"The event of the year was The Wake. This was a travelling fairground that set up its tents and sideshows in a vacant field and brought a spirit of carnival to the village. The most exciting thing there one year was a malfunctioning slot machine that delivered two pennies for each penny inserted. We had to enforce a strict rule that a boy had to join the back of the queue after milking it of two shillings - and the queue was understandably long; I only managed three visits. It took a whole afternoon before the machine was empty and Ginger Williams had to complain to the attendant that it hadn't paid out his winnings. The attendant obligingly refilled the machine with pennies and it lasted another couple of hours. The next day the machine had an 'Out of Order' notice on it."
