a mixed weekend

Hi
Friday night proved to be restless so I was up early doing some more fleece prep and a little spinning. This time it was some Norfolk Horn that has been hanging around in my stash for a few years but bit by bit I'm slowly whittleing it down although some of it feels a bit sticky so may get another wash soon.

The plan for the day was to spend some time in the garden, sort out the washing etc and head off out to the Riverside Festival at around 1 o'clock.This should have been an easy journey bus from outside our house, get off in Town, walk to next bus stop and catch on down to the Trent embankment.

I hadn't taken into account the fact that there was a big protest march that closed the centre of town and the buses were taking the diversion route. Unfortunately they were pulling onto the diversion route too early and missing out the pickup stop for the festival. Temperatures rose, there were angry voices all aimed at the poor bus company employees who were trying their best to get the buses back on track.

This jorney should have taken well under than an hour but ended up taken over two!! The EDL had planned their protest for the busiest saturday with both a Festival and the first football match of the season taking place.

Once there I headed for the folk tent so I could do some knitting :-)

I then had a wander round before heading back as it gets really busy in the evening with people claiming their vantage points for watching the fireworks.

Part of this festival takes place on the river as the boats put out flags and light up in the evening.

This years there were 5 music stages and the fairground rides lined the street as usual.

I left just as the football finished and crowds of fans heading my way made me find the bus back into town.

There's another event on tomorrow so fingers crossed that the good weather holds out.

2015 revisited

By October last year I was well enough to go back to work although it turned out to be just for a few weeks. I also managed to get down to the Goose Fair in Nottingham.

This is a large funfair that visits the city every year on the 1st weekend of October, many of the rides are fairly modern but I like to wander round just incase there are any vintage gems hiding amongst the stalls. One thing was obvious this year, many of the smaller hoopla stalls had be repainted or had vinyl banners attached advertising recent childrens films such as Frozen and it was a bit sad to see the traditional fairground art is disappearing.

So you can imagine how excited I was to see this beauty... 1930's Super Skid

Of course, there were a few more rides there but I just wanted to watch this one with a silly grin on my face!!

Steam Saturday

It was cold, in fact it was snowing! So the first stop on our trip to the Great Central Railway was the cafe where we all bagged a seat and ordered hot drinks to thaw out our hands.
Now there didn't seem to be as many traction engines around as last year, maybe the weather had put them off, maybe Easter was simply too early this year. Still we had chance to have a wander round before the Uke Orchestra had to knuckle down and play in the beer tent. Still I grabbed a few photos before they went on 'stage'














More importantly, I managed to infiltrate the Uke Orchestra with my spinning wheel...LOOK!!

 

A very cold session but a couple of bobbins filled :-)

Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre

Hi, The cinema organ in the last post is to be found at the Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre in Cornwall, they have preserved rides and sideshows that you can have a really good look around as well as ride on them. We have visited before but I thought that a few photos may show the progress since our last visit.

So.. whats behind the door??



and when did carousel horses get this scary?



The rides were in action but unfortnately neither of us like things that go round and round and round and round...









However we happily sat in this little train and enjoyed the GHOST RIDE!






and played in the hall of mirrors





We love theme parks and fairgrounds and although a collection like this can never recapture the atmosphere, the lights and colours never fail to make me grin like a cheshire cat. We will return time and time again :-)

Film Trip

Had a rare trip out to see the lastest film...Buster Keaton...why invent talkies when the cinema organ can do the work?

Dodgems and Switchbacks

Just over a week ago we were back in Cornwall for a camping weekend with friends. Now we have made this trip at least once a year for the last 12 years and each time we pass the usual landmarks, variable speed limits on the motorway near Birmingham, the willow man which is the largest willow sculpture in the UK, camels (Humphrey and Boo)by the side of the road on the M5 ( just keep your eyes open and you will see them stood in the corner watching the traffic with a big grin on their faces) and a large brown tourist sign for Dingles Steam Village near Launceston. This time we set out to track down the attraction and this is what we found.






We were the only visitors there and got to play on the slot machines and the pinball, clamber round the rides and enjoy the company of the volunteers working there. If you like fairgrounds and are ever in that part of the country then pay them a visit. They are preserving the fairground heritage for future generations and long may they continue to do so.

just checking in

I know I've been quiet this week but work has been a bit hectic and we also had a domestic disaster so I've only just got round to sorting out some photos from last weekend.
So....here is a quick piccie to make you smile and keep things going until I get more time.



who could resist the hall of mirrors?