Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

The Save Dreamland Campaign was launched by Joyland Books in January 2003 and is now supported by several thousand people. This is the place to discuss all aspects of saving Margate's famous amusement park and its iconic , Grade II listed Scenic Railway, Britain's oldest roller coaster.

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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby EAS » 03 Sep 2013, 09:42

Oh Bob rears his head to give wrong information again. Give up Bob. As a troll you really haven't been too successful :D :D
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Jim Douglas Jr. » 05 Sep 2013, 20:37

Were the police called immediately, is what I'd like to know?
Or were the watchers just sitting there aghast, calling Nick, and letting it go on?
They should have been. An immediate stop order would have likely been issued as with any property dispute.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Jim Douglas Jr. » 05 Sep 2013, 20:38

Bob needs to get his finger out of his hole and move on.
We still won, Bob. Dreamland is going forward.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Jim Douglas Jr. » 05 Sep 2013, 20:40

...and who else put up money? The Prince Charles Foundation?

They need to be made aware. Don't depend on the media to do it. Someone needs to make a call.

What has the council done?
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby EAS » 09 Sep 2013, 13:35

No such organisation as the Prince Charles Foundation, though one of HRH Prince Charles organizations helped with certain planning / heritage related issues (in accordance with the charitable remit) I do not think they handed any cash over to the Save Dreamland Campaign to purchase rides.

The Prince's Regeneration Trust

http://www.princes-regeneration.org/pro ... nd-margate

The news on the missing items (of course police were informed and of course the removal was monitored by friends of Dreamland, though police do not issue stop orders in UK) ) and new acquisitions for Dreamland is on the NEWS part of the Dreamland Trust website


http://dreamlandmargate.wordpress.com/

RIDES UPDATE


Posted on September 7, 2013 by dreamlandmargate
On completion of Thanet District Council’s Dreamland site assessment and surveys, The Dreamland Trust will be able to gain access to carry out a final inventory of what items remain from the collection of ride parts salvaged by the Save Dreamland Campaign – most of these items were earmarked for up-cycling.

In the meantime we are pleased to confirm that over the past twelve months The Dreamland Trust has been in the process of acquiring ten historic thrill rides plus two original, iconic rides returning Dreamland for the opening line up. New additions include:

Austin Car Ride

This is one of the most popular juvenile rides where young children can ‘drive’ a car on their own!

In 1948 parliament passed an act acknowledging pneumoconiosis in Welsh minors rendering them unable to work in the mines. Chairman of Austin Motors, Leonard Lord, created an employment opportunity for disabled minors to work by building a factory to produce children’s pedal cars in the Austin style – the Austin J40. Showmen came up with the idea of fixing the cars onto roundabouts making the J40 accessible to many children.

Muffin the Mule

This ride was built around 1949 by R J Lakin & Company of Streatham for S & J Thurston and decorated by chief artist, Edwin Hall. Originally this ride had streamlined cars in which children could ride, but in the 1950s the popularity of a certain children’s television puppet saw the cars changed to Muffin the Mules.

Double Decker Rocket Ride

An unusual children’s ride which in addition to the conventional platform mounted toys at ground level, also features an upper deck of Rocket cars adding double the fun! The idea was patented by north eastern showman, James A Crow, in the late 1940s, and the rides were built under licence by Orton & Spooner of Burton on Trent.

Hurricane Jets

The delight of this 1950s ride is that the rider can control the elevation of the cars by the operation of a joystick. Built by the Langwheels Company of Middlesex, these popular rides could be found in many amusement parks, including Dreamland, although the one we have acquired has spent its life on the travelling fairs.

The Historic Rides Collection is held in safe, off-site storage. The opening rides line-up will be supported by visiting and guest vintage rides and attractions.

The Dreamland Trust also holds a collection of historic amusement park and fairground artefacts and paraphernalia currently in secured off-site storage plus the Dreamland Archive, which is being transferred to Canterbury Christ Church University where it will become accessible via the SEAS Photographic project website at http://www.seasphotography.org.uk/.

A collection of penny slot machines has been sourced for The Dreamland Trust this summer and includes a number original 1950s Dreamland amusement arcade machines.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby SuburbanHomeboy » 09 Sep 2013, 20:18

So we are getting the Littleboy collection - he is doing a fantastic restoration job on these rides. I just hope his incredible Waltzer steers clear - given the fate of other Waltzers at Dreamland...

