Visit to a traditional fun fair, 13 May 2006

Today I went to very traditional Fun Fair where i saw over 10 steam engines. Most of the ones today are in the 70s style, and the engines are very old, the oldest from 1902. They have black smoke coming from the exhaust. They put the coal into the fire which makes the engines run, the fire makes the steam - the pressure drives the piston. WOW! Coal- fire- water- steam-pressure-power.

I love steam trains/rollers and engines, because they are beautiful. Steamrollers are usually found only in rural and farming areas, and not usually in in towns. They were only used on farms back in the old days. I prefer the steam driven locomotives. They are so impressive and powerful, and I could feel the heavy power from the motion in my body.

The fairground organ was rather like an old computer - the holes in the punch cards give instructions as to which sound the machine can make. One of the organs was made in Germany in 1850!

When I saw many children eating Candy floss, it reminded me of many happy times as a child. Nobody sells it anywhere in Taiwan too, but fairs and amusement parks are the same there.

I saw a very old fashioned and cute ice cream van. The make of the van was a Morris and was quite popular in the 1950's/1060’s. Many of the children smiled and were very happy when they got their ice cream. Summer seems to be here now!

What about the amusement arcade, where all the machines were pre-1971, since they used old pennies ( or to be precise copies of old pennies ). Lots of very interested and amused children seeing these machines for the first time. They were much more interested in these mechanical machines, which worked by pulling levers and knobs, than the modern digital and automatic world of computers and computer games.

It is good for people who forget that these things are part of England’s cultural heritage or indeed anyone who is younger than say 45 years old and would never have experienced these machines and vehicles at first hand, being able to touch and play with the knobs and controls. It was the first time I would have seen one of these.That’s why people like these fairs - where they see things from recent past.and most important machines still running today sometimes over 100 years after they were made. How many modern machines will still be in use 100 years from today?

The History of Steam Engines : Thomas Savery (1650-1715) http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsteamengine.htm

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006