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Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist?

jackdude101

jackdude101

Roller Poster
I'm looking for an online database of stats for historic carousels that includes British, Irish, Australian, and New Zealander carousels (think rcdb.com, only for carousels).

I imagine Britain would have the most out of those four and would be the most likely to have such a database. So far, I have been unable to find anything, but I know for a fact that Britain has several examples of old carousels that still run. The type of data I'm looking for is who made the carousel frame, whether it has more than one non-horse animal figure (a menagerie carousel), when the frame was built, the number of rows of animals, the number of working band organs, and if it has any brass ring dispensers (a carousel with all-wood figures that has at least one band organ and a brass ring dispenser is the definitive old-timey carousel experience, imo).

Also, a database for North American carousels already exists and can be found here: http://carousels.org/index.html. It casually mentions a few examples in Europe, but nothing with the kind of detail I need.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

There's nothing I know of, but Sheffield University run a National Fairground Archive that may contain some information you're after:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfa/index

I think it's the kind of thing you'd end up having to chase up details yourself. Joyland books may have something:
http://www.joylandbooks.com/

If not, ask on their forums:
http://www.joylandbooks.co.uk/forum/index.php

It may also be worth dropping an email to Dingles Fairground Museum:
http://fairground-heritage.org.uk/
I've talked to them before and they were very polite and very knowledgeable.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

furie said:
There's nothing I know of, but Sheffield University run a National Fairground Archive that may contain some information you're after:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfa/index

I think it's the kind of thing you'd end up having to chase up details yourself. Joyland books may have something:
http://www.joylandbooks.com/

If not, ask on their forums:
http://www.joylandbooks.co.uk/forum/index.php

It may also be worth dropping an email to Dingles Fairground Museum:
http://fairground-heritage.org.uk/
I've talked to them before and they were very polite and very knowledgeable.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the non-wise guy assistance. I dropped a line at all three places you mentioned. Hopefully they will have something on this topic or know where to get it.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

A guy from the National Fairground Archive got back to me and gave me something I was able to work with here: http://www.fun-fairs.co.uk/forum/69-gallopers/

The forums on that website are similar to the Coaster Force forums, and they have a specialized subset of forums that act as a sort of informal database for specific types of rides throughout the UK, and one of them is dedicated to gallopers (I KNEW there had to be something like this somewhere). It doesn't provide that much information, but it's a Hell of a good starting point.

I've just now completed a scan of all the topics in the gallopers forum (each topic references one specific galloper), to sift out all the recently-built models (99.999999% of which are fake/fiberglass/no-one-cares models) and the ones that are constantly traveling about. I have attached a list of the ones that were left after this scan with a handful of additional ones added that were not mentioned in the forum, which I'm pretty sure are the genuine article (green = confirmed genuine; red = confirmed not genuine; yellow = unconfirmed). What I really need now is to figure out once-and-for-all whether these historic gallopers on my list have retained any original wooden horses, or if they were all replaced with fiberglass horses; as well as if any of them have a functioning band organ, or if they have a modern speaker sound system instead. I've contacted all of these places on Facebook and through e-mail to try and get this info, but if any of you guys happen to know what I'm seeking for any of these gallopers, reply to this topic!
 

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Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

^I can't see the image on mobile but that might just be me.

Sent from my XT1039 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

^I made it more square-shaped.

I've received responses from a few of the places I contacted already, so that's a good sign.
 

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Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

It seems to work on the computer and seems ok now. Thanks. Interesting thread.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

I can tick one off for you.

The Skegness Butlins Gallopers are wooden and they have the organ. It's generator powered though.

I'm not a huge gallopers fan or anything, but I do love historical rides generally. So I definitely took note of that one as it was lovely.

Have a couple of pictures (Not great pictures, but they show the organ and the quality of the ride somewhere in the mess :) ).
skegnessgallopers1.JPG

skegnessgallopers2.JPG

skegnessgallopers3.JPG


Now, I think Drayton Manor's are still wooden and they're a menagerie. The Minehead Butlins are also I think Wooden, but no organ I can remember (no photos of it either - I thought I did).

There was also a set at Wicksteed Park (a menagerie) until about 7 years ago. I honestly don't know if they're still there, but they are still listed on their website. I have pictures and they look fibreglass to be honest:
wicksteedgallopers.JPG


I'm hoping to get out and about a bit more this year with family_furie. If I go anywhere near these, I'll take pictures and notes for you and post them in here :)
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

Eugh. Okay, I've got three photos of the Minehead set, but just of the horses from on the ride. I can post a picture if you like if you think you'll be able to tell if it's wooden or not?

No sign on the centre of the ride to see if the organ is there. Sorry.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

^Thanks for the assistance, furie! Any help is welcomed. Yes, please post that pic from Butlin's Minehead, when you have a moment.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

It's clear I may be on my own in determining whether some of these gallopers have true wood horses or just fiberglass ones. I'm no expert at this, so finding the following article was a welcomed find: http://www.realorrepro.com/article/Carousel--Horses. It's a detailed article on how to spot the differences between old-build and new-build carousel horses!
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

Finally, I'll be able to sleep at night.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

I found additional information on the BPB Derby Racer. I initially thought it had all fiberglass horses, given their lackluster paint jobs; however, per the source below, they are actually wood-carved figures and from yellow pine, specifically. It has a max speed of 20 mph, as well. It's great to know that BPB has at least one proper wood-figure carousel.

http://web.archive.org/web/200701010214 ... derby.html
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

^Thanks for the pics.

Yeah, I'm not just researching gallopers. I'm also looking for anything that could be easily grouped with them, such as Derby Racers (sort of like how you can kinda-sorta group roller coasters and alpine coasters together).

Anyway, I also found this pic claiming to be of the Butlin's Minehead carousel:
http://www.peppermintbars.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/carousel.jpg

Those look like they may be wooden, but the ones in yours look like they may be fiberglass. I can't conclude for certain without a wide shot of the whole set, but this one might be a hodgepodge of wooden horses and fiberglass horses. This is not that uncommon.
 
Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

I'm slowly learning this real/fake carousel horse skill. Here's an example: the gallopers at Tatton Park. Notice the circles. There are faint dividing lines between the legs and body. Typically, old wooden carousel horses are made from multiple pieces of wood and then attached together. Fibreglass horses on the other hand are typically always made in one piece, so these would not have any dividing lines. It's clear that the gallopers in Tatton Park are the real deal.
 

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Re: Does a British Gallopers/Carousels Online Database Exist

Blists Hill and Hollycoombe are likely to be original too for the same reason Tatton's are - they're museums.

By your description, it looks like Skegness' horses are likely a mix. The photos don't show any marks. It could be I ended up on an original.

Are you interested in stuff like Arks/Speedway Arks?
There's a fab one at the Black Country Museum
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... e=573D4EF0

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... e=572CF906
 
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