Arthur Jones Collection
Part 3 - Sutton Coldfield
click here for
Part 1 - Shows
click here for
Part 2 - Arks and Waltzers
These images come from the Arthur Jones collection
of negatives. Arthur was the librarian of the original fairground
enthusiast organisation the Friendship Circle of Showland Fans (FCSF),
his role was to coordinate the borrowing of photograph albums and
books. The nature of the prominence of certain individual members
in the FCSF, and its over-riding imperative to document a 'bygone
era' through its rapid disappearance, meant that much of the photographic
material of the FCSF became homogenised. Arthur's own photographs,
taken in and around his Burton-on-Trent base, were not widely circulated
apart from his more 'obvious' images of rides, organs and engines.
However, Arthur had a keen eye and fascination for documenting the
social scene of the fairground, and cataloguing his negatives have
provided the NFA with an indication of his rich resources and skills.
Sutton Coldfield was a large expanse on the edge
of Birmingham, developed as part of the pleasure gardens ethic at
the turn of the 19th Century. It housed a splendid glass dome and
this gave the park its original name of Crystal Palace, with the
park advertising itself as the "Venice of England". Prominent
showman Pat Collins took control of the park in the early 1900s
and developed it with many fairground attractions and park attractions
(such as the famous miniature railway). After the Second World War
the park went into decline, and it became more of a resting home
for Pat collins' vast array of fairground equipment rather than
a showcase for his new machines. The supporting environment was
cobbled together to make a more wholesome visitor experience - a
makeshift ballroom added, a boating lake for a few years then drained
and equipped with bicycles. Billy Bagnall, part of the Pat Collins
empire, managed the park up until its closure in 1962. From this
period the lease was not renewed, and Bagnall struck out on his
own to create a similar venture at Chasewater (also to suffer the
same declining fate of Sutton Coldfield).
In the 1950s Sutton Coldfield was more often populated
by fairground enthusiasts snapping images of the last of the Scenics,
the Wonderland organ, the Gallopers, Steam Yachts, and other attractions.
Derelict equipment and transport, strewn in the grassland and woodland,
provided an equal attraction for these enthusiasts looking to cling
on to a bygone era. In the same way that the era that Sutton Coldfield
represented has now moved into the past, so too have the breed of
enthusiasts who treasured all the exhibits that the park supported.
Sutton Coldfield in its heyday.
Catching sight of the monstrous Scenic.
The idyllic location.
The Tilt-a-Whirl was the American take on the Waltzer - a few arrived in the UK.
Antiquated specimens for young and old.
Splendour held together for a few final years.
The water lake.
The Comet Jets - possibly uniquely surviving at the time.
A few passengers on the Scenic dwarfed by the size of the machine.
Carved work exposed to the elements.
Another view of the last of the Scenics.
Fairground archeology.
Rust conquers all.
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