designed spherical bearings each weighing just under 9 tonnes. The passenger cabins are electrically rotated to maintain a smooth level ride and each weighs 20 tonnes. A wheel currently being built in Dubai should claim the crown as world’s tallest wheel if it ever opens, currently construction is 5 years behind schedule.
The Vienna Riesenrad
The Vienna Riesenrad, The world’s oldest operating wheel.
Located inside the Vienna Prater (the world’s oldest amusement park), the Riesenrad was constructed in 1897. This has unique old fashioned cabins, one of which can be hired complete with dining and a champagne meal.
It was designed by Harry Hitchins and Hubert Cecil Booth, a pair of British engineers, and constructed by Lieutenant Walter Bassett Bassett an English engineer. to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef I. At 212ft high it is nowhere near the ‘big’ wheels out there, but it adds a touch of class all its own.
Also called the Tientsin Eye, this is a mid height wheel at 394ft, what makes it unusual, is that it is the only major wheel actually built on a bridge, in this case the Yongle Bridge, over the Hai River in Tianjin China.
The Osaka Wheel
The Osaka Wheel
This is an oddball in the wheel world. Rather than being round it is an oval shape. The main structure doesn’t move rather the cars move around a track.
The Big O
The Big O Wheel
Situated in the Tokyo Dome City, Japan. This is not only the world’s largest centreless wheel at 200ft high (it has an actual roller coaster built through the middle), it also has a number of cars with karaoke machines fitted. We are not actually convinced that being stuck on a ride for 30 minutes with someone singing badly is a great move.
Baseball Ferris Wheels
The Baseball Wheel
Not particularly large, but certainly novel. Built in Comerica park, downtown Detroit. The location of the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball Team.
The Waggon Wheel
The Waggon Wheel
No, not a biscuit, though legend has it that the biscuit was a similar size before inflation kicked in. This is located in Flamingo Land Amusement park here in the UK. Themed around the iconic plains wagons of old America. YeeeHaaa
The Golden Reel Figure 8
The Golden Reel Figure 8 Wheel
Located in Macau, this is one of the highest wheels in the world. Not due solely to its size, but to the fact that it is actually built to join two hotels together. You board on the 23rd floor, and what makes it even more unique is that fact that it is a figure 8 wheel, having 2 loops does that make it Ferris Wheels?
Royal Tyres Wheel
The Royal Tyres Ferris Wheel
The Uniroyal giant tyre wheel created for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Now located in Michigan this 80ft high wheel was designed by the same firm responsible for the Empire State Building, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon. Driven by a 100hp engine the wheel carries 96 passengers.
John Kormeling Wheel
Drive In Ferris Wheel
Created by the artist John Kormeling, this is one wacky wheel. Instead of gondolas for the passengers, it has flat structures that you actually park you car on, yes, you don’t even have to leave your car to ride this wheel.
The Priyat Big Wheel
The Priyat Wheel
This wheel isn’t particularly tall, or have any unusual features. Oh, except for being quite close to a major nuclear disaster. The wheel is virtually brand new having hardly been used before Chernobyl went tits up. It isn’t one we would recommend visiting, although there are actually companies now running tours to the area around Chernobyl.
Eccentric Wheel
An Eccentric Wheel
These are an uncommon version of the wheel. Instead of the cars being suspended on axles at the ends of the arms, they travel on a track that zig zags inside the main structure, so they slide towards the centre of the wheel then away from it. There was one built in 1920 at Coney Island, and another at one of the Disney parks.
Underground Ferris Wheels
Underground Ferris Wheel
A mere 65ft high and only 6 cars would make this a pretty poor example for Ferris Wheels. Until you consider it is actually underground inside a giant salt mine. Located in Turda, Romania, the mine dates back to the 13th century and is 368ft beneath below ground. I guess that technically makes this the world’s lowest wheel!
We have had the same range of carts for quite a period now for everything from street food carts to weddings. Heck, we average over 500 events a year, so obviously they are popular. Why change when it works?
Thing is during the lockdown, we have had that rare luxury, time. We began looking at many of our competitors, and realised that they are doing things we are not. What is more galling is the knowledge that at one time, we would have been doing them first.
Because of this we have designed and produced a range of removable panels that totally alter the styling of many of our ranges of carts and bar sections.
To this end we eventually did just that, it was for a series of outdoor events, where we were serving 450 jacket potatoes a day, and we felt that the extra room this design allowed us would make it easier to operate.
