Kings Lynn in January

Another milestone has been reached on this evening in the history of the Group, the change of venue to "The Sandboy", hopefully it will be a success. The premises were easy to find on the B1145 at Bawsey about one mile from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Car parking was easy and comparable with the "Pink House". Access to our meeting room was through a side door or via the bar. Judging by the few members who were eating and drinkiing I am sure the facilities were to a good standard.

Our meeting room was spacious and well appointed with chairs and small tables etc. and pleasantly warm.On a "lighter" note someone must read the instruction manual for the lights, to overcome the disco effect.

The speaker for the evening was our old friend David Grimes who spoke of Fairgrounds past, and his collection of slides was both informative and interesting. Some highlights were the various methods of making people ill by turning, twisting and throwing them around on machines which would not pass the Health & Safety regulations today. David mentioned John Savage who set up in business on the filled in river bed at Kings Lynn. He went on to design and build many fairground rides and steam traction engines. By all accounts he had a prosperous life despite the fact that the rides were priced in the 1,2& 3 pence bracket.

The slide show ended with some pictures of "modern" style traction engines which apparently did not find a market like the older styles did. Throughout the show it was obvious that a lot of effort was put into decorating the rides to attract the crowds.

The usual banter took place between David and his audience, with the meeting ending at 9.30 p.m. with coffee and tea being provided.

Peter Bowling