National Fairground Archive

Rotor

Quick Facts

Manufacturer(s): Imported, Maxwell, Orton and Spooner, self-built
Debut year: 1950
First UK produced: 1950s
Last UK produced: current
Total UK number: circa 30
Summary: Rotating drum pins riders to the wall through centripetal acceleration (centrifugal force). Originally built with extensive viewing galleries.

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click here for part two - modern rides

The Rotor provided a good crossover between a ride and show, a novelty in that the public paid to see other members of the public ride. The earliest rides were built with a bias towards earning most money through paying spectators, with the Orton and Spooner machines colossal in construction with intricate viewing galleries resembling an ancient courtroom or Roman amphitheatre. Decoration of these rides was very succinct – the showmen and manufacturers were aware of the possibility of drawing in spectators rather than riders and so decorated the ride fronts with characters (predominantly female) pinned helplessly to the wall as their dignity goes out of their control. The rock’n’roll craze for luxurious and eye-catching female underwear – normally glimpsed by an admiring audience in the course of an energetic and acrobatic dance routine – was exploited fully on the standard artwork on a Rotor, with glimpses of stockings and suspenders a prominent theme.

The superbly restored original Rotor (RT5) showing traditional decor.

Classic tantalising artwork adorns the transport.

Advertising plays a major part.

The same Rotor in the 1970s (photograph: Michael Smith).

The ride itself was a scientific experience as riders felt the force of centripetal acceleration seemingly ‘sticking them to the wall like flies’ (as the banner-line used to say on the ride). This force is commonly misconstrued as centrifugal force, which is an ‘apparent force’ as we shall see with this simple explanation (feel free to skip this section if you are only here for the fairground details). What is happening on the Rotor falls (understandably) in line with Newtonian physics in that a body in motion (a rider) remains in motion unless acted upon by a resisting force. A rider travelling around the drum of a Rotor is constantly changing the direction of their motion but at any given point Newtonian laws state that they would prefer (if unhindered) to continue travelling in the direction they are travelling at that particular moment in time. Thus they would prefer to continue travelling perpendicular to the radius of the rotation. However every split second whilst the ride spins the planar vector that defines what is perpendicular keeps changing – thus the rider feels that they are being pushed outwards against the wall of the drum. What is actually happening is that they are being pushed in a perpendicular direction to the drum but their position changes so rapidly that for all intents and purposes they are pushed against the drum wall because it presents a retaining fixture throughout.

The sequence of the ride varied in the early machines. Some loaded at the top, with the floor dropping as the riders are pinned to the wall, and as the ride slows the riders slip ungraciously down to the floor and exit in the pit of the drum. Others saw the floor lower and then return to allow riders a bit more dignity as they left via the top of the drum. Finally some machines loaded at the bottom, pushed the riders up with an elevating floor, which then descended and re-ascended to pick up the riders.

Centripetal novelties did not arrive with the Rotor – in fact the ride can be seen as a modernised version of the early 1900s Joy Wheel, and the Rotor itself was re-invented later with the Meteorite and finally the Tagada (which in fact is just a modern version of the Joy Wheel).

Here's the science...

Whilst the science of the ride is slightly confusing, the history of the ride in the UK is a minefield of odd imports, refurbishments, rebuilds and missing information! The arrival of the Rotor in the UK isn’t easy to pin down, either in terms of dates or in terms of who did what. A very early machine is suggested as being open at New Brighton as early as 1948 but as the 1950s arrived we saw the Rotor hit the UK with a real (not apparent) force.

North East showman William Noble made a travelling debut with an imported Dutch Rotor for the Town Moor Fair in 1951, and this caused the newspaper World’s Fair to include a front cover shot. The photograph shows the machine in part-decorated form, and suggests that the machine will enjoy the success already evident by similar machines on the Continent and at Battersea. Noble in fact had two machines, which, when fully built up, appeared almost identical. The rides were (understandably) not seen open alongside one another and, like twins never seen together at the same time, many enthusiasts assumed the existence of just a single machine. However, Noble, having a hand in the burgeoning parks business in the North East, was quite comfortable with two machines which were well-suited to a seaside location. By March 1959 he was advertising both machines for sale, and they were often referred to as being built by Maxwells of Musselburgh. The truth was more likely that Maxwells had a hand in refurbishing many of the large and cumbersome Dutch Rotors for UK showmen. A for sale advert from 1953 describes the ride as being 38 foot diameter with extensive viewing galleries. As stated, both of the Noble machines adorned very similar decoration, though build-up pictures show them to be different in design with one machine having enclosed steps and the other having external stairways. The machines were sold at the end of the 1950s. One machine went to James Graham in the 1960s and then to Porthcawl in the 1970s. It spent a season at Great Yarmouth before returning to Porthcawl, and its ownership isn't traced from 1977. Noble's other Rotor (with external steps) passed through dealer Jack Hammond and moved to Billy Manning's park at Southsea. The last recorded note of this ride was a for sale advert at the start of 1969.