Street Food Cart Small
Basic Street Food Option
Our first design is a bare bones, patterned plywood unit, meant to look slightly third worldy for a quirky feel.
It was used successfully for a number of the aforementioned jacket potato jobs, as well as doughnuts and hot dogs.
Sticking with the theme, the menu boards and clip art was all held on with mini cloths pegs, and the top sign stencilled with our favourite Sex Pistols font.
Red Ribbed Streetfood Stalls
Red Ribbed Stall
Our next version was made using deep red corrugated panels, this gave a more industrial feel and was used for a number of Hot Chocolate/Hot Dog days at local schools.
Either unit can be used for any of our range of catering options. Indeed it is plenty roomy to add two or three offerings in the same stall.
Over the coming year we intend adding a number of additional options to our street food carts. So keep checking back. Or keep checking our website for more details of street food units.
Thankfully this isn’t one of our tales. The guy involved does contract work for us quite often, and is a good operator, I think here he was just unlucky. Twice.
He was attending a funfair in Ireland with his freakout ride. A bang up to date modern thrill ride, that is both high and fast. Imaging a giant arm with seats attached swinging in a massive arc up into the sky, back down then repeating in the opposite direction.
Well, turns out that the fair he was attending, was already in operation, so he had to pull in and set up in the early hours of the morning. Which, he duly did. Unfortunately it turns out he miscalculated his footprint in the dark, and realised the next morning, in the gloom of daylight, that if he set said ride in operation, it would wrap itself around a tree. Things that collide with trees tend to come off second best.
Due to health and safety restrictions he couldn’t take it back down during the operating hours of the fair, so cue another through the night operation to derig it, move it and set it back up.
Truck Collides With Tree
Attempt Number 2
He duly managed this with a little time to spare before daylight. Adhering to the old adage of measuring twice and cutting once, he had triple checked the swing and was absolutely sure it would miss the tree.
So, come opening hour all was good. Only sadly it wasn’t. Just as he was about to set the first ride off, another operator come running up in a panic, to point out that if his ride (the other operator) and the star of our tale were both to set their respective rides going. It would result in a massive collision of two high speed rides.
Health and safety meant that they couldn’t operate alternately, as the risk of inadvertently setting them both of together was just too great. And once again, he couldn’t derig during the operation of the fair. So our intrepid hero had to sit his second day out.
Attempt Number 3
Our hero, undaunted, worked tirelessly through the night to derig and once again set up. This time away from trees, other operators rides and anything else he could think of.
So as day three dawned he thankfully prepared to at last earn some money.
Sadly, due to rising Covid-19 rates in the area, the council chose that day to close the full event down. And then cancel it. So despite three attempts at setting up, he sadly ended up poorer, but wiser.
We upgraded our hot dog service from regular (boring) ole weiners, to rip roaring gourmet hot dogs. With a range of fun, quirky and delicious toppings. Settling on our final ‘Standard’ menu, we went through a number of trial dogs. Some of our favourites are listed here. Some made the cut some didn’t but all are available on request for your event.
Tex-Mex Dog
Tex-Mex Gourmet Dog
Start with a standard frankfurter. Add a layer of nacho cheese sauce, red jalapeno peppers, sliced of course, and garnished with onions and nachos. Big enough to fill a Texican, well some of them.
Chilli Dog
Chilli Dog
An old favourite this one, a broiled frank, slathered in quality beef chilli, topped with red peppers and garnished with grated cheese.
The John Wayne
The John Wayne
Named after our favourite cowboy, well, there are one or two in the fairground industry we like, but you probably won’t know them. A broiled weiner chopped into sections, slathered in baked beans, garnished with peppers, then finished with your choice of condiments.
Dutch Dog
Dutch Dog
From the land of windmills, clogs, very tall people and erm, slightly dodgy brownies. Ie Holland, or the Netherlands home of the Dutch. Gee it must be awfully cramped over there with 3 lots all living in the same place. This one is a regular frankfurter. Dressed with a mixture of peppers and chopped onions, marinated in mayonnaise. Garnished with poffertjes, those little tiny Dutch pancakes to finish.
The Samurai
The Samurai
From the land of the rising sun, samurais and cooking that can kill you like the puffer fish. Take a frankfurter, place it on a bed of sushi, which contrary to popular belief, isn’t raw fish, its actually vinegar pickled rice. Add a few slices of fish, and garnish with wasabi and soy sauce.
