I might have mentioned this before, but where I grew up in Warwickshire we had a thing called the Mop. It does the rounds over a few weeks (Warwick Mop, Stratford Mop, Kenilworth Mop etc) and for a weekend all the roads in the town centre are closed and a travelling funfair sets up in the market square, high street etc.
Here's the background:
Warwick Mop Fair began when King Edward III granted a legal charter that it be held in the town centre, at a time when the stone version of the castle was being built and before Lord Leycester was even born let alone building hospitals. Many significant towns in the area have similar charters including Stratford upon Avon, Southam, Banbury, Tewksbury, Alcester, Evesham, Abingdon and so on. Each year these towns have fairground attractions in their town centres and surrounding streets.
Warwick Mop is held every year on the Friday and Saturday following the 12th day of October, with the ‘Runaway Mop’ held the following Friday and Saturday. The 12th is the date for calculating when many of the local mop fairs happen. It is believed to be linked to a date the harvesting was completed, in olden days. Stratford’s Mop is held on the 12th, Southam the Monday after the 12th and so on.
When the Mop first started nearly seven hundred years ago the event was a hiring fair for local labourers and employers to meet in a social setting. Workers would be hired for a trial period of a week; hence the Runaway Mop the following weekend allowing either party to back out if they were unhappy with the arrangement. Once the formalities were over, the labourers could spend their token wage (given by the new employers) at the stalls gathered for the occasion or the local pubs!
The title ‘Mop’ has been a subject of debate by historians for a number of years. The most likely link is that labourers wore a symbol (a badge almost) to identify their trade. This meant employers would instantly recognise those wanting work in their industry. These symbols were believed to have been known as mops...
http://www.warwickmopfair.co.uk/history.html
Aaannyywayy.... one of my mates worked in a local hardware store and one year a group of 'Moppies' came in asking for a bolt to secure a Waltzer car onto the track.
"No problem mate, what size do you need?"
"Er, I dunno....about this big?"
Never got on a mop ride against since then.