Building up Graham's machine - RT3 - at Goose Fair.

Continuing the build up.

Rear view of RT3.

Graham's Rotor in colour at Nottingham, 1969 (John Thorpe).

The Rotor at Great Yarmouth in 1973 - a 1 year loan and a small false front fitted.

Pat Evans' takes back RT3 at Porthcawl, seen here in 1975.

Noble's 'other' Rotor - RT3a - with original owner.

Early imported machines also travelled with the Marshall and Farrar families – these rides having different designs and each having a multiple number of owners. Farrar’s machine went across to prominent Eastern Counties showman Charles Thurston but was laid up in the early 1960s – parts of the machine were said to be in the yard up until the late 1970s. Marshall’s machine was purchased by Charles Irvin, who had a stand at Blackpool Olympia in the 1950s, and then (after passing through Jack Hammond) was owned by A.C. Whitelegg who seemingly retired the ride in 1960 as he replaced it with an Octopus – its fate beyond that is not recorded with it being advertised for sale by Garry Whitehead (a partner of the Whiteleggs) as late as 1964.

Thurston's - RT4 - ready to open in 1959.

Thurston's - RT4 - building up.

Marshall's import - RT6 - in 1952.

Hammond's machine - RT6 - in 1959.

The earliest reported Rotor debuted at the annual Olympia Christmas event 1950/51 with Pat Collins and Billy Manning presenting the ‘Ride-a-wall’. The inclusion of this novelty makes a front page paragraph in the World’s Fair, with a later remark that royal visitors the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael enjoyed a spin on the ride. A photograph taken in December 1951 also shows the ride at Wolverhampton with a 'Rolator' canvas sign, and the appearance is somewhat squat with a strange artwork consisting of tumbling characters and trompe líoeil stone walls. It is known (through photographs) that the machine was resident at Billy Manning’s park at Southsea throughout 1951 and also appeared under the Pat Collins banner at various back-end fairs such as the Birmingham Onion Fair. At an early point in it's life it appears to be 'Orton-ized' with a large flat false front and it had a twin machine also stationed on the coast – this time at Skegness. The original ride was resident at Southsea up until the mid 1950s whilst the twin machine moved onto the Butlin circuit and is recorded as late as the 1960s at Littlehampton.

Debut of RT1 with Pat Collins at Wolverhampton in 1950 - the name might suggest a copyright issue?

The same machine at Southsea for the season in 1951.

The same ride with Pat Collins at Burton-on-Trent in 1952 - this shows the Orton-style frontage.

A similar machine (but different) at Skegness in 1952 (RT1a on the list).

The same machine nearing the end of its life, at Littlehampton in 1962.

The Battersea machine mentioned in the Town Moor report refers to the opening event in that same year – 1951. Battersea opened with a classic Rotor ride built by Orton and Spooner for Rotordromes, and this huge construction became a landmark in the park. The World’s Fair of May 19th describes the ride as a “circular construction over 50 foot high with two spirals for continual flow of 700 spectators who look down into the rotating drum entered by riders through a side door. Constructed mainly of tubular steel and girders by G. Orton, Sons and Spooner Ltd, of Burton-on-Trent. Powered by a variable speed Keelavite Hydraulic Rotary Drive. Canvas by Gourock Ropework Co. Limited of Lowestoft. Entered by way of a handsome front. Present at the opening were the inventor Ernst Hoffmeister, and George Orton".

The size of RT10 is immense.

Another view of RT10 as the park is put together.

Postcard snap of the Battersea Rotor - a bold colour scheme and the name 'Charles M. Silk'.

Battersea Rotor number 2 leaves the park and relocates to Margate (1980 in this photograph).

Another view Margate in 1976 (photograph: Michael Smith).

Out of Margate and into Southend Kursaal (photograph: Michael Smith).

Hoffmeister was the patentee for the Rotor, putting in patent number 659605 specifying a lowerable bottom in 1949. His relationship with Burton-on-Trent ride builders is uncertain – the archives from the company suggest a machine possibly built at Burton-on-Trent for Hoffmeister in Germany. The Battersea machine was, however, an Orton and Spooner masterpiece, and the construction of the ride is well documented in their photographic archives (click here for details). The ride remained in Battersea up until the 1970 season and it is not quite sure where it went. 1972 saw a replacement machine (slightly smaller) in Battersea which lasted a few years until the unfortunate closure of the park. This second Rotor was put in to storage at the EMI Elstree Studios before moving to Dreamland Margate in 1974 and then to Southend Kursaal to be rebuilt in the 1980s as a small travelling machine.