The Floss Dog
The floss dog
Personally I wanted to call this the vomit dog, but I was voted down as it turns out some people actually like it, weirdo’s! One of our finest frankfurters, placed on a bed of bloody candy floss, drizzled with chocolate sauce, I mean chocolate on a hot dog. Then topped with sugar sprinkles. Makes you wanna throw up.
Anyway we have loads of new ideas, so gourmet hot dogs is definitely something we will be expanding in the future.
If you fancy hot dog cart hire without the floss version get in touch.
Originally we were traditional funfair operators. We then started to make the move into organising funfair events. Eventually we reached the point where we decided to specialise purely in corporate and private events. The sort where we don’t charge the guests, the person booking us pays a fixed rate.
But in between the two extremes, we had a period, where we were taking on paid work and traditional festivals, fetes, galas, in fact we would try anything.
Over time we found that only a small percentage of events ended up financially viable, but it was a steep learning curve. Two events in particular stand out from this period.
Peterborough Showground
We were contacted by a gentleman who was putting together a huge event (his words) at Peterborough Showground. This was to raise money for charity, he was expecting in excess of 50,000 people to attend, and the night would be highlighted by a set played by One Direction, fresh from winning whatever reality show they had won.
Arthur and I travelled to meet him. He had the spiel, and he ticked the boxes showing us the contract already signed for One Direction, so it looked pretty good. In hindsight, (that most wonderfully useless of skills) we should have been a teeny bit suspicious of his qualifications to run an event of this scale, when we had to help him jump start his 30 year old clapped out Fiat Panda, because it wouldn’t start. But hey, he might have been one of those eccentric promoters. We have in fairness dealt with multi millionaires before, who looked like a close relation to Greengrass of Heartbeat fame.
We sorted a deal out, and agreed to organise a funfair event on a grand scale, thrill rides, family rides, games stalls, catering, the kitchen sink and all.
The Big Day
I was at another event on the big day. So Arthur, my part time partner in crime was going to be in charge. We had attracted a number of other operators with our enthusiastic selling of the event, so we did have a big selection of equipment set up.
On the morning I received two phone calls. The first was from a mate Graham. He wanted to thank me for letting him attend the festival. As he had this theory you see, that the more portable toilets at an event, the bigger the crowd was going to be. He told me that the toilets were lined up as far as the eye could see, he was already planning his retirement to a Caribbean island based on what he was going to earn.
The Second Call
The second call came from Arthur and was rather more panicked. When I had calmed him down enough to talk rationally he came out with a classic line. “Do you know how many tickets he has sold for this event?”
In fairness I had no idea, I was hoping for something like 40,000 but I thought that really anything over 20,000 would be a major event.
“427”, was Arthur’s now icily calm statement.
“Shit, 427 thousand, the venue won’t take that many people, health and safety will shut us down.” Now I was starting to panic.
“No”, said Arthur, “Not 427 FU***NG thousand, FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN, as in three digits, as in we are in trouble. He thinks that lots of people will just turn up on the day and pay at the gate”
Well, at least I wasn’t there, so Arthur would have to deal with everyone. Graham didn’t talk to me for quite a while after that. I think they ended up with an attendance of about 800.
The moral of the story is never trust a guy in a broken down Fiat Panda.
This Is How Peterborough Felt
Ripon Racecourse
The second, followed a similar pattern. A guy called Simon was putting an event on at Ripon racecourse. Rennie, another part time collaborator, and I went to meet him. He laid out the plans, the army was coming, the navy, airforce, a massive classic car show, giant car boot. Not as impressive as Peterborough, but a nice sized localish event. We agreed terms and shook hands.
Now the night before we were due to set up, I attended an event in Glossop with a couple of children’s rides. One of them which was trailer mounted, had a wheel bearing collapse, and being a Saturday afternoon in a small town, I couldn’t source a replacement.
After the event, the AA refused to recover the trailer and instead got me a quote of £700 to take it the 40 miles back home. Bugger that, I ended up adjusting the towbar to take the weight off the back of the ride, and came home on three wheels. The last leg coming through the centre of Barnsley, I passed more bloody Police cars than I have ever seen, but thankfully whatever was going off kept them too preoccupied to notice my DIY three wheeler.
I arrive At Ripon
Because of the hassles at Glossop, I ended up getting home in the early hours of the morning. Because both Arthur and Rennie were going to be at Ripon, I decided to let them sort the layout of the event out and I would turn up later to set my equipment up.
