All the fun of a steam fair

Eileen O'Brien

eileen.obrien@krnmedia.co.uk

Caption: Carters Steam Fair at Weston Supermare - Photographer: Michael Lloyd/Staff Reporter: Copyright: Bristol News and Media
CARTER'S STEAM FAIR: All the fun of the fair at Dreamland next Saturday. Here Valerie and Mervyn Payne ride the carousel

DREAMLAND comes alive again this Bank Holiday weekend.

The Wall of Death, helter-skelter, dodgems, swingboats and carousels all return to Margate in a fun fair festival organised by the Dreamland Trust as a taster of the rides planned for the future.

On Monday a fleet of 20 trucks from Carter's Steam Fair will travel from Maidenhead and take most of the week to erect the rides.

Owner Anna Carter, 62, said: "It's quite an adventure. We spend all the summer travelling around the country to earn some money and spend the winter renovating and painting."

It's an expensive business. Coal costs £2,800 to power two steam rides for three weeks.

But for grandmother-of-ten Anna, it's all worth it for the love of steam engines.

She said: "There's a nostalgia with steam machines and people love to see them in action. They seem to almost have a life, like living, breathing things. For some there's almost a tear in their eyes as they watch them."

For others there will be tears of laughter and maybe fear. Roundabouts, correctly called gallopers, will be there with more adrenalin-generating rides such as the Giant Octopus, Lightning Skid, high flying Chair-O-Planes and the Wall Of Death which was a feature of Dreamland for many years.

Carter's Steam Fair will be at Dreamland from Saturday May 29 to Monday 31.

Entry is free with individual charges for each ride.