Trials And Tribulations

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Articles: 1, 2, 3

Misadventures
1970-01-01 00:59:00
I try to interperse the serious postings in this blog with anecdotes illustrating the lighter side of life. Just of late, no one on the firm has done anything spectacularly wrong so I am a bit short of humerous subject matter. To rectify this I will relate two true stories, one from this summer and one from the distant past. At Hartlepool carnival, a young local lad found himself trapped on top of the rocks on the seafront due to the tide turning quicker than he realised. A couple of showmen were alerted to this and went to effect a rescue. They threw a lifebelt (a circular inflated device attached to a rope, the idea being it keeps the victim afloat and you pull him into the shore), to the unfortunate lad, probably the correct thing to do under the circumstances. Unfortunately in the spirit of Larry, Moe and Curley, they didn't think to hold the other end of the rope and promptly threw this into the sea as well! This time the gods were in a benevolent mood as the very next wave...
More About: Ventures

Spoke Too Soon
1970-01-01 00:59:00
I am writing this post due to moaning from by business partner Arthur. He suffers from little dog syndrome (for those of you who are unfamilier with this medical condition, take notice of any little dog, Jack Russell size, they always make a beeline for the biggest dog they can find and pick a fight with it to prove they aren't afraid, some little people suffer from the same thing, I keep telling Arthur it doesn't matter that he is only little, he is just as good as a normal person!), and constantly complains that I never list any of my misadventures, that isn't strictly true, if you click here or here amongst others, you will see that I don't mind sharing my tales of woe. After writing this I will be retiring back to the sofa with a cold towel across my eyes. What has happened is that I have been involved with building some new Victorian catering barrows. In the past I have paid someone else to formica the counters, this time I decided to do the job myself. Where possible I li...
More About: Spoke

Fairtrade Funfair Announcement
1970-01-01 00:59:00
From 26 October 2007, our catering operation will begin to change over to stocking only (where possible) Fairtrade products. It is only a small gesture, but one where even individuals can help make a difference to the sustainability of third world development. We will be the first Northern based fairground operator to take this step. Our candy floss barrows are already stocking only fairtrade sugar, our coffee barrows have switched to fairtrade beans, and will be stocking only fairtrade sugar after their current supplies are exhausted. In any future purchasing decisions, preferance will be given to Fairtrade alternatives, if they are available. Additionally we will be stocking all of our carts with information leaflets and literature about the Fairtrade movement, and when running larger events, preference will be given to other operators who stock Fairtrade goods. After 2008 we will only allow Fairtrade friendly operators to attend our events. postCount('61'); | postCount...
More About: Announcement

Funfairs and Candy Floss
1970-01-01 00:59:00
We have just joined an events networking group in conjunction with Leeds Metropolitan University. I spent a pleasant day at my first meeting on Wednesday. Amongst the other business owners I met were Emily who runs Shine Promotions Model Agency and Kevin the owner of Mint Photography. I have worked with Kevin before when we were both commissioned for an event to celebrate the opening of a new Lloyds TSB branch in Leeds. After the breakfast networking meeting, we then took part in a workshop on promoting your business using social media and communications. One thing that became apparant during the workshop was that I am already doing most of what I should be to promote JARM Amusements via the web, in some areas I was apparently in front of many businesses, so all that time spent tinkering with websites and various promotions seems to be paying off. November is now almost fully booked, it looks like it is going to be one of our busiest months. December is starting to fill up so ho...
More About: Candy , Floss

Another trip to the smoke
1970-01-01 00:59:00
We've just rolled in from another trip down south. I think we could do with moving the office down South, it seems that we spend more time there than anywhere else. This event was for the HQ of the Royal Automobile Club. The venue was absolutely stunning, the site dates back to the 12th century, (obviously not by the present owners), with the RAC being in occupation since 1913. The fountain outside the front entrance, leisure club and golf course combine to make it a really impressive site, I wonder if the AA have anything similar. We are at events in our own neck of the woods for a couple of weeks,then its a trip up to Scotland, followed closely by another couple of events in the London area. postCount('63'); | postCountTB('63');
More About: Smoke , Trip

Final Furlong
1970-01-01 00:59:00
Our various websites contribute a steady stream of work, except for helterskelterhire.com. This has consistantly lagged behind the others, so much so that I considered cutting the website from our portfolio and letting our general funfairgames site handle its enquiries. Now I'm glad I didn't, over the past three weeks the site has generated more bookings for 2008 than all the other sites combined. So much so that our Helter Skelter is likely to be our most popular attraction next season. This week is another hectic one, we have just returned from an event in Gloucester, undertaken for a consortium of property developers, to help promote a new giant housing development. On Wednesday we are sending attractions up into Scotland for an event on behalf of the largest speculative property developers in the U.K, at the same time operating one of our range of Victorian style catering carts at Wakefields 4 day Victorian market. At the Gloucester event we trialled our new range of compact...
More About: Final

Flying Machines
1970-01-01 00:59:00
Arthur has recently jumped out of an aeroplane. At the time he was strapped to an instructor and this was part of his 40th birthday present, which is quite strange seeing as Arthur is generally terrified of heights. I think it is due to him being a P.O.R.G (person of restricted growth). Usually he is closer to the ground than the rest of us, so any increase in height is correspondingly greater for him. Anyway I knew he was travelling down to Lincoln for the jump last Wednesday, and around 11 o'clock I received a text message telling me he had done it. I rang him back to inquire as to his health. "Fine mate", he replied, "Not a scratch on me!", which just goes to show what a selfish little git he really is. For weeks I had been extolling the possibilities of publicity for the company if he managed to splat his self on landing, after finding I couldn't convince him to do that I at least thought he would have come up with a few broken bones for me, but no, not even a bloody noseblee...
More About: Machines , Flying

Beginnings
1970-01-01 00:59:00
Clearing some old photos out, I came across the one pictured below which was the first side stall I had built on a vehicle. In this case a Ford Cargo seven and a half tonner, which gave sterling service for about 6 years before finally expiring with a bang on its very last journey. A con rod came through the side of the engine on the A1 about 3 miles from our depot. At the time I had lost my mobile phone and had to walk a mile to the nearest call box to ask my Father in Law to tow me in. On the way back to the vehicle I stopped and picked up the offending con rod from out of the middle of the carriageway. I remember 2 incidents associated with this particular stall. The first was whilst I was in the middle of constructing it. At the time the stalls in the UK hadn't begun to take on the continental format of being built on trailers or lorries and being built big. Most stalls were still constructed from wood and stood about 7 feet tall. I designed and built this stall and it stood...