By the time I arrived at Ripon, it was raining lightly. I rounded the corner and pulled into a field, containing a fair bit of funfair equipment and nothing else. No Army, Navy or Air Force, no car show or giant car boot. WTF
As I jumped out of my lorry, that nutcase Simon ran up, with no shirt on singing ‘Three wheels on my wagon’. I looked at Arthur who smiled, he felt he still owed me for Peterborough. “You’ll have to explain to everyone why there is nothing here and no bloody people this time.” says he.
Oh Lord, “Where is everything Simon, I enquired politely though gritted teeth.”
“Not sure he beamed, thought it would be here by now, but don’t worry.”
“why don’t worry what have you got up your sleeve?” I hopefully asked.
“Well nothing really, but it’s great to be alive. God loves us”, he was still beaming.
It was at that point I decided to move him nearer to God. Thankfully, for him, Rennie and Arthur grabbed an arm each and kept me rooted to the spot, Simon, oblivious to his rapidly shortening life expectancy trotted off to his refrain of singing in the rain.
Killer Swans
When I had calmed down enough for them to let me loose. I looked at them and asked what we were going to do. “Your in charge” said Arthur, “Up to you this time”. He had a matching grin to Simons.
Just at that precise moment, karma decided to intervene. Ripon has a population of swans in its lake. Now most of them stayed away from us all in the lake. But one swan, a bit more adventurous than the rest had decided to come check us out. We were stood there, a bit like the three stooges, when the said swan decided to attack. Well, to be more precise, he left Rennie and I alone, and set about Arthur.
Ha, he wasn’t laughing now, and I hadn’t realised just how big and aggressive swans could be. Arthur ended up running away. But for the rest of the day, whenever he stopped in one place too long, the swan would swoop in and attack. Funny, it never bothered anyone else, well except for the young lady who had just bought a chocolate bun from the coffee stall, she had unwrapped it and was staring at it longingly, when a head on a long white neck, came from over her shoulder and snatched it.
Arthur’s Mate
At Ripon we had only taken smaller attractions, so we just about covered our expenses.
We had a far more serious problem at another event Called The Great Yorkshire Carnival, but I am saving that for a future post.
If you would like to hire dodgems, games or any other attractions we can do that.
As any responsible operator, we pay great attention to health and safety requirements. With regular testing required for funfair attractions and daily inspections whenever they are operated, our industry has one of the best safety records in the country. We also throw in additional testing beyond what is required by the H&SE.
Many people regard the HSE as an extension of the nanny state, a sort of legitimised semi Gestapo type organisation tasked with interfering. Having seen the shortcuts some of the cowboys take. I don’t think you can argue against needing a formalised organisation to make sure the rules are applied.
Unfortunately, like many times in life, the inspectors demonstrate that no matter how highly educated or trained they are, some of them are what can charitably be described as idiots.
Newcastle Hoppings
In the days when we still used to operate at public events. We used to attend the ‘Hoppings’, Europe’s largest travelling funfair at Newcastle Upon Tyne. We were there one year and I was controlling a flying chairs ride. You know the type, the kids sit in a suspended chair, and as the ride rotates, the chairs fly out.
Now, the safety guidelines required a lap belt. Which is what we had, but I was always worried that smaller kids could slip under this belt. So we fitted additional straps that came between their legs and attached to the lap belt to make a 3 point harness. This wasn’t a legal requirement, it was an extra we added.
Now, we only used this extra strap on smaller kids, as obviously it took extra time to fit when you were busy. One day a strap had worked loose. So I removed it, and only used that seat for bigger kids. We had 20 in all so this wasn’t hard to arrange.
An Inspector Calls
Anyway an inspector from HSE, pulled me to one side and told me she wasn’t happy with that strap missing. I explained to her that it was an extra, and that if she looked most kids weren’t using them. And I would only put large kids on etc etc etc, well you get the idea.
Her rather snotty reply was that she would shut the ride down if it was not reattached, as if they were fitted then all of the seats should have them. I thought for a moment and then asked, “If I remove the other 19 so none of them have them would that be OK?”
“Yes” was the reply. Hmmn so rather than have 19 seats with additional safety, she was now telling me she preferred none of them to have it. In the end I went and found a screwdriver and reattached it.
Flying Chairs Ride For Hire
An Inspector Calls Again
Not 2 days later the same bloody woman was back. Now, there is a large book full of guidance for funfair ride design. One of the recommendations (note the word recommended), is that rides have a maximum of 3 entrances. On our chairs ride, we had 4 small gates, 2 to allow entry, 2 to allow exit. When not in use they were closed, so technically we only had 2 open at any time.
