Today, February 18th 2007 is one of my business partners 40th birthdays, so happy birthday Arthur.

I have just discovered that as a special treat Arthurs wife has paid for him to parachute from an aeroplane! For those of you who haven't met him, Arthur is vertically challenged, he applied for the part, during his schools production of Snow White, of one of the dwarves, but was told that he wasn't quite tall enough to look realistic. This is a guy who gets a nosebleed from the altitude if he has to travel upstairs on a double decker bus, and he is going to jump out of an aeroplane at somewhere over 6000 feet, this I have to see!

On a more serious note, I have just seen the governments proposals for the new litter gestapo. If I understand it correctly, some mindless yob is going to walk along the high street eating an ice cream, when he finishes it he will undoubtedly throw the paper on the floor, whereupon a few minutes later, the local SS litter inspector will wander along and promptly fine the law abiding shopkeeper for the litter in front of his shop, once again this government find it easier to target law abiding citizens than actually do anything about the endless stream of scumbags inhabiting our inner cities. This will probably turn into a nice little earner for Gorden Brown, and quite possibly some of the aforementioned yobs will find a lucrative little niche for themselves, "give us a tenner a week mate, or we throw the litter down outside your shop!"




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The following short story is one that illustrates the creativity and inventiveness that the average showman can conjure up when confronted with adversity (or more likely possible loss of earnings). Its a story that one of my business partners, Renny, has been sending to newspapers for years without any of them ever taking the story up.

It seems that in times past (this usually refers to anytime before about 1969) Renny's father, and one of his uncles, were just leaving the site of a fairground to travel on to their next venue. As they drove through the gate of the site, a car ran into the side of the lorry they were travelling in, (for any of our american readers, a lorry is what you would call a truck). After checking everyone was ok and swapping details, they examined the damage to their vehicle. They discovered that due to the impact, they were not able to turn right, but the vehicle was still capable of making a left hand turn. After much debate, and the assistance of a road atlas, they managed to plan a route to the next fairground that did not require any right hand turns!

They actually made the trip safely, albeit a usual half hour run took something like 4 hours, but they proved that there is always a solution to every problem.


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The enquiries are still coming in at a fair pace, usually they start to slacken by now but this year they show no sign of letting up. We are currently in talks about around two dozen new events, some of them quite large, as well as with a number of universities and colleges.

Two events we have just had confirmed are the 10th anniversary party at the Ponderosa rare breeds farm in Heckmondwike. We presented a small selection of attractions there just before Christmas and the day was quite successful. A bonus was the fact that the venue was very pleasant and the people were lovely to work with so being invited back is a welcome development. Further details of the farm can be found at Ponderosa Farm.

The second event is the inaugural Settle Music festival being held in the picturesque little town of Settle (famous for the Settle-Carlisle railway, the last working steam line in the country). This is planned as a mini Glastonbury type event, with a number of bands, including some big names, playing over the three days at the end of August, beginning of September. For further details visit their new website Settle Festival.


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