ah Sir jOhn,

I love that "Little Gawk"!

I did as you suggested, plugged "Hull Fair" into Google, and the first hit listed was from (of all things) the Mathematical Association Humberside Branch, with its proud page about Hull Fair:

Hull Fair is one of Europe's largest travelling fun fairs. It gathers for 8 days in October to offer a huge combination of carousels, fairground stalls, rides and side shows.

Choose from:-
Facts and Figures [link]        Pictures and Questions [link]

Being a facts & figures kind of guy, I clicked that link, but what did I find? A table with nothing in it. How informative....

Going to the Pictures and Queestions link, I found a pic of a ride called a helter-skelter (I'm from California, so I dunno wot dat is).
Next to the picture was the following:
    £1 per ride.
   1. Estimate the height of the ride. (Hint: Use the person collecting money.)
   2. Draw a plan view of the helter-skelter.
   3. How many times do you go round the helter-skelter as you go down?
   4. If it takes a child about 4 seconds to go from top to bottom, how much does it cost per second on the ride?
   5. If the slide was made straight, about how long would it be?
   6. (Advanced) Estimate the child's speed as the bottom is reached.

After that, my head started to hurt.

I hope the Hull Fair is more fun than that.

Regards,

doug