Monday 28 July 2014

The History of the Ferris Wheel

In 2013 the Ferris Wheel, otherwise known as Big Wheel, celebrated its 110th birthday!! This a monumental achievement and one that we feel should be recognized!
Potentially one of the greatest inventions of all time, the Ferris Wheel was invented by George Washington Ferris, a civil engineer from Illinois, way back in the 1890’s. The very first Ferris Wheel was manufactured for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, costing approximately $300,000.00 to build.
The George Washington Ferris Wheel is still the largest wheel ever built, weighing roughly 1300 tonnes. Which in other terms is about a tenth of the weight of the Eiffel Tower - and we all know how big that is!
Standing over 25 stories high and holding over 1400 passengers, the very first Ferris Wheel was a thing of beauty and something to be marveled at. From the very top of the ride, passengers could see for 50 miles and it took approximately 20 minutes for the enormous wheel to make one full rotation.
After the Chicago World’s Fair, the George Washington Ferris Wheel was taken to the 1904 St. Louis Exposition for thousands to enjoy and witness it in it’s entirety.
Once the St. Louis Exposition had finished, the wheel was returned to Chicago and dismantled because it was just too expensive to keep the wheel in operation. The metal from the Ferris Wheel was used to build a large ship, the U.S.S Illinois, during World War I.
The Ferris Wheel we use today is much smaller and far less impressive but still provides hours of magic and fun for all who come to ride them! Old Tyme Funfairs use only traditional fun fair rides and modern stalls, and offer all of our services for hire.
If you would like to make an inquiry into hiring our fair ground rides for a special occasion, or large town event, you need only call us. One of our friendly ride managers will be able to help you and discuss your requirements with you today! Thanks for reading and we hope you have learnt something new!
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Friday 4 July 2014

May, June, Farming and Funfairs!

Well it’s been a hectic couple of months and Old Tyme Funfairs are still recovering from what was our busiest May/June period for a long time!
May saw our preparations come to a close as we made the journey over to Windsor for the Royal Windsor Horse show. This annual event is widely recognised across not only Britain but large parts of Europe too, so it’s one of the events we eagerly wait for, as Windsor brings together people from all corners of the globe. Horses and Jockeys get the chance to showcase their talents and compete in various different events, such as dressage competitions and show jumping too. We caught glimpses of the magnificent beasts as we always do and thank Windsor for letting us attend the show! Roll on 2015!
We barely had time to recover from the Royal Windsor Horse Show before we made the short trip over to Bedford for one of our favourite international events - The Bedford Kite Festival! This year we saw Chinese dragons, floating fairies and gliding pigs! - We guess pigs really can fly!

While the Bedford Kite Festival was in full flight we had other members of our large team attend the Surrey County Show on the 26th May which gave us the opportunity to meet some incredible people and enjoy an incredible line up. Despite copious amounts of rain, Surrey was still buzzing as hundreds attended with their entries for livestock, horses and donkeys, floristry, bees and honey, dog classes and poultry shows. Upwards of 40,00 people attended the show, which meant hundreds of children got to enjoy our rides and stalls alike. A massive thank you to Surrey County Agricultural Society for having us. You put on quite a SHOW!
With barely a day to catch our breaths, we then travelled to Suffolk for Suffolk Show 2014, which proved to be a massive success as always, as people flocked to see the animals, talk to their owners and climb on the agricultural machinery. Children that is. The new Farm Discovery Zone really achieved its target to gain more interest and it was continuously filled with people who wanted to try the activities and learn more about farming and food! Our rides were extremely popular at Suffolk Show too, as the attendance of children was incredibly high, probably due to the great attractions and lovely animals. We love you Suffolk!
At this point in time we were rolling into the start of June and had a few days for which to clean up our rides, perform maintenance checks and prepare ourselves for a busy few days of action in Cornwall. As we hit the 5th of June, gates opened early for the Royal Cornwall Show 2014, which played host to great farming and shopping action. We love going to Cornwall, taking in the fresh air and experiencing the true farming action. We always learn something new and get a great insight into the world of farming and Cornwall too. We’d like to say a warm hearted thank you to the organisers of the show who continue to support us and have us at the show! Without you, our calendar year would feel a whole lot different! Without you, we wouldn’t get to see Titan the Robot!

Hope to see you again next year in 2015! As we hope to see all of you!

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE DATES IN YOUR CALENDARS BY VISITING THE WEBSITES WE HAVE LISTED BELOW!   
See you soon!!
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