Charles Silk is the organisational force behind Rotordromes and facilitated the building and operation of the Battersea machine. The name of Max Myers is seen early on the ride, and Myers - a partner in Rotordromes - is seen as a useful point of publicity for the Rotor, though his aversion to self-publicity ultimately sees the dissolution of Rotordromes. Max Myers is profiled in the World’s Fair of 20/6/53 and is described as a swagman from fairs and amusements parks. He obviously saw the Rotor as his chance to make a step up and is reported as having machines built to tour the United States – though little is heard of him after that. American fairground historians quote both Myers and Hoffmeister as patent holders for the birth of the Rotor in the US, though it seems that any friendly relationships fostered under the tutelage of Orton and Spooner were quickly dissolved, as both partners went into infringement battles with each other. The general undertsanding is that the Velare Brothers gained the rights to build portable Rotors (using a Hoffmeister patent) whilst the Anglo Rotor Corporation (presumably Max Myers) used the Myers patent to build park-based stationary machines. Fast-forwarding briefly, it appears that Chance took over building US Rotors with a rather stale park machine, and the ride was eventually superceded by the US-built Gravitron - essentially a minor update of the Rotor theme using a sci-fi decoration. It can be assumed that Myers' fall out over the Hoffmeister patent impacted back into England, since by March 1954 there is a notice taken out in World's Fair newspaper declaring Max Myers no longer a part of Rotordromes Limited. Myers' name was removed from the Battersea Rotor some time after this, with the ride signed as 'Rotordromes Limited' and then later as 'Charles M. Silk'.

Eric Rendel, grand-son of Charles Silk, has recently been researching his family's role in the amusement business and contacted the Archive with copies of various correspondence between Mr Silk and Mr Hoffmeister. A revealing sequence of letters helps pin down the authenticity of the ride and the character of Ernst Hoffmeister as he meticulously planned the take-up of his ride around the world. Hoffmeister developed the Rotor at the end of the 1940s and travelled the attraction in his home country. It would appear that various copy machines were made, aggravating Hoffmeister who came across as a stickler for perfection and proudness in design. By the time Hoffmeister had joined forces with Orton and Spooner and with agents such as Charles Silk and Max Myers at the Battersea end, there were already a flow of these 'inferior' European Rotors heading in to the UK. Hoffmeister's major problem was that a poorly designed or constructed machine would decrease the viability of the ride as a whole, hindering its possibility of taking root as a worldwide attraction. Correspodence between Hoffmeister and Silk concerns itself primarily with chasing infringers such as Noble (and an engineer called Gribben who is said to have been involved with bringing these inferior Rotors into the UK), Collins and Manning - all stated previously in this article as operating early Rotors. Further letters reveal the extending of Rotors into Europe and Africa, with recent research in the German magazine 'Kirmes Revue' suggesting that Hoffmeister moved to Canada in the 1960s to work with Conklin and Hughes on the Seattle expo Rotor.

Orton and Spooner were certainly at the heart of things in this period, and other Rotors built by the company are known to exist, but their exact details aren’t apparent. Orton Rotors were present at Barry Island and the Kursaal at Southend-on-Sea, though these could well have been the same machine moving around. The Barry Island machine was probably the same machine that travelled with Pat and John Collins for some of the larger back-end fairs in the early 1950s. Finally it is said that an Orton machine was built for Wilkie’s management at Cleethorpes, and that this machine possibly moved to Rhyl where it was eventually scrapped.

Barry Island in the 1950s.

George Kilvington's fine view of the Max Myers / Hoffmeister Rotor at Cleethorpes.

A backgrounded view of the Rotor at Rhyl in the early 1970s - thanks to Phil Gould for supplying what is our only view of this ride!

Getting ready at Burton-on-Trent.

Finally, there were also early machines that seemed to have a uncertain beginning. Bert Cole completed a home-made effort (reputed to be a rebuild of an early Skymaster ride) which lasted in a fairly run-down state up until the start of the 1980s. By the time this ride was scrapped it had begun to resemble the 'shanty architecture' common to an allotment shed. Bernard Cole travelled a machine from around 1952 and this can be classed as the first UK-built Rotor, with Bernard and his son (Bernard) utilising ship masts, steps and lorry parts from ex war service vehicles to make the Rotor! The machine was then taken over by the Wynn family who operated the ride for over 20 years. It then passed to James Graham who swapped his large machine for this more portable version. He added a strong sense of flash to the ride and the Rotor stil travels in the section with showman Graham Sedgwick. A final surviving Rotor was purchased by John Adcroft from the Botton Brothers in 1977 - the origins of this ride are uncertain because it travelled behind the 'screen' of the false front that the Botton Brothers used whilst they briefly owned RT3 from Pat Evans. There are a number of unproved theories as to what the Adcroft Rotor originated from.

Bert Cole's Rotor - RT8 - resembling shanty architecture in 1980.

Fine shot of Wynn's Rotor (ex Bernard Cole) at Epsom, 1962.

Wynn's machine - RT9 - seen in 1969. This still survives.

Wynn's ride was sold to Graham to replace their previous Rotor - this ride was easier to travel (photograph: Michael Smith).

click here for part 2 on the modern Rotors