Fair on the Green

This afternoon I went to the Fair on the Green at Parsons Green, a community event which always attracts a large number of stalls and equally large crowds, especially on a perfect day for it like today - the sun was shining, with not a cloud in the sky.

As I went straight there via the reading group and a visit to the art exhibition at the library in the morning, followed by a trip to North End Road market afterwards, I was starting to feel hungry by the time I arrived, and managed to get a very nice lunch from the Serbian stall - filo pastry stuffed with cheese and another one stuffed with spinach.    Absolutely delicious, both of them!   I sat on the grass to eat and read the paper, and when I had finished, wandered round all the stalls selling everything from food to new clothes to jewellery to bric-a-brac.   All I came back with though were three scented candles and a bar of soap, though I was tempted to get one of the dressed dolls on one of the stalls for Marina's baby for Christmas.   However, in the end I decided against; they were much too big for a six month old baby.

There was a stage, with constant entertainment, but unlike at most such events, they didn't have the amplifers turned up full blast, and the music was just a nice sound in the background.   

But the most interesting part of the Fair was a staged car crash, with the Fire Brigade giving a demonstration of how they would rescue someone with suspected spinal injuries.    The car was obviously some old banger that was worthless, but the driver wasn't wearing a seat-belt and had been thrown forward, shattering the windscreen.    She was therefore assumed to have suffered spinal injuries.

Before watching the demonstration, I hadn't a clue how they went about rescuing someome in that situation.   One fireman immediately opened the rear door and climbed in to support the driver's head to prevent any further injury.   Others put chocs under the wheels to stop the car moving, then put blocks under it, before letting down the tires so that the car rested on the blocks.     They then broke all the glass in the doors, allowing the pieces to falls into a bag which they had thrown over the door.     Following that, they removed the doors, cutting through the joins, and finally removed the roof so that they had full access.   Lastly, they slid the woman onto a stretcher, all the while keeping her head and spine immobile, and removed her through the back of the vehicle, ready to go into the ambulance.   Apparently during this part of the operation, the fireman holding the injured person's head takes over as the one in charge.

The whole procedure took almost half an hour; the commentator said they aimed to get the person out of the car within an hour.  

I found the whole thing fascinating; obviously everyone involved must have had a lot of trainng to be able to carry out  the rescue confidently.

I didn't stay until the end of the Fair, as I wanted to go back to North End Road to buy the week's vegetables - they are so much cheaper than the supermarkets, even with their special offers.   For instance, I got ten small avocados for just £1, and also four large bunches of spring onions for the same price.