Carters Steam Fair is in town and we are ready for some fun! {AD} – Mummascribbles

AD – Gifted

When I think of a fair, I think of fast waltzers, loud thumping music, and the kids asking to go on every single thing in sight. I remember the fun of the fair as a child but it has a completely different aspect as an adult when I see the usual Easter, Christmas, and other half term fairs pop up on the local playing fields; and I always get out of taking the kids along. This was until I discovered that Carters Steam Fair was coming to a town near to us. You see, Carters is a tad different to the normal fairs. It’s an original!

Photo supplied by Carters Steam Fair

You see for the last 40+ years, the Berkshire-based Carters family have been rescuing heritage fairground vehicles from all over the country and restoring them at their yard in Maidenhead. And throughout the Summer months, they take their vintage fair on tour for kids big and small (and adults too), to enjoy. Everything on the fair, including the rides, vehicles and caravans is painted by hand in designs that are faithful to how they would have originally looked.

We are technically a family of artists and the fair is our canvas, we hand paint everything using traditional methods keeping everything as you would have found it when new.

Fairground Owner Joby Carter

Photo supplied by Carters Steam Fair

We have very kindly been invited down to the fair on Sunday and we cannot wait to go. It is running over Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Lloyds Park in Walthamstow, and then is off again on its travels.

Photo supplied by Carters Steam Fair

The fair has been featured in Oscar-winning The Theory of Everything, Paddington 2, Call the Midwife, the Netflix series Fairground Attractions and various other pop music videos and shows.

If you are thinking of visiting this weekend, or when it comes to your town; your best bet is to book online as you get a way better deal that way. Rides and side stalls are 4, 5 or 6 tokens per person dependent on ride size (eg the little rides for the kids are all 4 tokens, the big thrill rides are 6 tokens). When you buy ride tokens in advance online, you will be given some extra free rides. The bigger the bundle of ride tokens you pre-book, the more free rides you’ll get. You can book right up until midnight the night before your chosen day of attendance and you can see all booking and ticket options here.

Photo supplied by Carters Steam Fair

I have a couple of really interesting facts about the fair!

About the ‘Carousel’

Not many people realise that a carousel is an American ride which turns anti-clockwise and the horses are often different to each other and prancing. We have The Gallopers, a very British ride, which turns clockwise. It is born of a time when normal working people couldn’t afford their own horse. It provided a much-needed flight of fancy, a break from the drudgery of work, and often they would be highly decorated with exotic scenes, portraits of actors and actresses, of great men and royalty. In the days before cinema or television, it was transporting people into a gaily-coloured world. They’re called Gallopers because the horses speed round, and as they race they’re pulled up and down on cams, which gives them a ‘galloping’ motion. When they were made in about 1895, this would have been the fastest most people had ever travelled.

About the finding and restoration of their rides

Our steam yachts are one of only two or three surviving examples of a stately ride which was very popular in Britain at the turn of the 20th century. Many steam driven machines were converted to diesel when boiler inspections and new laws were introduced in the 1950s.

We found the Steam Yachts in the 1970’s in a scrapyard in Scotland and we were able to get a 1901 Savage engine to run them too. The restoration process was expensive and tough, including two new yachts built to the original pattern and new timbers specially imported from Canada, but it was all worth it in the end! Everything is painted by hand: take a look at the lettering and outlines on the rides at the fair – these are all done with a paint brush by hand.

Cool huh?

Carters pride themselves on being a traditional fair in a digital age and we cannot wait to go along and have a look at their gorgeous creations and to have loads of fun as well. Be sure to check out next week’s weekend happy post because I will be writing all about the fun we have (fingers crossed the weather is kind to us).

Disclosure
We have very kindly been invited to Carters Steam Fair where we will be provided with some tickets for the rides, stalls, and refreshments, in return for this post and the follow up review in our next weekend happy post.