Battersea Fun Fair (1976)

Unused / unissued material - Colour material.
Battersea, London.
Travelling shots from front car of a roller coaster in Festival Park. Shots around the fairground - it is very empty and few of the rides seem to be working. Travel shots from big wheel / Ferris wheel type ride. Travel shots on horse in carousel type ride. CU of child on the ride with older person. Shots showing reflections in mirrors on the ride. More shots of carousel. Various shots of people firing rifles at a shooting gallery amusement stall. Travel shots on rollercoaster. MS of people walking around the site. Buying candy floss and toffee apples etc. VS of other rides. High angle shots across the fairground. Night is drawing on and illuminations are beginning to come on. LS of waterchute ride. Travel shot down Helterskelter.
FILM ID:3412.06
A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES. www.britishpathe.tv/
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British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website. www.britishpathe.com/

[@BROADTRAIN1979]

Superb footage of a park sadly missed!!!!

[@NickJay]

I totally agree. Went there LOADS of times as a child/teenager. LOVED the place. Remember the Guiness World Clock? Wonder whatever happened to that?! :(

[@yvonnebrown4601]

It is Battersea ...and that's me at the start on the waterchute..i was a kid working there😁

[@GETTHEDEUCE]

The fun fair's most spectacular ride was a rollercoaster called The Big Dipper, which opened in 1951. It was of wooden construction and suffered a major fire in 1970. It was closed after five children were killed and 13 injured in an accident on 30 May 1972 when one of the trains became detached from the haulage rope, rolling back to the station (the anti-rollback mechanism having failed) and colliding with the other train.[6] This is the worst accident in the history of theme parks. The lack of a main attraction led to the decline in the popularity of the fun fair and its eventual closure in 1974. After the closure, the "Jetstream" ride was sold to Trusthouse Forte, the then owners of Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester. A night scene at the funfair which was very ghostly and empty was in the opening title scene for the 60s BBC program Journey To The Unknown.

[@frankgilbert1812]

The date must be wrong. In 1975, I was manager of the bar, restaurant, shops and the completely closed funfair site.

[@simontaylor2973]

Not many people there, but then it closed 2 years before this clip is dated! I loved it as a kid and the miniature railway was great too! I'm going to the newly reopened Dreamland in Margate, It is themed with old stuff, there is a helter skelter, and they have rebuilt the wooden roller coaster, I'm going to live it again, YAY!

[@retrorocker44]

Amazing to see this after all these years. Used to bunk off School in the 1950s and spend the day here !!. Would the Big Dipper pass modern safety standards ?

[@cerneuffington2656]

Interesting to see that by the time this film was made, the Cyclone rollercoaster (built in 1973 to replace the Big Dipper) has already been replaced by a similar ride - Jetstream.

[@first-up-best-dressed5548]

Yes. The Jetstream arrived in 74, it's last year. I think this film was 73/74. As pat oniels gallopers has Terry working on it, he the one sat on the he platforms as the ride goes around. The layout is 74 footage with the rotor at the back of the park near the dive bomber. Bidells jets can be clearly seen near the gallopers too. I remember the camera men on the ground that day, they were having non of us gippoes in their film. 🤣 It was a quiet day when they were there. Good memories of my teens.

[@errolgee1071]

I used to go int the seventies it was in Battersea Park hence all the trees

[@svenlakemeier]

As this video shows the Jet Stream, which according to rcdb was only in the park in 1974 this video is probably mis-dated. Is it possible an error was made in this case?

[@georgiarobrobson3553]

Think that's why it closed a couple of years later ...

[@GETTHEDEUCE]

It was closed in 1974 The Big dipper was dismantled after the crash & deaths in 1972 & the Funfair lost popularity

[@georgiarobrobson3553]

Sorry to put a damper on here but does anyone remember the horrible accident here in 72 when big dipper went backwards suddenly and end carriages derailed I think?! 5 people died

[@gemmastone285]

It also is surrounded by trees. . If this is London and one presumes battersea how come the skyline isn't filled with skyscrapers?. Or battersea power station? ..just curious

[@LucidLupin]

gemma stone Power Station in skyline/background at 00:30....

[@gemmastone285]

On a bigger screen its visible now

[@gemmastone285]

It doesn't seem very busy!

[@simontaylor2973]

gemma stone Not surprised... It closed in 1974, regardless of what Pathe say!

[@first-up-best-dressed5548]

This was midweek before dinnertime. So not really busy. Although the park did get busy with locals later on. There was a decent bar next to the boats. Some of us who worked there grabbed the last pint after we closed the machines down.