# Where is this British "Slide" Tower?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-british-slide-tower/920715>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 15, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-british-slide-tower/920715 "2020-09-15T17:34:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-british-slide-tower/920715/21 "2021-04-20T17:16:16Z")

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> Is it commonly used in Britain outside the phrase “coconut shy”?

Not often. It can be used to mean a wild mis-hit, maybe in cricket, as in “taking a shy at [whatever]”

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-british-slide-tower/920715/22 "2021-04-21T00:45:00Z")

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> [@markn\_1](#):
>
> Traveling amusement parks are also not really part of my experience, although I think they do exist to some small extent in the US

You have county agricultural shows?

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**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-british-slide-tower/920715/23 "2021-04-22T07:19:10Z")

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> [@SanVito](#):
>
> Our travelling funfairs are often run by Gypsies

This isn’t strictly true. Although they may share some lifestyle similarities with the traveller and Romani communities, funfairs and travelling circuses in the UK are run by ‘show people’. I only know this because I now live in a part of the country (Bedfordshire) that has a large number of show families living here.

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**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-british-slide-tower/920715/24 "2021-04-22T07:50:50Z")

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Missed the edit window, but here’s a good article on travelling show life in the UK today (or 2012 when this was published 😁):

> **[Britain's showmen: All the fun of the fair?](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-16853334)**
>
> Who are the people behind the bright lights and candy floss that operate Britain's travelling funfairs?

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