Mechanical Memories Magazine

JUNIOR WHIP CARS
We now have on display three delightful Junior Whip cars thanks to Dave Love and
supporters who helped salvage the ride for Dreamland. These fabulous dragon-themed
cars are from the last surviving Junior Whip ride in the UK following the demolition
and complete rebuild of the American Whip at Southend's Adventure Island in 2009.
The Junior Whip opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1927 as the Fairy Whip.
It was believed to have been originally located in Bingle & Bob's, the children ' s park
set up that same year between the Jack n Jill Slide and the Scenic Railway. In 1934, it
was moved to the replacement children's park, Emberton ' s Kiddies Park, where it was
located immediately south of the Zipper Dipper.
It operated until 2008, in recent years as Griffin' s Magic Dragon, and in 2009 it
was dismantled and moved to Dreamland where the ride awaits assessment for
restoration.
BLACKPOOL ILLUMINATIONS COME TO DREAMLAND
Last autumn The Dreamland Trust and HemingwayDesign visited Blackpool Pleasure
Beach and Blackpool Illuminations on what turned out to be a very rewarding research
trip. Whilst there we were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Illuminations HQ,
archive and works depot by Head of Illuminations , Richard Ryan. The operation and
scale of the collection is truly breath taking and we were thrilled that Richard agreed
to donate selected items to Dreamland Margate.
Blackpool 's world famous illuminations came about in the 1870s when the
council awarded £5,000 to experiment with electric street lighting. Dr Siemens' 8
dynamo-electric machines, powered by 16 Robey engines, were switched on, on 19 th
September 1879, to power 8 arc lamps on along the seafront emitting light equivalent
to 48,000 candles, with approximately 100,000 people from across the UK travelling
to marvel at the spectacle - and the rest, as they say, is history .. .
We are now super excited to announce the arrival of some of Blackpool ' s classic
illuminations to adorn Dreamland's park environs in 2015. Amongst the selection are
fountains, snowflakes, angels, devils and all manner of sparkling decorative features.
The Dreamland Trust will be working with the local community and volunteers to
restore and up-cycle these pieces ready for installation next spring.
UP-CYCLING
We' re about to embark on a large-scale community up-cycling project to help us
interpret Dreamland' s rich heritage from its origins in the early 1860s railway boom to
Victorian circus and pleasure gardens, 1920s modernist era through to the birth of
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