Metres and Greeters

Hull Fair is dominating the skyline of the inner western city this week.

From the higher ground in the outer suburbs can be seen the big wheel, the sweeping and raking arc-light of lasers and, even against the prevailing winds, the thumpy-thump of a bass and drum rhythm by which the big rides draw in and captivate their thrill seeking customers or strike fear and palpitations amongst the fainter hearted lookers-on.

The Hull Daily Mail marvelled at the biggest structure on the site, a high tech, capital investment maypole type tower with chain link and very traditional seats flailing around at the top, a reported sheer 70 feet high. I was myself aghast at this vertigo inducing ride and amazed at the year on year motivation of the Showpersons to excel themselves with ever more altitude, G-forces, neck snapping torque, nausea induction and moves to ease and tease loose change and mobile phones out of pockets.

70 feet is quite high enough but in fact the newspaper had got it completely wrong. The true height stands at a whopping and thin-air light-headedness of 70 metres above the firm earth.

Hull Fair, the largest travelling funfair in Europe has a long heritage going back through a few generations of Hull Folk. It was originally a livestock market but gradually the sideshows and other attractions will have followed the demographic trends of a diminishing rural outlook and focused their appeal on the growing urban population.

My Mother in Law, now 82 years old clearly remembers her first visit to Hull Fair at the age of 5 and the purchase of a doll on a stick and string. This appears to have been the most popular acquisition for the children of 1935 and no doubt very engrossing, satisfying and meeting all expectations of fun and imaginary play.

Maureen also recalls the traditional offerings of Hull Fair, in particular the Human Freak Show. This was a mixture of living persons of remarkable physical characteristics from the tallest man in the British Isles, to a bearded Lady, conjoined twins and all variety of body parts and foetal growths in the murky liquids of large glass demi-johns and specimen jars. The Boxing Tent was a popular destination for the local male population as participants and the fairer sex as casual but very enthusiastic and encouraging spectators. Challengers were invited to take on the hoary, scarred, rough and sinewy Show-Boxers either culminating in a surprise victory or a bloody humiliation, dependant upon how the Professionals read and interpreted the wishes and mood of the crowd.

My first Hull Fair , as a newcomer to the area, was in the late 1970's when a particularly sorry sight was a large grimy tank containing equally grim and sad looking sharks swimming clockwise for the duration. Animal performers were, I admit, very rare but at some time will have made up a reasonable proportion with the odd and strange human counterparts of the offerings of the Fair.

It is odds on that the general public became bored with the traditional and therefore dated shows and those relying on the Fairs travelling around the UK had to reinvent themselves to maintain their still lucrative proceeds from a week of a captive and captivated Hull population.

There will always be a place for the Carousel and its snorting horses, a white-painted weatherboarded Helter Skelter, a version of a Big Wheel and the huddle of stalls for throwing or tossing darts and rings to win those elusive prizes. However, to ease the hard pressed pennies and pounds from our tight-knuckled grip in recessionary times we will demand more and more by way of terror, adrenalin rush and sheer fear in the rides and attractions. On the rate of progress sustained over the last century, at least, I do not think that this will be a problem.