Mechanical Memories Magazine

Carters' Steam Fair
Part Two
Being the larger than life character that John Carter was, Carters' Steam Fair
was often thought of, and indeed referred to as 'John Carter's Steam Fair'.
Following his untimely death, some may have feared for the fair's future. But the
fact that the fair has not only survived, but has positively thrived, is testament to
the whole family's commitment, and that it had always been 'Carters' Steam Fair'.
For my latest vi sit to Carters' Steam Fair, Sharron and I drove to Battersea Park
during their two week stay at this popular South London venue. As I parked the car, I
suddenly realised that I hadn ' t visited Battersea Park since the early seventies, when
my parents took my sisters and me to Battersea Fur Fair, which had originally been
erected in the park for the Festival of Britain in 1951. Fond memories came flooding
back, with crystal clear visions of Botton Brother's massive Dodgem track and
Grays' equally enormous Brooklands Speedway track ......... anyway, more of that
another time.
Since my last visit to Carters' Steam Fair, which must be seven or eight years
ago, two more adult rides have been acquired: The Victory Dive Bomber and Jungle
Thriller Ark. The Dive Bomber has travelled with the fair since 2002, after undergoing
extensive engineering work. These machines date back to the late 'forties, and in their
day would have been considered white-knuckle rides. It should perhaps be referred to
as a ' Double Dive Bomber' as these machines were originally built with just one arm,
thus restricting the maximum number of riders to just eight. A number of showmen
acquired additional machines and combined 'two into one', ending up with one
machine with two arms; the two arms rotating in opposite directions. Unfortunately, on
the day we visited Battersea, the sky was bright and sunny in places, and very dark and
overcast in others. The Carters' had very carelessly positioned the Dive Bomber under
the darkest bit of sky, and I would have needed to borrow the floodlights from
Wembley Stadium in order to take any decent 'photos!
The Ark is the most recent addition to the fair, and is now in it's second season. It
is a 42ft. diameter machine built by Orton, Sons and Spooner Ltd. in the early thirties,
and closely resembles the early machines of this type built in Germany at that time. It
is considerably smaller than the machines built in this country a few years later by
Lakins, and a few massive machines built by Langwheels. Sadly, it is one of the last
remaining Arks (travelling or static), most of which were converted to Waltzers in the
seventies and eighties. Riding Carters' Ark at Battersea brought back fond memories
of my younger years, when a ride or two on Robert Bailey's Jackson built Motor Cycle
Speedway was the highlight of my visits to the fair. ....... happy days!