This genius came up and kicked off about there being 4. For some reason her grasp of the English language wasn’t good enough for her to understand that 3 was recommended, but not a legal requirement. I found that trying to reason with this idiot wasn’t working. In a fit of temper I grasped a large section of the safety rail surrounding the ride. Then threw it up the fair. Technically this left me with 2 small gates, and a large 20ft gap in the fence.
“1,2,3” I counted, “3 entrances, does that satisfy you?”
“Yes” was the FU***NG idiots reply. SO instead of 4 safe controlled gates, we now had a gap a whole herd of kids could run through into a fast moving ride.
After bringing my blood pressure under control, I calmly retrieved my section of fence, refitted it. Told the woman to go forth and multiply, and either fetch the Police to me. Or someone from her organisation who was in charge of the communal brain cells that day.
PC Plod
To give her, her due, she did what I asked and fetched the Police. I explained all that had transpired. To give him his due, he told her to go forth and multiply as well.
Not The Actual Officer But You Get The Idea
The moral of the story is, give someone a smattering of power and they will look very hard for reasons to abuse it. Power corrupts, and absolute power is even more fun. They are indeed what a friend of mine refers to as educated idiots, in that they possess a degree or two, but no actual sense.
Over time the trend at weddings has been towards more quirky fun times. The food at a wedding is definitely one of the things people remember. A dessert is literally the icing on the cake. Here are the 5 best quirky desserts for your wedding.
Spanish Churros
The Spanish take on doughnuts. No holes in these, just long fluted fingers of crispy doughy goodness. Traditionally served with a thick hot chocolate, they are becoming more popular over here, with many people having first experienced them on Iberian holidays.
In addition to the standard Churros, we also provide an alcoholic version especially for weddings and events, but definitely not for kids.
Churros With Chocolate
Dutch Poffertjes
Little pieces of fluffy Dutch goodness. Poffertjes are mini Dutch pancakes, about the size of a 50p piece. They are not that well known over here, but are gradually gaining traction. The events we have attended with them, they have always gone down a treat. Traditionally coated in melted butter and sprinkles with sugar.
Poffertjes Plaat For Hire
French Crepes
A better known dessert the crepe, is like a pancake, only much thinner. It is said that a crepe should be thin enough to read a love letter through. Watching a crepe being made is entertainment in itself. Being expertly twirled into a circle, then flipped over to bake both sides. Available with a selection of fruit and sauce toppings, with Nutella a firm favourite.
French Crepe Carts For Hire
Belgian Waffles
The country that gave us Brussels Sprouts, (though we think they are the work of the devil), also gave us the fabulous waffle. A similar mixture to crepes, only much thicker, the waffle can be made in various shapes depending on the waffle plates being used. Another dessert that lends itself to Nutella.
Belgian Waffles Carts For Hire
Mini Doughnuts
Not a continental dessert this one, but still one of our favourites, mini doughnuts sprinkled in sugar with a selection of sauces and toppings.
doughnuts
Whatever type of wedding or party you are planning these are definitely The 5 Best Quirky Desserts For Your Wedding
When I was learning to fly, there was another student I saw regularly called . A young girl mid way through her course. Occasionally she would turn up for a quick coffee in the pilots lounge with her young son in tow. He would do what most kids did, stick his earphones in and play on a game system.
Talking to her she eventually told me that her son was autistic. She said that up to the age of about 5 he had never spoke a word and she was resigned to him not speaking. Then one day, she said, I was really struggling, and I looked up to the sky and shouted please god help me. She said my son looked at me and said god can’t help you mummy he’s dead!
What a shock, turns out he had a full vocabulary and had just chose not to talk. Truth be told he seems a pretty normal kid, if you ask him something he will answer you, he doesn’t seem particularly like he wants to engage with you, but then I don’t think that’s much different to most kids that age.
I do know that there are different levels of autism and some kids function much higher than others. I think the problem is that the film Rainman, skewed the way a lot view the condition. Everyone expects them to have some savant level of genius. We used to do a job in a little shopping arcade in London, one of the shops was an art gallery for a guy called Stephen Wiltshire. It seems he can spend a few minutes looking at a scene, then draw it perfectly from memory.
