The recent event we attended at Yarm, (the revival of its gala after about 70 years) turned out to be quite a success. We only attended with a Big Wheel, helter skelter, round stall and catering unit, due to the fact that we were positioned right outside a shop that is renowned for its rabid opposition to Yarm fair. The shops owner must have an automatic system for complaining to the local papers, as one year when the fair was a week later than normal, his objection was printed on the normal dates moaning about the fair being in town when it wasn't!
Anyway to make matters easier I had arranged with the town council to have a section of the high street coned off to allow me to pull the helter skelter on and Micheal to pull the wheel into position, the idea being that the two biggest items were to be set up the day before. I was pulling on at 6am and had arranged for Micheal to get there around 7. I turned up a little after 6 and the area was coned off alright, unfortunately there was a Lexus car parked right in the middle of where Micheal was due to stand. I got set and when Micheal arrived we measured up to see if we could squeeze in anywhere. Unfortunately the car was positioned in the perfect place to prevent the wheel building up. I telephoned the local constabulary and told them the problem, and they told me they would be in touch. About an hour later having heard nothing, I rang the chairman of the local council and asked him to ring the police for me. Within 5 minutes a traffic car turned up. I explained the problem to the officer and he promised o try and sort something out. He returned 10 minutes later and told me that the car was registered to an estate agents that didn't open until after half nine. He then tried the car door and it opened! Not what you would expect from a 2 year old Lexus. I asked if we could push it out of the way, but he flatly refused, (if we had tried the door it would have been half way down the high street and we would be built up already), I asked if the car could be towed, which we have had done in the past, most notably at Northallerton Mayfair. What happened there was the police rang the number for the registered owner of that car and his wife answered, "You husband's car is causing an obstruction in Northallerton High Street" say's Mr Police man,
"No my husband is in Peterborough on business", replies Mrs inconsiderate car drivers wife,
"Its definitely in Northallerton" challenges our friendly police officer,
"Definitely is not" was the wife's reply. In the end the police had the vehicle removed and it transpired that the car driver was engaged in a clandestine affair with a young lady living just off the high street!
Unfortunately this police officer told us that they couldn't remove the car as it was not causing an obstruction on the high way, he then went on to explain that we would just have to wait until they could contact the owner and have the car moved. My problem was that we had a 75ft long vehicle blocking one side of the road in a town that after 8am is tremendously busy. "I'm in charge of the traffic here," stated the officer, "I will ensure you do not get a ticket for parking." We actually sat there until nearly 11 o'clock before the bloody car driver had sobered up enough to move, and true to his word the police officer ensured we didn't get ticketed, much to the chagrin of the local traffic gastapo, sorry traffic warden. We did have a bus driver shouting at us about making the access to the turning circle tight, why he had to shout is beyond me, if he had asked us to back up ten feet we would happily have done so.
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Anyway to make matters easier I had arranged with the town council to have a section of the high street coned off to allow me to pull the helter skelter on and Micheal to pull the wheel into position, the idea being that the two biggest items were to be set up the day before. I was pulling on at 6am and had arranged for Micheal to get there around 7. I turned up a little after 6 and the area was coned off alright, unfortunately there was a Lexus car parked right in the middle of where Micheal was due to stand. I got set and when Micheal arrived we measured up to see if we could squeeze in anywhere. Unfortunately the car was positioned in the perfect place to prevent the wheel building up. I telephoned the local constabulary and told them the problem, and they told me they would be in touch. About an hour later having heard nothing, I rang the chairman of the local council and asked him to ring the police for me. Within 5 minutes a traffic car turned up. I explained the problem to the officer and he promised o try and sort something out. He returned 10 minutes later and told me that the car was registered to an estate agents that didn't open until after half nine. He then tried the car door and it opened! Not what you would expect from a 2 year old Lexus. I asked if we could push it out of the way, but he flatly refused, (if we had tried the door it would have been half way down the high street and we would be built up already), I asked if the car could be towed, which we have had done in the past, most notably at Northallerton Mayfair. What happened there was the police rang the number for the registered owner of that car and his wife answered, "You husband's car is causing an obstruction in Northallerton High Street" say's Mr Police man,
"No my husband is in Peterborough on business", replies Mrs inconsiderate car drivers wife,
"Its definitely in Northallerton" challenges our friendly police officer,
"Definitely is not" was the wife's reply. In the end the police had the vehicle removed and it transpired that the car driver was engaged in a clandestine affair with a young lady living just off the high street!
Unfortunately this police officer told us that they couldn't remove the car as it was not causing an obstruction on the high way, he then went on to explain that we would just have to wait until they could contact the owner and have the car moved. My problem was that we had a 75ft long vehicle blocking one side of the road in a town that after 8am is tremendously busy. "I'm in charge of the traffic here," stated the officer, "I will ensure you do not get a ticket for parking." We actually sat there until nearly 11 o'clock before the bloody car driver had sobered up enough to move, and true to his word the police officer ensured we didn't get ticketed, much to the chagrin of the local traffic gastapo, sorry traffic warden. We did have a bus driver shouting at us about making the access to the turning circle tight, why he had to shout is beyond me, if he had asked us to back up ten feet we would happily have done so.
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