Star attraction at this year’s Fairground Weekend, on 24th & 25th July, at Hollycombe – Steam in the Country, Liphook, Hampshire, will be the Mason family’s 1948 Fly-o-Planes, manufactured by the Eyerly Aircraft Co. in the USA. The ride was originally designed to train pilots and came over to the UK in 1951 for the Festival of Britain in Battersea. It is believed to be one of only two surviving examples and is the only one still travelling.
Also making a first time appearance at the event will be John Morley’s traditional Old Time Vintage Arcade – an array spanning 100 years and includes slot machines, fruit and novelty machines, Fortune Teller and What The Butler Saw. He is also bringing his 1950s Winnards train ride which is a popular attraction for children and adults alike with its authentic classic ‘clickety clack’ as the train goes around the track.
There’s even more for the children – a superb traditional juvenile dobby roundabout presented by Albert Lewis of Middlesex, as weall as Solly Harris’s juvenile ark roundabout. There will be supporting fairground side shows as well as a display of fairground models, vintage fairground transport and showman’s living wagons.
For the fair organ gathering that complements the event, there will be a wide range of organs, from late-1800s organettes, hand-turned street organs, to various sizes of dance, street and fair organs.
Hollycombe will be providing its usual fayre – its steam-powered Edwardian fairground as well as steam railways, traction engine-hauled rides and more. Daytime openings are from 11.00am to 5.00pm (trains from noon, the fair from 1.00pm), while a special evening opening will be held on the Saturday from 7.00pm to 10.00pm. For more information, see www.hollycombe.co.uk or phone 01428 724 900.
