this is bbc news. the headlines and all the other main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. i started helping my father at nine years of age on the front of the show, and he gave me a microphone and said, "you get some people in this show, son." and i was on the front of the show for, what, nearly a0 years of my life? being here, it feels right.

i think we all love it. it's in our blood. we all love it. it's entertainment. we are like an extended family. my dad means sort of everything. he's all we look up to and we want to be more or less. he's the mr miyagi. that's exactly it. my granddad and my dad don't get on. - but typical in—laws — _ everybody's got family dramas. you said we're doing it wrong? yes, lam. well, we're not. nipper is a true . showman legend. he's known up and down. the country by everybody. there isn't nobody- that doesn't know him. i don't think i'd ever want to stop being a showman. hopefully there's a lot of life left in this old dog yet.

this is my wagon. and this is the showman�*s traditional living wagon which showmen across the country live in and travel around the country with. i have all the amenities that we need these days. living room, kitchens, bedroom areas. it's come a long way from the old wagons of many, many years ago.

this is a bus that i was brought up in and lived in, or one of them. room was at a premium. so i remember one day my father went in, come out, after my mother had a set of twins, and he came back and where we never had enough room for more to sleep, he bought some hammocks and put the children in there and then you could just rock them to sleep. and theyjust loved it, you know, it was like, i suppose, for a child it was heaven, swinging heaven. where's the time gone? my grandmother there used to be known as the mae west of show

business in her youth. she'd be telling the tale to the public, telling them what were going to take place on the show, what you was going to see and do. they did the crocodile—skin man. you know, the elephant—skinned man. there was all different kinds of people. but today, you know, our society has changed. it wouldn't be appropriate to do that. but in those days it was, and the public would come and you could walk along there. and my father would do sword tricks and fire eating, dancing girls, drums and music playing. it was all excitement. i started helping my father at nine years of age. i was banging on the big drum at the front of the show, and he gave me a microphone and said, "you get some people in this show, son." and i started there and i was

on the front of the show for, what, nearly a0 years of my life? it's like losing one of your arms to an extent, you know, because all our showman�*s wives do a lot of work in the industry. they work alongside you as a team. sandra had ourfirst child when we were 16 and we ended up with three sons and two daughters, which we brought up in this life and industry that they worked alongside of us and grew up with it until they all got married and created their own businesses in the show business world and travel the country, which they still do today. so it's a family unit that works together and that's what makes it so wonderful. it is the thing that we do, you know, as a complete unit.

this is appleton�*s yard. this is ourfamily unit where we live. as you can see coming up here, this is known as the chalet. here is where brittany and monica live. my grandchildren, monica and brittany there. there are a couple of livewires, actually. we are in here, us two, all day. every day we just sit on the bed. we do tiktoks in here. we do everything together. we near enough get classed as twins, we are that much alike. so this one's my room. it's symmetrical. so straight through is the bathroom, adjoining bathroom. and then the other side is britney's room. we used to leave the doors undone, and i'lljust, like, sit up and i could see her in the bed still. she was there,

pulling faces at me. we've both got our own trailers now. they're side by side, we're next to each other. so we're not even far from each other still. we're in our own little bubble. so we come back, and soon as we step on our van, it's like ahh, the outside world don't see in. going down to what we call the bottom of this yard. this area down behind you is where we store all the machines, the equipment,

the lorries and things. this is where we do all our maintenance. as you can see, we have some of the children's rides, the old fashioned swing boats, which shortly these ones now will be taken down today and tomorrow, ready to go down to the kings lynn mart tomorrow night. the men don't actually do anything inside the household. they do the outside work, the maintenance of the funfair rides, whereas the women would be inside there and make sure that there's food on the table, clean clothes, tidy home to come back into. it's not so much of a tradition. it'sjust more that's theirjob and this is ourjob. but each family is different. when i do get married and i've got my own home and my husband is going to be outside in the cold all day and working to put food on the table for us, me giving him a clean home and clean clothes to come back into and a warm home makes me happy knowing that

he's going to be happy. me and my boyfriend had been together almost five years now. when i get married, i'll be moving up to scotland. i think it'll affect britney because i'm always at her side 24/7. so i think she'll be a little bit lost and i'll be upset that i'm leaving her as well. it is a spectacular opening at the kings lynn mart and holds a special place in our heart for us because we live here and we've been associated with it for a long time. and when we open here, you'll see the big bang on saturday. showman�*s industry in a body is one big family across the country from lands end tojohn o'groats. usually when the children get married, they marry into another showman�*s family.

so the extension grows and grows, you know. showmen are like an extended family. i mean, i've known nipper all my life. that's pretty good. getting boys is good because they carry the name on. i'd say my dad means sort of everything. i he means more or less like, well, he's our role model who we look up to and who we want to be more or less. he's the mr miyagi. that's exactly it. a yard is very important to showmen because we've got a lot of work and maintaining to do. we've got to go somewhere. we've got to park up and we've got to get all the preparations ready for the following season. i've got around about five or six rides here.

