Fairgroun attraction
Page 73
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For fairground operator Bill Cole home has always had a set of wheels. He is the third generation of his family who has never lived in a house and he hopes his children will continue the tradition of wanderlust.
Bill Cole spends all his life on the road. When he is not driving his luxurious American touring motor home, he is at the wheel of his most treasured possession, a 1968 ERF rigid. Bill bought this 26-tonner in the West Country six years ago and he keeps it in pristine condition, with some help from his 13-year old stepson Kevin.
If they are not working on the ERF then they are likely to be found working on a Foden Haulmaster, which tows the dodgem cars from one site to the next.
Tradition
Cole is the third generation of a family who started the William Coles Funfair. By tradition they are all called William, Bill for short. Bill's father still takes an active part in running the fair and can be found on one of the sideshows with his mother Rosie. His two aunts Joan and Edna Cole run a burger bar so it is thoroughly a family concern. Even his five-year-old daughter Abbie is a familiar sight helping her grandad, usually with a young friend in tow.
"It's a very hard life" says 35year.old Cole, "You have to be dedicated to it, but it is also very enjoyable." 1The fair goes out on the road in March and pulls into its winter base in Chichester at the end of November. This is when all the maintenance and painting is done for the following season. Cole used to spend the winter months driving lorries for an agency, but since the recession work is scarce so he now picks up work where he can and spends the rest of the time planning the year ahead, "The main problem about running a fair is finding a venue every week for nine months of the year," he says, "we have to find somewhere otherwise the bills don't get paid."
The fair is booked on to a site for a short period and at the end of that period it has to move on. Cole is upset that there are still people who are hostile to visiting fairs: "Some people confuse us with 'travellers' who are always getting moved on by the police".
Under the Criminal Justice Act travellers can be classed as trespassers and prosecuted if they cause any damage to the land or property, or use abusive and threatening behaviour to the owner of the land.
"The fair is always advertised in advance," says Bill, "and mostly we get a warm welcome when the first lorries roll in. We tend to go back to the same places year after year.
"If we have a wet summer it's always difficult. Farmers are reluctant to let us use their fields because of damage. It's the same with village greens. Naturally parish councils don't want them all cut up, so if they have a lot of rain they will postpone our visit which leaves us without a venue".
No-one knows more about the prejudice to fair people than Cole's wife Sheila. When she married Bill on 23 September 1988 her parents would not attend the wedding and she lost touch with them.
Recently she has been reconciled with hermother and father and now they visit to see
their grandchildren whenever the fair is in the locality.
Sheila was a 23 year old divorcee with two children running a small antiques business in Peacehaven when they met. Visiting the fair in Brighton one evening she met Bill on the dodgems. They married less than six months later.
Sheila's son Kevin stayed with his mother and now helps look after his half sister's Abbie, age five, Sian two and a half, and sixmonth-old Claudia.
Sheila and Kevin have adapted to life on the road quite happily: "I could not go back to living in a house now," she says. Like the ERF, their American touring home was bought in the West Country. One might think it crowded since the family share it with two kittens, a rabbit and an alsatian. However, Sheila says that it's not cramped at all: "We love it.
The children have their own bedroom, which they usually share with the kittens. The master bedroom is in the back and in between we have a kitchen, bath, shower and toilet. There is a lounge with a colour TV. It's ever so big really, but if we have more children we can expand".
She is adamant there is no problem about bringing children up on the road.
"They have a wonderful time" she says "They get all the fresh air they need. They are not short of education because they either go to local schools or a teacher comes out to the fair. If one can't come they send us workpacks. Then in the winter they go back to the same school in Chichester every year".
Cole has never needed to adapt to living in a mobile home. He has never lived in a house. Neither has his father or his grandfather before him.
When the fair is running he is usually to be found operating the dodgems. He sub-lets to other sideshows and rides who pay him rent, but he has a nucleus of people who always travel with him.
"When we move to a really big site then other fair people move in" he says "but mostly it is the same crowd who always travel together".
Maintenance
The fair people do all the maintenance of their vehicles themselves and there is always a lorry to be painted or an engine to be tuned. Each generation of Coles has maintained a high standard and they always insist that the fair arrives at each site in immaculate condition.
Sheila looks forward to the winter months when they settle in Chichester and can return to "normal" life. "When we are on the road" she says "Billy is under a tremendous strain. He has to go out all day to find a venue for the following week. There are bills to meet and rent to pay My food bill alone comes to £200 a week. I have to feed the family, plus the men who work for Billy" "Two days washing at the nearest laundrette costs £20. I have a washing machine in the van but if I do too much there it uses up all the water and makes the ground too wet".
Does Cole ever get tired of driving?
"Not at all, he says. "After all, I've never known any other life. I'm the third generation and I hope my children will carry on the tradition".