The old uncovered horse merry-go-round at Skegness?

[Darren]

Who remembers it?? I have lots of photos of me and my brother with my mum and dad riding on it from about 1968/9ish. When I went in the 80's it had been replaced by a "traditional" merry-go-round. When we later went the whole fun fair had moved. To me that spoiled the exciting "long" walk down the road along the end of the chalets, past the clubs, shops, and various other venues, to the fun fair, which used to open for a couple of hours in the evening. [/i]

[pushbutton]

It still does open in the evening, this re-started this year I think.

What was the difference between the carousel they have now and the one you are talking about. I'm just trying to imagine it.

[Joker]

Darren supplied a photo of the horse merry-go-round for his Personal Accounts page.

http://www.bygonebutlins.com/stories/Da ... mpson.html

Anyone wanting to have a personal account page just email us a few pictures and a couple of paragraphs about your memories to webmaster@bygonebutlins.com

Joker

[pushbutton]

I see. I never saw that at skegness as far as I remember but that was in 1967 which was before my time.

Interesting ride though.

[lifeguard1]

[quote="Darren"]Who remembers it?? I have lots of photos of me and my brother with my mum and dad riding on it from about 1968/9ish. When I went in the 80's it had been replaced by a "traditional" merry-go-round. When we later went the whole fun fair had moved. To me that spoiled the exciting "long" walk down the road along the end of the chalets, past the clubs, shops, and various other venues, to the fun fair, which used to open for a couple of hours in the evening. [/i][/quote
Hi Darren, Yes I remember that ride very well... just inside the entrance if I remember correctly. Had many good days there

[pushbutton]

The great thing about that "long walk" is that you didn't have to walk it. You also had the choice of taking the monorail or chairlifts to the fair (although perhaps not in the evening sessions).

Catching the monorail or chairlifts to and from the funfair was one of the major important experiences I remember so fondly of Butlin's Skegness. Such a shame you can't do that now.

[kimptdarr22]

i agree with pushbutton it was all part of the experiance walking the long road but it was not that long!i still walk that path every year i go to butlins and remember the fair,monorail,chairlift all next to one another and at the fair as a kid my fav ride was th mouse ride and the vintage cars!! who remebers them rides??!

[sammye99]

Great pics Darren
I loved "driving" the vintage cars too, turning the steering wheel to drive like my dad .
Everything looks so bright & cheerful in the old photos on this site, it brings a lump to my throat. Happy days

[minehead forever]

everything about the old butlins i and most other people loved was the colour that was everywhere,sadly now gone,every building now has been clad like an industrial estate,only recently has the lovely landscaping returned.that was one of the worst things to happen under ranks ownership,all the flower beds were ripped out.i remember the gardners of the 70's and early 80's,they spent so much time making the roses and plants look so colourful.all that work eventually went to waste.

[pushbutton]

I agree the landscaping they're doing now is beautiful. My only problem is that is seems to be coming at the expense of some original buildings, at least at Minehead. They're demolishing buildings and landscaping where they were.

Still does look good. If only they'd add a bit of colour back to the main buildings.

I've seen recent photos of Minehead during Christmas 2010 and the whole camp has colourful lights all around the main walkways and on some of the exteriors of the buildings, as well as xmas decorations inside of course. Looks great and got me thinking if only they'd have colourful lights like this (obviously not Christmas themed ones though) all year round it would really improve the overall atmosphere massively.