i've got a lot of infrastructure. you know, i must have up to 20 loads in total. they only let me stay here and use the facilities out of a goodwill gesture, really. but they could say to me at any point now or in the future, "we'd like you to leave." i don't know what i'd do, to be quite honest with you, because i wouldn't want to be on the side of the road. i'd have to start putting rides in separate locations all over the country. i mean, my businessjust couldn't work that way.

we are now arriving with all our live—in wagons. we have got between a0 to 50 families that own parts of the fairground and own and operate them on the kings lynn mart. go back a bit. phone rings. 0h. i don't know where i'm supposed to put this trailer. well, why don't you give nippera ring, then? - i've tried, but i can't get through. john, harrison, they've got their way of doing things and i've got my old—fashioned way of doing things. john, leave the radio alone, please. you can't do anything until we phone nipper. i know, but it's distracting me. 0h, 0k. you know, if i say we're going to get up at 6:00

in the morning, one will say 7:00 and the other one will say 8:00 so, you know, we bicker about everything, basically. you go up, john, and i'll back you in. nipper — i mean, he's a big part of kings lynn mart. he'd be organising everyone. listen to me, you will be ok. he's very calm. like that. now follow me, follow me, john. you could break him loose but he is very calm. nice and steady, keep it like that. keep it like that. some people, you have to guide them in and say, "look, please do this," as you say, or "please do that" but they get a bit flustered because they want to get in and get sorted, but it all comes together 0k in the finish. we've done it for 800 years, so i'm sure we'll manage this year. but in them days, we came with the horse and cart.

it was a lot easier. just giddy up, boy, and you're in. there's an awful lot of health and safety now, you know? and whatever we do now, it's not a way of life any more. it's a business. and you've got to run it as a business. go steady! pull up at kings lynn was, in one word, hectic. everything's got to be precise — especially at somewhere like kings lynn. there's no room for error. over here, lawrence. there.

you've got your markings down. that is your position. if you're over one way by four orfive, six inches, obviously, that affects the next person. and then it can then curtail onto someone else's positions. it belongs to our family, not yours! it can come out in a few arguments, you know, things like that, especially in the early hours of the morning. it's a fake bowl. is that a fake bowl? that's a fake bowl. is that right? that's a council bowl. so you're saying we're doing something wrong here? yes, iam. well, we're not. we're not. well, just one disagreement, as you see, because somebody started wailing that it was on his ground, but he never gave us a chance to get measured up properly and get on the mark. so that was resolved. as you see, i measured it up, pushed it forward a few inches and problem solved. so was it your daughter's husband? yes, it was. big families have differences of opinion but, you know, in general and give it time and it gets sorted

out and you carry on, you know, as a family. it is nearly 2:00, it's1:48, and it's my bedtime. he chuckles. yeah, time to call it a day. is that 0k? we can watch telly now. we wanted the fair to make a comeback, you know? and the quicker we get built up and get open, the better, i think, because i can't wait.

we wanted the fair to make a comeback, you know? and the quicker we get built up and get open, the better, i think, because i can't wait. i mean, we've lost two years. we look at kings lynn to see how the rest of the season is going to be. so if we have a good king's lynn, then hopefully we're in for a good summer. bell rings. 0yez, oyez, oyez! god save the queen.

being here, it feels right. because this is what we are, this is what we do. i think we all love it. it's in our blood. we all love it. i think every showman... the excitement, the thrill, the atmosphere. _ seeing the little kids and families walking| round with their candyfloss. their balloons. getting excited. getting in the queues to go on to the next ride. - ifeel proud because i'm proud of what i am and what we've done and what we've achieved in life. it's important to my dad because he's coming up 80 and our family don't live that long in life because we work hard and we burn ourself out. he got to go on. he's special. storm eunice has hit the uk, damaging properties and causing extensive travel disruption

because of powerful winds. and it's just been confirmed that two people have been killed. we are concerned with the forecast and how severe the wind may be and we won't have the fair open for the public for safety, as you say. have you checked the diesel in the lorry? well, get that done sooner rather than later, then, please. yeah, i know, i know. so if there's any issues, we know about it. sometimes, my dad be a bit stressed, but the things that's going on behind the scenes, it's all on his back. do you know what i mean? we don't have no staff. we do it all ourselves. i worry about my dad when he gets stressed out

because i don't want anything to happen to him. it's not only that you've lost money due to the weather, it's the fact that all the rides out there is left out there to the elements. so you're up all night long, you know, keeping an eye on things and making sure everything's tied down. so it's not like a day off to us because we're closed. it's notjust cheap equipment. it's hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of equipment. normal people think they've got worries about payments and bills and loans and things like that. well, you times that worst worry and times that by ten because you've got everything else on top of it. the most important thing for my family would be a base to work from. i just can't see why it's taken as long as it has. i think it's just easyjust to keep putting a showman at the back of the list. i don't feel that the council understand the urgency or the position that i'm in. it's frustrating because

there's notjust me in the same predicament — there's showmen all over the country that's in the same situation. we just want somewhere to put our equipment. i somewhere — you know, - everybody's got to have a home. everybody's got have somewhere to go. i me and my family are homeless at the moment. this bit of land means so much to me. we just want somewhere to put our equipment. i somewhere — you know, - everybody's got to have a home. everybody's got have somewhere to go. i me and my family are homeless at the moment. this bit of land means so much to me. this would be a future for me and my family. somewhere where we can call home. bye.

