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Posted: Thu 18 Dec, 2008 12:54 am
by AngryofMayfair
BIG N wrote: weenie wrote: we used to go to bramley feast opp gamecock inn on pudsey road /butt lane before macdonalds got built there. anybody remember that one. Remember it !!! Only like yesterday Weenie, we used to hate pulling on there - not because of the area but because, no matter what time of year it was, the ground was always wet and soft and you could gareuntee we would get bogged down, think it was something to do with the artificial lake across the road causing the water table to rise in the ground.That piece of land was bought in the early sixtys by Marshal Waddington, a Bradford based traveller, as he wanted his own piece of land to stage fairs on, by the time I was working in the industery it was for his son, Marshal Jnr and we would use that ground when we had a week off (a week when we had nowhere to go) so sometimes we would be there twice a year, others we might attend three or four times a year.If I were to say Marshal Snr was more than a little happy with the price he got when he finally sold the land for re-development then that would be a vast under statement, after all it had earned its value many, many times over for him in the years he had worked it and the selling price was many times greater than he paid.I remember the contractors spent month after month tipping hard core onto the site and packing it down to get it fit for building on.I have many happy memories of weeks spent on the Butt Lane ground, and indeed, in the Gamecock in the evenings - ironic then that as I type this I am sat at my bedroom window looking at the Gamecock and McDonalds across the road - ahh well, thats progress for you. I lived in The Gamecock as a teenager in the mid 60's (mum & dad ran the pub) (Bert & Iris).The Feast set itself up in the Cricket Fields behind the Gamecock, next to the beck for (I think) two years - 1962/63 but I think they were then banned due to the heavy duty mess they made of the cricket pitch! I could be wrong, dunno but I remember one year the feast never turned up and the gates to the Cricket Pitch were all well & truly locked and chained.In the early 70's the Cricket Fields were turned into the artificial lake, not a bad idea as they always flooded in Winter anyway...I have lots of good memories of those times in Greenthorpe and especially of the 62/63 Feast with the sounds of Speedy Gonzales, Come Outside and Guitar Tango etc drifting across to the pub and the fish & chip shop... Was lucky enough to visit The Gamecock & Greenthorpe/Bramley & Armley this year (been living in Melbourne Australia since 1972) and it was disaapointing to see the state of the place in general especially how sick looking The Gamecock is and Maccas just across the road makes it look like an American (or Australian!) suburb!As you say 'that's progress' eh! And where exactly is your bedroom window?

Posted: Fri 01 Oct, 2010 8:16 pm
by luckyluke
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Posted: Fri 01 Oct, 2010 9:16 pm
by tilly
luckyluke wrote: RE:Cross Gates Fair 1980 to 1984 and a bit after.The fair at Cross Gates between 1980 and 1984 was presented by the Atha family of Leeds.The attractions were Ernest Athas Arc Speedway and Terry Athas Waltzer.Amusments were Allan Jones of wakefield and Joeseph Hives of Bolton.In 1985 Ernest Atha sold his speeway to Hirsts.And Terry Atha took the waltzer to Bridlington for the season.So therefor the last fairs that were held at that location from 1985 to when it was built on next to The Station were Hirsts Arc Speedway(Still with the Athas name on it as it was not yet re painted with the Hirst name on it,and Watsons Dodgem. Watsons are related to Hirsts.What became of those rides and familys you may be wondering.Well if you are, The ex Ernest Athas Arc Speedway that Athas owned from 1970 to 1984 was sold to and travelled by Hirsts who travelled it around Yorkshie untill 1995,he sold it to Meahs who in turn converted it to a waltzer and travelled it around Yorkshire.He then sold it to Hudson who travelled it in Ireland 2000 to 2004.Then in 2005 Pipers purchased it and its still in their ownership travelling around Ireland as a waltzer.The bikes bars n charriots from the speeway days are still in Hirsts yard in the uk whats left of them.Terry Athas Waltzer still to this day travels around Yorkshire and Humberside and is now known as The Hellblazer Waltzer.Terrys son whom is also called Terry now travels it he took over traveling it around 1995.Terry jrns grandfather and Terry srns father, Ernest Atha passed away in 1995.The Hellblazer was also a speedway called Mersyside scene easy rider when purchased by Athas from the Collins family in 1980.Athas still have the bikes bars and charriots but they have not been used for around 15 years now.The Hellblazer Waltzer can be seen open at Hull Fair(the biggest travelling fair in the uk)from fri 8th oct 2010 to sat 16th oct 2010.Hope this info was helpfull to some of you out there. Thanks for that very in depth post luckyluke you do know a lot about the fair ground folk and i for one enjoyed reading it.