But no real updates on the thing we actually want to know - which of the historic rides already donated have been "disposed of".

It is interesting to note that there no longer seems to be any "official" updating of this forum - has all the focus been taken away to the Facebook page and Twitter feed? It only seems to be us "lesser mortals" on this forum now.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Nick » 09 Sep 2013, 20:45

Well I am still here.

We have not been able to gain access to the site yet until the initial safety surveys are completed, which will be in the next few days. We will then organise initial visual inspections of the rides, which will give us a pretty good idea of what is left, and then we will undertake specialist surveys of the rides to enable us to finalise which will form part of phase 1.

The key thing to emphasise is that we have access to a large number of historic rides, as we have been working on a 'Plan B' for some time now. The first phase of Dreamland will have approximately the same number of historic rides as originally planned, possible slightly more.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby vann98 » 09 Sep 2013, 22:47

All I can say is, it is great to see positive movement on site. I am dubious, though I don't suppose the council managed to recover the costs from the urgent cinema repairs? I am surprised MCTRC have been able to get away with as much as they have.

Good luck with all the inspections and surveys. I look forward to hearing the latest developments in the coming week or two.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby SuburbanHomeboy » 10 Sep 2013, 08:37

Hi Nick - good to see you posting. I knew you wouldn't leave us - it is your site, after all! :wink:

I'm following @DreamlandTrust on Twitter, so I'm hoping that any breaking news will come through quickly there. I know I should just take a deep breath and be patient, but the twists and turns of this sorry tale have turned the fate of Dreamland into high drama - and we still have the result of the appeal to go! It would be a shame if some of the larger, static rides now have to be replaced by travelling rides, but then as a regular visitor to Dingles and places like Folly Farm, a collection of well-preserved and maintained travelling vintage rides can be a real treat as well. Plus we still have the centrepiece of the Scenic Railway - I'm really looking forward to riding it again some day.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby EAS » 10 Sep 2013, 16:19

I take exception to being called a lesser mortal :0)

Well, many of the rides which were rescued from Pleasureland for example were always only part rides, a vast amount would have to be recreated. If those have gone, sad but we WILL NOT BE DETERRED!!!

Scenic is still there. Machinery is presumably still in the building, though in need of repair. The wooden structure is only part of the ride. That was always 'woodman's axe'.

We have come this far, long way to go, but hey, the site no longer belongs to MTCRC and I can't actually see the legal challenge being successful.

Big question is ... how is Dreamland Basil?
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Nick » 10 Sep 2013, 18:25

SuburbanHomeboy wrote: It would be a shame if some of the larger, static rides now have to be replaced by travelling rides, but then as a regular visitor to Dingles and places like Folly Farm, a collection of well-preserved and maintained travelling vintage rides can be a real treat as well. Plus we still have the centrepiece of the Scenic Railway - I'm really looking forward to riding it again some day.


Our focus is to build permanent static rides, not travelling rides. Of course, every amusement park has its travelling rides in the mix, but our priority will always be to rebuild the big permanent rides, such as roller coasters, water chutes, dark rides and big flat rides from different eras such as whips, tumble bugs, dreamboats, etc. We won't get all of these, and we certainly can't afford them all at the moment, but our vision is to create the ultimate amusement park of thrilling historic rides. A long-term project that will take many years to complete (if it is ever completed), but will be a fantastic place to visit from the moment we open our gates in Year One.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby vann98 » 10 Sep 2013, 20:12

I have to say, I adore your vision Nick. I see so much potential in the scheme, regardless of how long it may take to reach its final goal.

A real immersive experience. I love it!
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Peet » 17 Nov 2013, 15:35

Would it be possible to have a quick update on what rides were taken away? Did it include the Wild Mouse/King Solomon's Mines, or is that still safe in storage?

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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Nick » 17 Nov 2013, 16:02

The Wild Mouse is still safe, as is the Caterpillar, Whip, Junior Whip, Meteorite, Corbiere Wheel, Ghost Train, River Caves boats, etc, and some of the fun house items. Lost are the Flying Scooters, some of the Fun House machines and most of the cable car system.
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Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby SuburbanHomeboy » 17 Nov 2013, 17:01

Have to say - good job the remaining rides are relatively high-capacity! Much as I loved the Flying Scooters, they take an age to load - especially when everyone is riding solo - and take up a lot of space. #PositiveThinking
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