see you later. bob, stop it. sit down. that's the first time he's ever listened to you. indi's got her head screwed on. she's very brainy. she's into her schoolwork and studying. whenever there's everybody around, it's very difficult to do schoolwork. the kids are very chaotic, all this shouting and jumping around or they're playing with their toys and i can't focus. so, like, i'mjust always

waiting for the time on my own before i can do schoolwork. why is your top on backwards? because i want it this way. you can have this at the table. education to me is i very, very important. all my children, i'd strive to keep them in school. as much as possible. seen so many people - struggling in our business without an education - and although many people do get by without it, - i don't want my children tojust get by. do you like school? no. why don't you like school? um, it's a waste of time. i want to be a showman, so i don't really care about education. when i was ocean's age, - i had the same point of view — i didn't really like school, i i thought it was pointless, and i wanted to. travel all the time. but now, i've realised that it is important. . when was the last time you had a haircut? - suck in. are they too tight i or are they all right? all right. if you get yourself dressed and you go over up and a slip, please.

i'm going to take someone over to the slip. i do a little bit before and then, after i've opened up, i'll do it in there. see you later. 0k, see you in a bit. 18, 19, 20. ready or not, here i come! when he comes in the doorway here, we're going to have two nice dancing girls because, as you can see, the mexican twist is my family's show. we have people coming from all over the country. there would be about 100 family members. it is very rare for all of us to be together because we are a massive family. very special day, yes, yes.

quite excited and quite nervous. ladies and gentlemen, dad will be arriving in five minutes. could everyone stand around the dance floor, please, and all immediate family up by the door. he is here! he's here! come on, family! family! cheering and applause. it was overwhelming, to be honest, to have all of my family there. it was a shock. i was pleased that all of my children and great—grandchildren could be there for that day. woolly bully! i will carry on as long as possible and i will not retire, i want to be

around my people and industry and fellow showmen. hopefully, there is a lot of life left in this old dog yet. nipper means everything to us, he is the star of the family, he is the man, and without him, we would feel a bit lost. we are a showman family and i would not want it any other way than being a showman and entertaining the public of this country.

hello again. wednesday brought us some big weather contrast, once again. now we have some fog that lingered all day around the scottish borders and where that happened, temperatures in places actually stayed below freezing all day, whereas across the south west of england we had some pleasant sunshine. it was quite mild. 12 degrees in cornwall, 13 in the isles of scilly. right now, fog is becoming our next concern. we've got quite dense patches of fog across southern areas of england with the risk of some fog developing across wales, midlands, east anglia and for a time as well, northeast england. so, it might be worth allowing a little bit of extra time for your commute to work during the first part of thursday, because i think some of that fog is going to be quite dense with visibility down to 100 metres or so. and some of the fog willjust lift into low cloud and mist and could loiter all day in one or two spots. otherwise, a lot of dry weather across england and wales with some sunny spells developing, some damp weather

to start the day across eastern scotland. but the rain then tends to move into northern scotland later in the day. and for northern ireland it brightens up notice again. the mildest weather will be across the north—west of the country, 12 degrees in stornoway, whereas across england, wales typically temperatures around about 7 to 9 degrees. we've got a similar mix of weather around on friday again with some mist and fog patches to start the day. and then again it's a day where we'll see quite a bit of cloud, but some sunny spells developing here and there. 0ur temperatures not really changing too much across england and wales. again, about 7 to 9, still mild for northern ireland and western scotland. now taking a check on the weather picture into this weekend. easterly winds are going to start to strengthen and what that will do is bring us some thicker areas of cloud and we'll see some patches of mostly light rain moving in. so you could see some damp weather just about anywhere, but it's the winds that you'll notice and it will start to feel a little bit colder as well. however, into next week, that's when we're expecting the weather to turn much colder. still, you see an area of high pressure is going

to develop in greenland. and what that's going to do is it's going to shove these northerly winds southwards with polar air moving its way across the uk, really dumping the temperatures. and for some, particularly over the hills, you may all be looking at the first sign of winter. yes, there is the potential for some winter snowfall into next week. still some way off will be firming upon the details over the next few days.

welcome to bbc news, i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: buckingham palace issues a formal apology, after a senior member of the royal household is accused of making racist remarks, to a black, british, reception guest. china's former leader, jiang zemin, has died, as the country faces some of the most serious protests since he came to power after the tiananmen square massacre. democrat, hakeem jeffries is elected to succeed nancy pelosi, becoming the first black american to lead a major party in the us congress. music musicians and fans pay tribute to christine mcvie, the hugely successful singer—songwriter with fleetwood mac, who's died at the age of 79.