[Lyn L]

Thanks for the link JW   

[JohnWalker]

More updates on the Dreamland project...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-27210062

JW

[JohnWalker]

Dreamland also had a miniature steam railway about 1955  or abouts, wonder where that went
  trainman

I loved that little railway.  It went from a small station at one end of the park through the garden and the zoo.  I think there were two steam locos and possibly a diesel.  There are a few good photos on the Dreamland site.
JW

[trainman]

 Dreamland also had a miniature steam railway about 1955 or about, wonder where that went?
  trainman

[smiler]

[JohnWalker]

The Stowaway ride was heavily hyped and was hoped to be the saviours of Dreamland as it was then.  In reality it didn't live up to expectations.  They tried various publicity stunts along the line of it being haunted during the construction which ensured media coverage - but sadly - it wasn't enough.  I'm sure other will have more to add.

[rdfb2]

i went on the double big wheel back in about 1972 at the age 13 , and it scared me so much i was nearly crying and beging my mate to stop rocking it and like you say it felt like the whole carriage was gone go upside down, scared me for life and would never go on anything since that day, wish i had never gone on it.

[smiler]

December 1938 John Henry Iles,the man who bought Dreamland to Margate and achieved more than any other person in developing the area as one of Britain's more popular tourist resorts, has been struck by financial tragedy.
The entrepreneur staked his entire fortune on the film industry believing British films could equal, perhaps beat, anything offered by its competitors.
The industry however, has gone into decline and with the Munich crisis and events in Europe dominating everything, Mr Iles' venture has ended in bankruptcy.
He has now left his Margate interests to his son and resigned all his directorships.
He fell in love with the town in 1915 and by 1919 had purchased Lord George Sanger's famous Hall-by-the-Sea for £40,000. Later he acquired the Clifton Baths Estate and spent half-a-million pounds developing the project now known as Dreamland.               Kent a chronicle of the times by Bob Ogley

[gibblyweeds]

I remember two things about Dreamland in the 50's  One was the man with the scales as you went down the slope into the park. He guessed your weight & if he was so many pounds out you got your money back. The other was a room with a "Lady with no Head". Sure enough there were all these bubbling tubes where her head should be!!

[Bryn Clinch]

When was the `Big Wheel` replaced by the `Double Big Wheel`? I remember taking a lad with cerebal palsy on it. Everything was OK until the`boats` began to rock violently every time the brake was applied, but at one stage, when our wheel reached its highest point, the brake was applied so violently we were nearly tipped out. The little lad thought it was hilarious and had tears of laughter running down his cheeks but I was petrified and from that day have a terrible fear of heights. I watched the operator after this terrifying experience and it was quite obvious that he was taking great pleasure in scaring the daylights out of everybody by violently slamming on the brake. This was definitely pre-1960.
I took this same lad on the Rotor, the large rotating drum where everyone `stuck` to the walls when it spun. Everyone was `glued` to the wall except this lad who, due to his disability, could not keep still and consequently slowly slipped to the bottom. He thought that this was hilarious. His condition slowly improved over the years and, against the odds, found employment as a skilled labourer in Chatham Dockyard but never worked again when the Yard closed. A great lad who sadly died prematurely. Perhaps some Forum members who worked in the Yard may remember him - Michael (Mick).

[Sentinel S4]

The last memory I have of a visit to Dreamland (never Bem Boms) was of three of us at the end of the season. This would have been around late September 1983. We had 'done' everything other than the Ferris Wheel and were in need of something quiet to calm our selves down, not feeling too well, so we jumped on the Wheel for a ride. As it started one of my mates discovered that the cars could be rotated. This was fine until we reached the top where the other two started to spin the car faster and faster. At this point I mentioned that the car could be on a tfine thread and they could be unscrewing us and it was a long way down. With that the car started to spin even faster in the opposite direction, ostensibly 'doing it up'. Never one to pass up a 'wind up' situation I calmly pointed out that it could be a left handed thread........ The car stopped spinning and two sheepish looking 18year old Bikers hung on to the central pole until we got back down and out, as for me I just kept up with "It don't feel too good....." "A bit wobbly......." "Wonder how much thread is left......." routine all the way. That was the last time I visited the park when it was fully (ish) working.

Sentinel S4.

[smiler]

Very good AnDy even see the pub at the beginning where us kids would stand outside with a Vimto an a packet of crisps/cheeselets.

[AnDy]

Dreamland in the 50's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLlKR1x1oWY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwEMnLrVHkA&feature=related

[DMC]

Whilst looking for something else I came across this web page

http://www.joylandbooks.com/scenicrailway/images/galleries.htm

Some cracking pictures there Of Dreamland that maybe of interest.
Dezz  

[man-of-kent]

Just a little Dreamland related trivia.  The roundabout that was there for a few years originally bellonged to the Emerson family in Cumbria. It was eventually purchased and sold on by Preston Services of Preston near Wingham. It now resides in Tazmania. When in the hands of the Emersons it had a 65 key Gavioli at the centre, almost identical to the one travelling Kent owned by John Woolls-Forrest of Charing. The Emerson organ is now owned by Herbert Silcocks of Southport.