Joyland Books

I saw Carter's Steam Fair in Ravenscourt Park last month and it was a pretty good show.

One query - I did not see the Bristol L4G caravan (converted from bus) among the ancilliary vehicles. Do Carter's not have this any more? I had the impression that it used to be John Carter's pride and joy!

There is also another travelling vintage fair - Harris's - which does not have any directly steam-driven rides but nevertheless sometimes operates its rides with steam traction engines generating the electricity. Perhaps next year both Carter's and Harris's could appear together in Dreamland, perhaps augmented with one or two other vintage rides that are still travelling, so as to make a really big vintage funfair.

John Humphrey wrote:One query - I did not see the Bristol L4G caravan (converted from bus) among the ancilliary vehicles. Do Carter's not have this any more? I had the impression that it used to be John Carter's pride and joy!

its parked up in the yard, wont be out this year

Do take note that a topic with an identical title was started already.

My posting was intended to be a reply but somehow went through as a new topic. Maybe the moderator could amalgamate these so that all postings on this may appear as a single "Carters" topic.

Does anybody know what day Carters will be "pulling on" to the Dreamland site?

Also will they be in the current car park, behind the scenic or on the top part of the site?

Should be able to give you full details on Tuesday.

Yes we would like to visit Dreamland BUT there are no closing times listed for Carters Steam Fair and when you call them there is only a recorded message. In our experience they often close when they fancy and as we will be travelling from Colchester, approximately 120 miles, we will probably not bother going as no one can be bothered to give us any information. An excellent idea to promote Dreamland but surely the idea is to bring people from its traditional catchment areas. GIVE US MORE INFORMATION PLEASE!

we will probably not bother going as no one can be bothered to give us any information

Smacks a touch of cutting your nose off to spite your face.

Yes opening time info would have been good on the flyer but I'm assuming they'll be open most of the day (e.g. at least 10 till 5). We're driving down from London on Monday and planning round that. I guess we could find they've packed up at 9am Monday but seems a touch unlikely.

Not at all. I am lucky enough to live closer to Great Yarmouth than Margate, which is, without any shadow of a doubt, going to offer me a far more varied and entertaining day out than Margate, and if I wished to visit any attraction there inclluding the Pleasure Beach, I woould simply use their website or telephone them to determine their opening hours. It is not unreasonable to expect that.

I am not desperate to visit Carters, there are far closer venues that they atttend, and I am no longer, unfortunately, desperate to visit Margate. Indeed, these days when I visit Thanet for a day out, I drive straight through Margate and on to Broadstairs and Ramsgate. The point is for this to be successful and to raise the profile of Dreamland beyond the town itself, you cannot afford to be complacent and assume that people will travel long distances wiithout the certainty of an attraction being open. In a London venue you would expect the fair to be open into the night - I have known Carters to be open untill ten, and I would prefer to make a day out of it in the area and visit the fair at night when it has that extra magic.

Carters opens at 11am and closes at varied times depending on the business. You must understand that Great Yarmouth is a permanent attraction and has someone sitting by a phone to answer enquiries. Like Porf has stated, there are hours your pretty sure they will be open, id say as a rough guide they will be open at least 11-7 tomorrow and Monday, possibly later if their is enough trade to sustain it. I hope this information helps.

kevin wrote:Not at all. I am lucky enough to live closer to Great Yarmouth than Margate, which is, without any shadow of a doubt, going to offer me a far more varied and entertaining day out than Margate, and if I wished to visit any attraction there inclluding the Pleasure Beach, I woould simply use their website or telephone them to determine their opening hours. It is not unreasonable to expect that.

I am not desperate to visit Carters, there are far closer venues that they atttend, and I am no longer, unfortunately, desperate to visit Margate. Indeed, these days when I visit Thanet for a day out, I drive straight through Margate and on to Broadstairs and Ramsgate. The point is for this to be successful and to raise the profile of Dreamland beyond the town itself, you cannot afford to be complacent and assume that people will travel long distances wiithout the certainty of an attraction being open. In a London venue you would expect the fair to be open into the night - I have known Carters to be open untill ten, and I would prefer to make a day out of it in the area and visit the fair at night when it has that extra magic.

Oh well, you can either visit it or not, it's a free country. If you don't. it's nobody's loss but yours!

Thankfully there were plenty of people 'desperate' enough to visit Margate, ourselves included, as the place was rammed. Fantastic to see.

i thought carters was a wonderful visit - i went to margate to see the bikes and wandered to the fair
absolutely superb - a historic experience

every ride had info about it and the staff were friendly - AND the price was okay

the rides were immaculately painted - full of music and lights

the cabin full of penny machines brought back many memories and the use of tokens was a great idea - u won nothing but left with a sore thumb from the flicking games

i normally hate travelling fairs which are normally full of pikeys looking to fleece u but this was enjoyable

i watched the girl at the bottom of the helter skelter - crap weather - boring job - long day - but every kid got a big smile at the bottom of the slide - superb

this fair could be a permanent addition to the new dreamland

kevin wrote:Not at all. I am lucky enough to live closer to Great Yarmouth than Margate, which is, without any shadow of a doubt, going to offer me a far more varied and entertaining day out than Margate, and if I wished to visit any attraction there inclluding the Pleasure Beach, I woould simply use their website or telephone them to determine their opening hours. It is not unreasonable to expect that.

I am not desperate to visit Carters, there are far closer venues that they atttend, and I am no longer, unfortunately, desperate to visit Margate. Indeed, these days when I visit Thanet for a day out, I drive straight through Margate and on to Broadstairs and Ramsgate. The point is for this to be successful and to raise the profile of Dreamland beyond the town itself, you cannot afford to be complacent and assume that people will travel long distances wiithout the certainty of an attraction being open. In a London venue you would expect the fair to be open into the night - I have known Carters to be open untill ten, and I would prefer to make a day out of it in the area and visit the fair at night when it has that extra magic.

hi kevin
everything u say is correct - why the hell should you visit margate when GY is down the road - i live in Folkestone and a day trip to margate is a sad option as i visit my old man in cliftonville

you miss the point though - the carters fair wasnt a come to see margate option - it was an addition to the Margate Meltdown ride from the Ace Cafe - 3rd year - year 1 was decimated by storm force wind and rain - year 2 was 4000 bikes and a good day - year 3 - this year - was an expansion to add the fair for things for everyone to do - i think was a great idea

GY is still - not sure how - probably because the council was supportive - is still a superb seaside town - i love it - unfortunately margate - built on the attraction of dreamland - was given the kiss of death when JG lent his poisonous kiss to the attraction - also to folkestone

when i was a kid it went like this - MARGATE - dreamland - seafront- lido cliftonville etc full of life posh shops in northdown road -
BROADSTAIRS - lovely family resort - great baech - one amusement arcade - cafes and chip shops - deep beach
RAMSGATE - bit sad - merrie england - good beach but bit lower class resort - crap seafront - full of violent pubs (long bar etc)

as u have pointed out it has all reversed - why would you now go to margate

well hopefully the meltdown plus carters leading into the new dreamland may tempt you down for at least a day trip - wont be an overnight tho as every b and b i remember is shut


stick with us - hey the beach is still good

lol

Another query - a few years ago Carter's had a Foster steam traction engine which attended the various venues, presumably hauling trailers carrying the rides. Do Carter's still have that? If not, did they sell it on?