One Of His Drawings From Memory, The Details Is Incredible
Less Able Bodied Access On The Fairground
It got me thinking as to what issues people with some conditions faced on the modern fairground. I know various disability acts of law have meant that buildings and public places have been adapted to help. But I don’t think much has been done on in the funfair industry.
Truth be told, I don’t think is is financially viable to have say a thrill ride adapted for wheelchair users. Perhaps some of the giant wheels would be credible. They tend to have sloping decks rather than steps, and the cars on many are probably large enough to allow a wheelchair in.
But most of the modern high speed rides are built in such a way that it just wouldn’t be possible to squeeze a chair inside the carriage. To make physical changes to a ride, it would then need to be subject to a ‘Design review’, a complex and costly process to ensure the ride is safe in its new form.
Like many showmen I have helped transfer guests from their wheelchair onto a ride and back. Any operator would be more than happy to do that. I know it isn’t ideal for the customer, and I should imagine it can even be degrading, but I am afraid that its probably the way it will stay.
Special Nights
Many regular funfairs, both large and small, will hold a special night for people less able. Sometimes its advertised and its a sort of free for all, other times the operator in charge will actually contact local organisations and make it a more formalised arrangement.
I do remember one event, where a large group of guests turned up who didn’t have physical disabilities. I am not sure of their actual condition, but they were all really big guys. They spotted a little ride, meant for probably 5-10 year olds and for some reason really liked it. The trouble was as 20 large guys all plonked themselves down heavily in the seats at the precise same time, the poor little ride just folded up on itself. To be fair, it was a ride called the Buzz Bomb, usually these were built almost as a diy ride, just after the war. They used the external drop tanks off of Spitfires, which had the tops sliced off and seats installed. I don’t know if it ever actually made it back into use or it was scrapped.
Buzz Bomb Cars
Autistic Sessions
A number of events now are holding special sessions for autistic kids. They turn the music off on the rides, turn the lighting down, and reduce the speed so that they are not overloaded with sensations. They also keep a special chill out area available so there is somewhere to calm down if needed.
Obviously this is something that any fairground can make happen. It doesn’t require physical changes to the rides and can be organised easily and quickly.
Helping The Deprived
In addition to the less able bodied, fairgrounds will quite often distribute free tickets to the less fortunate. Those in care homes or schools in deprived areas.
It does bring to mind one incident though. We were at a fair in Wallsend, in the North East. A social worker brought a young lad down for a night at the fair. Now, this kid had been nicknamed in the press ‘Rat Boy’. There is a large dystopian structure called the Byker Wall. Its like a giant wall, but with flats built into it. It seems this kid had actually lived in the ventilation system. When a flat was empty he would climb through the ducts and rob it. The police had been after him for months and caught him the night before.
Anyway, this social worker put him on the dodgems ride. He promptly drove the full length of the dodgems. Stopped the car at the other end, jumped out and ran away up a bank.
Took the police another 6 months to recapture him. Reading a report, it seems they now call him Rat Man, as he is still on the rob.
The Byker WallRat Boy
If you would like to hire dodgems or other funfair attractions for special needs use, talk to us and we would love to help provide a package tailored to your requirements especially for the less able.
Few rides are more iconic than the traditional Ferris Wheel, or big wheel as they tend to be called in the UK. But Hiring A Ferris wheel has a number of choices available.
The name derives from the wheel designed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jnr for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. There is some argument over this being the ‘original’ wheel as a certain William Somers installed 3 wooden wheels in parks in New Jersey and New York, a year earlier. A court case ensued which Somers lost, as it was ruled the Ferris wheel was sufficiently different to not infringe on his patent.
There are accounts from travelling merchants describing wheels in the Ottoman empire in the 17th century, so perhaps the real name should be ‘Ottoman Wheels!’
Whatever the true origins, big wheel hire is one of those traditional fairground rides that people associate with a funfair. Most of us will have ridden a wheel in our youth. Along with helter skelters, swing boats, dodgems and a carousel.
Wheel Sizes
The traditional type wheel is usually around 35ft in height with perhaps 16-20 cars. There are however even larger versions now available. These originally appeared on the continent, and were variously termed giant wheels, observation wheels or continental wheels. They tended initially to be erected in city centres or at theme parks and didn’t travel. Reaching huge heights, they were never really going to be practical to take to corporate events. Or smaller fairgrounds. A new breed of portable wheels have appeared that bridge the gap between the smaller UK wheels and the giant versions.
Whatever type or size you need we can supply and install a wheel to suit your event. Check us out for Hiring A Ferris Wheel.