Posted: Fri 01 Oct, 2010 10:07 pm
by Loiner in Cyprus
luckyluke wrote: RE:Cross Gates Fair 1980 to 1984 and a bit after.The fair at Cross Gates between 1980 and 1984 was presented by the Atha family of Leeds.The attractions were Ernest Athas Arc Speedway and Terry Athas Waltzer.Amusments were Allan Jones of wakefield and Joeseph Hives of Bolton.In 1985 Ernest Atha sold his speeway to Hirsts.And Terry Atha took the waltzer to Bridlington for the season.So therefor the last fairs that were held at that location from 1985 to when it was built on next to The Station were Hirsts Arc Speedway(Still with the Athas name on it as it was not yet re painted with the Hirst name on it,and Watsons Dodgem. Watsons are related to Hirsts.What became of those rides and familys you may be wondering.Well if you are, The ex Ernest Athas Arc Speedway that Athas owned from 1970 to 1984 was sold to and travelled by Hirsts who travelled it around Yorkshie untill 1995,he sold it to Meahs who in turn converted it to a waltzer and travelled it around Yorkshire.He then sold it to Hudson who travelled it in Ireland 2000 to 2004.Then in 2005 Pipers purchased it and its still in their ownership travelling around Ireland as a waltzer.The bikes bars n charriots from the speeway days are still in Hirsts yard in the uk whats left of them.Terry Athas Waltzer still to this day travels around Yorkshire and Humberside and is now known as The Hellblazer Waltzer.Terrys son whom is also called Terry now travels it he took over traveling it around 1995.Terry jrns grandfather and Terry srns father, Ernest Atha passed away in 1995.The Hellblazer was also a speedway called Mersyside scene easy rider when purchased by Athas from the Collins family in 1980.Athas still have the bikes bars and charriots but they have not been used for around 15 years now.The Hellblazer Waltzer can be seen open at Hull Fair(the biggest travelling fair in the uk)from fri 8th oct 2010 to sat 16th oct 2010.Hope this info was helpfull to some of you out there. I remember Athas speedway from the fairs at Scott Hall and Woodhouse in the 60s. Would this have been the same equipment? If I remember correctly I think it was Bernard Atha that was top man then.

Posted: Fri 01 Oct, 2010 11:04 pm
by Cardiarms
I think I remember the speedway from the late 70's on woodhouse moor. Definitely the wlatzers, but I definitely wrote a story in English at Beddies about about a lad on the speedway which transformed into a real race and he got off the ride covered in mud and no-one could work out why.    

Posted: Fri 01 Oct, 2010 11:40 pm
by Bert
Enjoyed reading your piece Luckyluke. I used to go the Fair every year in Crossgates in the 1950s. In those days there was a Ritz Cinema next to the railway station on the opposite side from the Station Hotel, and the Fair (we local kids called it the 'Feast') was in the field next to it at the bottom of the Ring Road. I remember it had a traditional roundabout and one of those things where you sit in u-shaped booths hinged to the end of long spokes and get hurled around at terrifying speed. I seemed to be forever incurring Mam's displeasure by arriving home with goldfish in jars I had won on the rifle range or whatever. Would the Feast's owners then have been forebears of the ones you describe Luckyluke, or were they unrelated?

Posted: Sat 02 Oct, 2010 1:11 am
by grumpybloke
I remember in the mid to late 70's at Woodhouse Feast there was a tent or such where there was a stripper,(or at least that was the impression given. Could have been a rip off of course).. I was longing to go in but couldn't summon up the courage, being maybe only 15 or so at the time. I also recall going to Hunslet Feast with my father.As others have said, it was quite a big one.

Posted: Sat 02 Oct, 2010 11:13 pm
by Leodian
The chalk animals such as rabbits were great to win. Soon started to break up though. I once read somewhere that any very old ones still intact are worth a few bob now. Oh, and the fun winning a goldfish that did not always die soon as some did live a long time.

Posted: Sun 03 Oct, 2010 4:09 pm
by luckyluke
z    

Posted: Sun 03 Oct, 2010 5:12 pm
by Bramleygal
No-one has mentioned the caterpillar. Used to love that ride.