by porterm » 12 Nov 2009, 01:33
Thanks so much for that clip Gary - very fond memories for me as it was probably the very first sizeable amusement park I got to go to as a child, and practically in my back yard too! (I lived in Battersea in the seventies up until 1976; that park was never the same after 1974 when the famed amusement park finally closed its gates, along with its Pleasure Gardens)
The one thing I was quite thrilled to view was that sideshow with the characters going around through a curtain-type backing with bowler hats on. I don't know why but that attraction has always stuck in my mind and I thought I'd never get to see a visible reminder of it. (I did begin to think I'd actually dreamt it up as it always seemed quite surreal to me and no-one I meet ever seems to recall it). Very amusing antics with Hank on this and the Ghost Train I thought, and I'm no real Cliff/Shadows fan.
It looked like Clifff had great fun on all the rides, especially the dive bomber (he's a braver man than me there; I've never ventured on one as they always looked quite sickly to me). I thought it was also rather eerie seeing Cliff going up solo in the former Big Dipper train, about a year before the ride's fatal accident, assuming this was filmed in 1971.
Martin
PS That train looked like one of Margate's Scenic trains as I'm sure they lent/donated a couple to Battersea after the Big Dipper suffered a bad arson attack around 1970.