Mechanical Memories Magazine

Issue: 2012-September - Issue 68

Editorial
Hello, and welcome back. So here we are at long last with the September magazine.
I'm afraid it's taken some time to get back into harness with the magazine after the
long summer break. Having been open at Brighton throughout the school holidays,
there was a lot to catch up with once it was all over, the consequence of which is that
the magazine is (as usual) late!
So how was Brighton? Well, not surprisingly, pretty dead thanks to the loony
council's extortionate parking charges. However, they climbed-down a bit by
introducing an additional tier of eight hours parking for £15 . They then had the brass
neck to proclaim that this would thus "provide an affordable family day out." Tossers!
On what planet is £15 affordable just to park your car? Needless to say, I think my
days at Brighton are numbered. I also think there will be a good number of other
seafront businesses that won't be there next year.
On a brighter note, it was good to see quite a few of you who came down to see
me at the arcade, including a few that I met for the first time. I even managed to get a
new subscriber to the magazine. I'm sorry that I missed one collector who came down
after the holidays were over. I think he may be a subscriber to the magazine, so if
you're reading this, many thanks for the photographs you left with Graham - that is
certainly a fine collection you have there!
Now, I announced in the June magazine that I had purchased the remaining stock
of Nostalgic Machines Ltd., and that I intended setting up a website in order to make
the spares available. Well, the site is now online, although it's not quite finished yet.
All the Nostalgic spares are listed, but I do also hope to list other parts, which will
include some of the spares I produced back in the '90s and also some original NOS
parts. So please take a look- www.allwinspares.co.uk.
And finally, a reminder that the Coventry auction is just a couple of months away.
Entry forms will be included with the October magazine, (which will hopefully be out
in a couple of weeks) so please start thinking about your entries now, rather than
leaving it to the last minute as usual!
Well that's it for now, until next month
All the best
Jerry
Page 3
Dreamland
MARGATE
Save Dreamland Update September 2012
The big news story this summer came from Thanet District Council with the
announcement on the 17 th August 2012 that the Secretary of State approved the
council's Compulsory Purchase Order served on Dreamland's current site owners,
Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company Ltd., following the Public Inquiry
earlier this year.
I am delighted that the Secretary of State has backed our plans to reopen Dreamland as
a major seaside visitor attraction of regional and national significance. Along with our
partners, Thanet District Council, we were confident that our plans would be found to
be robust, deliverable and in the public interest.
The Trust was very pleased to support the council in its efforts to secure the site to
enable us to implement our vision, which has been shown time and time again to be
the development that the people of Thanet most want to see happen. I am very grateful
to the council for believing in our project and putting its time and resources behind it.
We have built a really great partnership on this project, and I am looking forward to
working with TDC as we now move towards implementation.
The residents and businesses of Thanet, and its many existing and future visitors, have
waited far too long for work on this project to start. The funding has largely been in
place since 2009, and plans have been drawn up since around the same time. The news
that the CPO has been confirmed by the Secretary of State is hopefully the final major
hurdle that we will have to cross before we start work on site. This decision means
that the entire Dreamland site can remain intact, covering essentially the same area of
land it has done since it opened as Hall-by-the-Sea in the 1870s. Britain' s oldest
surviving seaside amusement park site will be a place of activity and excitement again.
The Dreamland Trust is ready to make a start on site and we hope to have Stage One
of the project open by Easter 2014, subject to there being no legal challenge to the
Secretary of State's decision. When we open, Dreamland will include the Stage One
rides and attractions (not all of which have been publicly announced yet - so watch his
space), an events area and car park, which between them will utilise the whole site.
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