Dreamland Memories

[phelco]

hi peeps
saw about this site/campaign the other night on local news - fantastic !!
and well done for keeping the faith when all was lost

LOVE the look of the new park
i lived in Birchington till early teens mid 60s and dreamland was a huge part of my youth

"what shall we do today" - "Cycle to margate and have a look round Dreamland" lol

we couldnt afford to go on the rides apart from the 6d weekends on the first and last weekends - remember them ??

i used to take my kids during the bembom years and say "this used to be"

what i would like to know is - is there a thread (without checking 27 pages) that lists memories and what was there ??

i will chuck my 1/2d here anyway and if you can post any link i will be grateful

down the slope and on the left - the freak show - headless/bearde lady - great train robbers cars - mermaid

still left - the cafe - staurady mornings and afternoons - a skating ring - skates with wooden wheels

on the right was it the galleon tavern ??

into daylight and the Zulu

under the arch (under the scenic railway - the candy floss stall and on the right were the lockers

up the hill and right was the chap who guessed your weight within 4 ibs

on the left - the queen mary with funnels

each ride had a chalkboard with the numbers of pax on the last 6 rides - a spy in one of the funnels had a pair of binocs to check the numbers chalked agaist the numbers on the rides

the duck stall in front of the qm - lift a duck by a loop on the nose with a cane with a hook - turn it over for your prize number

river caves on the far side - bejewelled chambers - my favourite

to the left the Sphinx - with the landing with moving floorbards which meant you had to put both hands on the handrails - which meant that if the walker was female the operator pressed the button to operate the gust of air to blow their skirt up = superb - pity i was too young to appreciate it lol -

to the left - the 22 rifle (rifle not airgun) stall
the ground used to be covered with 22 brass cartridges - we used to scoop them up to take homw untill shouted at

to the left - the cafe - i always remember the floor was litterd with chips

to the left the smoke covered miniature railway station (and toilets)

other bits - cars - boats (was there swirly boats)

the caterpillar - how tame is that now - a circular ride - 2 laps in, the hood came over to put u in darkness - as it lifted there was a gust of air - lol- skirt lifting again

i can remember on a 6d weekend on the dodgems - teddy boys smashing into each other and one car actually turning over on its side - no h and s then !!

and thers lots more

[Nick Evans]

Welcome aboard Phelco. I lived in Birchington too as a lad and end of season weekends were the time to go to the park for sure.

Like your sign off comment too!

[erclairedoc]

Yes welcome Phelco. I'm glad someone else remembers the Mermaid! It was something that always puzzled me as a child but not many people seem to recall seeing it at Dreamland.

[phelco]

thank u for your welcome

I have to get these memories down now - esp after the local news - just before alzheimers kicks in lol

the whole thing about Dreamland was its aesthetic quality

i have been to white knuckle parks - thorpe park - chessington etc - they are superb in that the rides are scary

dreamland was more of a village - all the rides merged ino each other - maybe very tame now - but they all fitted together

each ride had a white picket fence around it - next to a garden - green grass with flower beds - it was all immaculate

bembom days had better rides - but they all had just a wire fence around them - i thought it lost a bit of quality

anyone got a map of the 60s ??

trouble is - margate itself is destroyed - the Lido - remember how busy that was - bars - pool and arcades

queens hotel - the shops and arcades opposite there are all gone - and the butlins hotels

i love the postcard of the beach on the site in the 60s - packed

i drove along there last summer on the hottest day - i counted 50 people on the beach

always remember sitting on the church wall in birchington of a weekend collecting car numbers - they used to be backed up from margate
if they had girls in the cars we used to show off by telling the driver to turn right up park lane and go left along shottendane rd lol

o what days :0)

[phelco]

i will bump this as there must be someone who can post memories

[mel]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum.
I used to go to Dreamland as a child and maybe someone could remember i think in the early 1970's the cast of film or tv program paying a visit to the park?
The only memory i have of that day is riding the Dogems with Diane Keen!
But unfortunately not having any photo's of it!!!!

Alan

[Gary]

Hi Mel (Alan)

Welcome to the forum.

I'm wondering if the TV series was called The Cuckoo Waltz??

I never saw the episode - if indeed it was this programme that was actually shot at Dreamland - but the programme is what I usually associate (the beautiful) Diane Keen with from the 70s.

[Dorsetlad]

Hi first time visit, ex South London lad now living in darkest Dorset

First time I went down to Dreamland was in the very early seventies, watching it change over the years, the glass maze was always the first thing we saw "proper" and rides may have come and gone but always the scenic railway was good.

I remember especially the miniature railway with the green diesel and my poor ol' nan who was rather a big lady trying to squeeze into the seat, always hoped that it would get rerouted as going behind the rides and then back again was always a bit o' a disappointment.

I came down to Margate last year for the first time since the early nineties to meet my grown up daughter for the first time and was horrified how bad Margate had become, dirty kebab shops, chavs and boy racers screaming about the place, plagues of biting flies, seeing the wreckage of Dreamland was terrible and I was explaining to my daughters how Dreamland was the king of days out. The poor joke shop standing alone and forlorn in the arcade, the cafe on the corner by the roundabout that in the seventies had a Elton John lookalike as a waiter ^^

My brother and I were pretty lucky as my father worked on the railways so we got free travel and concessions too under Bembom days, we lived first in Gravesend and then Bromley so very easy to get to, I remember too going up into the signal box at Margate where my dad was working there as relief as my poor mum had lost some money and she went and raided his wallet. I think his lifelong friend still lives in Manston, Alan "Tiny" Craig.

BTW did anyone realise that the TV show The Prisoner (Patrick MacGoohan and his pet balloons) saw a great deal of the original late sixties Dreamland? Also the Gerry Anderson show UFO episode "Court Martial" shows the Scenic Rly run from end to end as well.

[Alan]

Hi, You will find that the prisoner was filmed at battersea and the Kurzzal southend

Alan

[Greg Pryce]

The Rollercoaster in the UFO episode looks like it could be Blackpool Pleasure Beach or maybe Southend Kursaal?, but not Dreamland......that's how bored I was tonight, I tried to find this episode on you tube!!
.........I seriously need to get out more

[Dorsetlad]

A lot of Prisoner was shot in the locale of Kent if you look at the last episode where they are on the A20, also in the one I thought was Dreamland, they were on the old A2.

Also is not the cricket match held on Meopham Green? As that looks suspiciously like Meopham windmill in the backshots...

My bad on the theme park shots tho, seems there is montages of more than park and that led to my confusion.