Friends of the Fairground Heritage Trust

O ver the weekend of 26th and 27th September the annual Fairground Weekend and F.H.T. Open Days took place at Dingles Steam Village in Devon. As

usual there were many new items on display this year. There has been some progress on the future plans for the Museum and F.H.T., not least of which has been the granting of detailed planning permission for the proposed extension. A great deal of work is going on behind the scenes, most of it on a shoestring budget. To progress further we are going to need help with funding, some of which, it is hoped, will come from external sources, but some of which will have to be raised ourselves. If you feel you are able to make a donation to the F.H.T. funds this would be greatly appreciated. Items from both Dingles Steam Museum and the Fairground Heritage Trust have contributed greatly to the highly-successful Pleasurelands Exhibition which has appeared in Sheffield and Croydon and is due to open on this month in Edinburgh. This has proved to be a wonderful opportunity to raise the profile of Fairground Heritage in the U.K. So far the exhibition has been seen by some 20,000 visitors. Research suggests that 25% of those who visited the presentation in Sheffield had not previously visited an art gallery or museum. This in itself is a great achievement. When Pleasurelands finally closes at Edinburgh in January 2005 the items from the collection will return to Dingles Steam Village and we will have to try to find room to re-incorporate them into our displays. Next years special open days and fairground weekend are planned for Saturday and Sunday 25th/25th September 2005.

Michael Smith, F.H.T. Secretary NE

WS

LET

TE

R N

o. 4

: O

CTO

BE

R 2

004

Tom Mix at the FHT Open Day in September

O ne of the long-term projects amongst the F.H.T. collection is the ex-Joe Ling Moonrocket. New in 1938, it ceased travelled in 1962, and remained packed

away at John Ling’s depot at Burn until 1978. Since its rescue little work has been done to the machine, and the loss of the cars was a severe blow to the future of the ride. It has been possible to display parts of the ride. The original Popeye succumbed to the fire which destroyed the bottom of the ride during the war, but the later one, carved by Sid Wright, survives and was found amongst the trailers when they arrived at Dingles Steam Village. Further work by Michael Smith, Kevin Scrivens and Simon Harris in the summer helped locate the rocket and so the two have been re-united put on display in the museum along with the light burst from the centre of the ride. Also located during the work were further panels from Wood’s Boxing Show. These have been cleaned and are to appear at the Pleasurelands Exhibition in Edinburgh. Contact has been made with the Wood family who still share a great interest in the family’s boxing show and are keen to help put together a full history of the show. The wagon from Dr. Edwin Lawrence’s Cinematograph Show continues to attract a great deal of interest. It has been parked this year between the Mirror Show and Percival’s Automatics Arcade, the latter being another new exhibit this year, loaned by showman Edward Percival.

Above: Popeye has now been re-united with his rocket and put on display at Dingles Steam Village

One of our loyal supporters is Mick Goulding, who has presented his 3-abreast Gallopers at the Fairground Weekend for the last three years. The ride, a product of Thomas Walker of Tewkesbury, spends the summer season at Ilfracombe in Devon, and opens with Anderton & Rowlands in Plymouth for the Christmas season. It was acquired by its present owner in 1990 and has been restored to a high standard since. It is known to have travelled in Scotland by Billy Coats, and later opened at Prestatyn Amusement Park in the 1970s.

Another item on loan to the museum is the stall made famous in the north of England by Joe Barak, alias Chicken Joe. Joe travelled with Ling’s Amusements with a type of spinner game. During the depression his prizes of food hampers topped with a fresh chicken were well-received and he became a household name in many northern towns and cities. Joe Barak retired in the 1960s and the stall was packed away. The stall was found in store in the rafters of an old World War Two hut under over 30 years of accumulated dirt and dust. It was brought out for the Hull Fair exhibition in 1999, loaned by the family, but was acquired by Stephen Smith shortly afterwards. After some basic restoration it has been built up in the museum to house the collection of carved animals, mostly loaned by Geoff Weedon. These include an Anderson bear from a juvenile, a rare Spooner turkey and a large Savage cockerel. Chicken Joe’s story was researched several years ago by Hull historian, Chris Ketchell, and a book about the subject was published by New Era Publications available at the museum.

Below: Chicken Joe’s stall housing the collection of carved animals at Dingles Steam Village

Guy Belshaw, a Friend of the Trust, and popular World’s Fair contributor, has spent some time researching the history of Bridgwater Fair. With the help of the National Fairground Archive and several private collectors, he has been able to produce an impressive book, tracing the history of the fair from its medieval roots to the present day pleasure fair. The new book, Bridgwater St. Matthews Fair, was launched at the recent Fairground Weekend and Open Days, attracting a great deal of interest. It has been published by New Era Publications and amongst the 88 pages are many interesting and previously unpublished photographs from several local collections, as well as a number of images from Lionel Bathe, reproduced courtesy of the National Fairground Archive. It is the usual New Era format at 210 mm x 270 mm, and with 88 pages and over 100 photographs the book is good value at just £12.95. It is available post free from the author, Guy Belshaw, at 5 Linden Grove, Taunton, TA1 1EF. [ISBN 0 9535097 5 3]

Produced by the

Friends of the Trust For further information contact:

Stephen Smith 38 Stratford Avenue

May Bank Newcastle under Lyme

ST5 0JS

Weekend in September. Some time ago she penned an article on the subject for the postcard collectors’ magazine. An up-date of this article is due to appear in the February edition of the Fairground Society’s Platform magazine. Being a local collector and historian Di has also been extremely helpful with research into both the Hancock family and the Anderton & Rowland story.

Amongst the visitors to the Fairground Weekend and F.H.T. Open Days was Plymouth Postcard Collector Diana Lawer. A few years ago Diana contacted us as she had acquired a post card of a Joy Wheel and wanted to know more about these strange contraptions. When she heard that there were the remains of an original Joy Wheel amongst the Fairground Heritage Trust collection she visited the museum during the 2003 Fairground Weekend. Since buying the first card Di has acquired many more. Some are from real photographs, mostly showing Joy Wheels that opened on permanent sites, others are the comical variety and usually show the mayhem caused by the rides as they gained momentum. Di has been so taken by the fact that one still survives and is stored at the museum that she has had copies made from here collection and mounted into a display which she generously donated to the museum on her visit to the 2004 Fairground

2005 Events Dates for Your Diary:

Fair Organ Weekend Saturday & Sunday 21st/22nd May

Fairground Weekend and F.H.T. Open Days Saturday & Sunday 24th/25th September

Enquiries to Michael Smith—phone 07770 852971 or e-mail michael_a_smith@talk21.com