Chairoplanes

Back from hols, duly collected cats and dog, washed mountains of clothes and did the grocery shopping. Transported children to various swimming and sporting courses and visited newly pacemakered parent. So another normal day really.

Looking back on the holiday I think that a real highlight was our visit to Hollycombe Steam Collection in Liphook, on the Sussex/Hampshire borders. What a wonderful bit of nostalgia that was. I'm sure Elinor and George think I was around when the rides were first built, bless 'em they are convinced that anyone more than 20 years old can remember the olden days. In Windsor Elinor even suggested that I might have actually seen Queen Victoria when I was younger. Thankfully we used that as an opportunity to try out some mathematical skills to work out that I really couldn't have been there by a gap of some 60 something years.

Thought I'd pop in some pics of the steam powered funfair rides.
Yes there are real steam engines powering these things.


I didn't get the name of the ride in the first picture, so I'll just call it the spinny thing. It looks rather innocent at rest, but when it rises up, spins round and tips 45 degrees it is rather a different matter. Our ride was somewhat overwhelmed by the screams of George who wailed as soon as it tipped up 'I don't like it' and continued to sob the same thing until it stopped. I didn't like it that much myself, mainly because it felt too much like being in a tumble drier, but rather worryingly with a steam engine underneath, and I did wonder what would happen if the spinny bit flew off. Poor George was so pitiful I couldn't help but laugh (not terribly sympathetic I realise) but there was no point in joining in the panic.
Then there were the Chairoplanes, which seemed to have more safety straps than I remember. Jason and Elinor had two goes. Elinor would have continued spinning all day, but Jason developed a headache at that point.

George really liked the Austin Car ride though. These I do remember, somewhere there is a picture of me on one of these when I was about two years old. To see more on Hollycombe have a look at the website on www.hollycombe.co.uk. This beats all other funfairs hands down as far as I'm concerned.