Coming from the North East I always like it when we have an event in the area. I'm writing this having just returned from Stockton on Tees which is just down the road from my hometown of Middlesbrough. Now I like Stockton, but when it comes to operating there I am beginning to think there is a vicious little gremlin lurking about, and for once I am not talking about Arthur!
At the back end of last season we operated there and the details of that episode can be found here
This time we were presenting a couple of carts (coffee and candy floss) in support of the town centres Fairtrade initiative. I got there nice and early expecting Arthur to be waiting as he was coming half the distance I was, but he wasn't . About half an hour after arriving my phone rang and Arthur explained that a gust of wind had hit his vehicle on route and damaged the candy floss cart, he was limping back to the depot at Houghton le Spring and then coming through without the cart, we would just have to use one cart with both products. So I set to work assembling the coffee cart, it was like a scene from the 3 stooges, as fast as I put something together it blew apart in the gale force gusts. Eventually I managed the get the barrow assembled as well as the frame for the stall which was to cover the cart, Arthur and I and protect us from the weather. At that point a van full of workmen rolled up. The gangmaster jumped out shaking his head. "What's up I enquired?", and he proceeded to point out that the yellow marks the cart was stood on, marked the spot where his team where just about to dig a big hole. I rang the town centre management team that had positioned me there and they came over. After a while it was decided that I would have to move about 15 feet, so I got to work disassembling the bloody cart.
Arthur eventually rolled up just in time to help me put the cover on. By now the wind had got event stronger, we struggled for quarter of an hour with Arthur insisting we could get the cover on and I taking the opposite viewpoint. At one point we were both balanced on the frame of the stall trying to pull the cover over, when a guest of wind blew the cover with Arthur and I still attached, straight off. It was at this point Arthur decided I was right after all.
We went to explain our predicament to the organisers only to be told that everything was being cancelled due to the 50 MPH wind.
On a brighter note I have just managed to source 100% biodegradable cups for the coffee barrow at a price not much above that of normal cups. This was a relief as up till this point It looked like we were going to have to pay around 3 times the normal price which would have hurt a bit, but it goes to prove that a little shopping around can save you a fortune.
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At the back end of last season we operated there and the details of that episode can be found here
This time we were presenting a couple of carts (coffee and candy floss) in support of the town centres Fairtrade initiative. I got there nice and early expecting Arthur to be waiting as he was coming half the distance I was, but he wasn't . About half an hour after arriving my phone rang and Arthur explained that a gust of wind had hit his vehicle on route and damaged the candy floss cart, he was limping back to the depot at Houghton le Spring and then coming through without the cart, we would just have to use one cart with both products. So I set to work assembling the coffee cart, it was like a scene from the 3 stooges, as fast as I put something together it blew apart in the gale force gusts. Eventually I managed the get the barrow assembled as well as the frame for the stall which was to cover the cart, Arthur and I and protect us from the weather. At that point a van full of workmen rolled up. The gangmaster jumped out shaking his head. "What's up I enquired?", and he proceeded to point out that the yellow marks the cart was stood on, marked the spot where his team where just about to dig a big hole. I rang the town centre management team that had positioned me there and they came over. After a while it was decided that I would have to move about 15 feet, so I got to work disassembling the bloody cart.
Arthur eventually rolled up just in time to help me put the cover on. By now the wind had got event stronger, we struggled for quarter of an hour with Arthur insisting we could get the cover on and I taking the opposite viewpoint. At one point we were both balanced on the frame of the stall trying to pull the cover over, when a guest of wind blew the cover with Arthur and I still attached, straight off. It was at this point Arthur decided I was right after all.
We went to explain our predicament to the organisers only to be told that everything was being cancelled due to the 50 MPH wind.
On a brighter note I have just managed to source 100% biodegradable cups for the coffee barrow at a price not much above that of normal cups. This was a relief as up till this point It looked like we were going to have to pay around 3 times the normal price which would have hurt a bit, but it goes to prove that a little shopping around can save you a fortune.
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