Where The Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre, run by the Fairground Heritage Trust, is just outside the village of Lifton in west Devon.
What The museum, which is going through the process of Accreditation, has three buildings, each focusing on a different aspect of the heritage of travelling fairs: rides, fairground art, and transport. Together they cover nearly 4,200 sq m of indoor space.
Opened The centre opened in 2007 on the former site of Dingles Steam Village, a vintage machinery attraction.
Collection The museum holds around 12 fairground rides. The oldest of these, at present not on display, is a switchback roundabout, probably from the 1880s. At the moment there are nine rides that can be used by visitors.
“Our whole ethos is that you’re not going to know what riding some of these rides was like unless you actually ride them,” says Nick Sturgess, the curatorial manager.
Alongside the rides are sideshows such as a coconut shy, darts and hook-a-duck. Other attractions include a 1940s ghost train and an arcade of working slot-machines.
There is also a collection of art that decorated the rides. “The art changes every decade, following the trends of the time,” says Sturgess. “After the 1920s film there were a lot of Ben-Hur rides, with a painting of the chariot race. In the 1950s it was the coronation or rock’n’roll. Ben-Hur came back a bit in the 60s after the Charlton Heston film.”
The collection also includes the wagons that workers lived in, trucks used to move equipment, and memorabilia.
Highlights A set of dodgems, which goes back to at least the 1930s, is by far the most popular ride, according to Sturgess.
An important recent acquisition, made with the help of a £90,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, is Shaw’s Moonrocket, a working 1930s ride featuring 1960s artwork – a stylised atomic explosion in psychedelic colours. It is the only complete surviving model of this once hugely popular kind of ride: riders sit in rocket-shaped cars which go round 12 times a minute on a sloped base; the centre rotates in the opposite direction to create an impression of speed. “It’s often referred to as the first white-knuckle ride,” Sturgess says.
Help at hand The museum has five full-time staff; several more are hired on a casual basis during the summer season. There are around 10 volunteers.
Budget The trust receives no public funding. Its annual income is typically around £200,000, derived mainly from entry tickets. This is supplemented with revenue from the shop, events, corporate hire, film and photo shoots, and weddings.
Key challenge In a relatively remote location, attracting volunteers requires effort and is an area of focus at the moment. “We don’t just get people walking past the door,” says Sturgess.
Visitors Families are the key market. The centre opens for just over half the year – this year it opened for the spring half-term week, and then from March until October, seven days a week.
The venue has had success in attracting visitors from poorer areas, Sturgess says: “The sort of people you would expect to visit a museum don’t necessarily come here, but we’re much more able to get the people from the areas other museums are targeting.”
The centre attracted about 25,000 visitors in 2015 and hopes to double that this year. Entry tickets are valid for a year, provided they are bought using Gift Aid.
Survival tip Paid-for social media advertising has helped to drive awareness of fundraising and events, for a small outlay – “One post had over 30,000 views”.
Future plans The museum wants to create exhibitions about the lives of people in the travelling show community. “There is an enormous story about British popular entertainment and the people who provided it,” says Sturgess.
Jonathan Knott is a freelance writer.
www.fairground-heritage.org.uk
What The museum, which is going through the process of Accreditation, has three buildings, each focusing on a different aspect of the heritage of travelling fairs: rides, fairground art, and transport. Together they cover nearly 4,200 sq m of indoor space.
Opened The centre opened in 2007 on the former site of Dingles Steam Village, a vintage machinery attraction.
Collection The museum holds around 12 fairground rides. The oldest of these, at present not on display, is a switchback roundabout, probably from the 1880s. At the moment there are nine rides that can be used by visitors.
“Our whole ethos is that you’re not going to know what riding some of these rides was like unless you actually ride them,” says Nick Sturgess, the curatorial manager.
Alongside the rides are sideshows such as a coconut shy, darts and hook-a-duck. Other attractions include a 1940s ghost train and an arcade of working slot-machines.
There is also a collection of art that decorated the rides. “The art changes every decade, following the trends of the time,” says Sturgess. “After the 1920s film there were a lot of Ben-Hur rides, with a painting of the chariot race. In the 1950s it was the coronation or rock’n’roll. Ben-Hur came back a bit in the 60s after the Charlton Heston film.”
The collection also includes the wagons that workers lived in, trucks used to move equipment, and memorabilia.
Highlights A set of dodgems, which goes back to at least the 1930s, is by far the most popular ride, according to Sturgess.
An important recent acquisition, made with the help of a £90,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, is Shaw’s Moonrocket, a working 1930s ride featuring 1960s artwork – a stylised atomic explosion in psychedelic colours. It is the only complete surviving model of this once hugely popular kind of ride: riders sit in rocket-shaped cars which go round 12 times a minute on a sloped base; the centre rotates in the opposite direction to create an impression of speed. “It’s often referred to as the first white-knuckle ride,” Sturgess says.
Help at hand The museum has five full-time staff; several more are hired on a casual basis during the summer season. There are around 10 volunteers.
Budget The trust receives no public funding. Its annual income is typically around £200,000, derived mainly from entry tickets. This is supplemented with revenue from the shop, events, corporate hire, film and photo shoots, and weddings.
Key challenge In a relatively remote location, attracting volunteers requires effort and is an area of focus at the moment. “We don’t just get people walking past the door,” says Sturgess.
Visitors Families are the key market. The centre opens for just over half the year – this year it opened for the spring half-term week, and then from March until October, seven days a week.
The venue has had success in attracting visitors from poorer areas, Sturgess says: “The sort of people you would expect to visit a museum don’t necessarily come here, but we’re much more able to get the people from the areas other museums are targeting.”
The centre attracted about 25,000 visitors in 2015 and hopes to double that this year. Entry tickets are valid for a year, provided they are bought using Gift Aid.
Survival tip Paid-for social media advertising has helped to drive awareness of fundraising and events, for a small outlay – “One post had over 30,000 views”.
Future plans The museum wants to create exhibitions about the lives of people in the travelling show community. “There is an enormous story about British popular entertainment and the people who provided it,” says Sturgess.
Jonathan Knott is a freelance writer.
www.fairground-heritage.org.uk