A 90-year-old showman who has been coming to The Hoppings for more than seven decades says that he hopes to do at least another five years of fairs before he retires.
Gilbert Chadwick says he is the oldest working showman in the country and has run the Fun House at Europe's largest travelling fair for 72 years. Assisting him is his wife Eileen, 85, while his son Gilbert Junior, 59, has a ghost train at the fair.
Gilbert travels with the fair each summer season, from its beginnings at Whitley Bay at Easter until early November. However, the Hoppings on Newcastle's Town Moor is the biggest event of the year - and he's been in the same place for decades.
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Gilbert told ChronicleLive: "I love the social side of it, there are people here we haven't seen all year. We get together, we have a drink, yesterday we went out for a meal at South Shields on the seafront, we enjoy the life."
In the near three quarters of a century he has been at the Hoppings, Gilbert has seen many changes. He continued: "The Wall of Death, the boxing show, the circus, the flea circus, the fat lady, the thin man.
"All of these were sides shows, you went in to view something but they've all gone. A lot of new rides have taken their places and family rides and it's good!"
In the off-season, Gilbert works on his ride to improve it a little each year. It has grown from 36 foot to 40 foot, while a waterfall has been added at his wife's request. And though it's hard work, he still loves it and has no plans to retire.
Gilbert finished: "We're playing at the job, it's a game. It's unsociable hours, some people wouldn't stand for it at all.
"When we finish on a Saturday night, we put our overalls on and pull the fairground down. The normal man doesn't want to do that, but that's what we do - I'd like to keep going for another five years!"
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