Biography

The fairground preservation movement started in the 1940s as a result of the changes on the fairground at the end of WWII. This saw an initiative to preserve the rapidly changing elements of the fairground by withdrawing engines, organs and items from the fairground scene and resurrecting them as preservation projects in the emerging rally scene. Alongside this preservation scene we also saw the formation of the Friendship Circle of Showland Fans (FCSF) who commenced their 'Merry-Go-round' bulletin in March 1941.

The aforementioned meeting was reported in the World's Fair and through the year a sizeable membership was accrued. Early members included Rowland Scott, Colin Pass, Jack Wilkinson, Philip Bradley and Frank Buckley, alongside a large contingent of showmen who formed a committee of vice-presidents.

The outlook of the FCSF was very much of the 'memory lane' variety, with an understandable imperative to document the soon-to-be-extinct details of engines and organs in showland service.

The FCSF thrived through the 1940s and published the Merry-Go-Round at a rate of about 10 issues per year. The theme of 'looking back' remained constant, and recycling of articles was already occurring. At the end of the decade the FCSF descended into some controversy and a separate organisation was formed - the British Fairground Society (BFS). The BFS published a similar journal entitled 'The Tober'. The following decade, the 1950s, saw some rivalry between these two organisations with regular heated discussions alongside some of the landmark engines at the big fairs. The FCSF had survived its controversy and, much to the efforts of Bill Wilkins of Tewkesbury and Stuart Johnstone, kept up a regular publishing regime.

By the end of the 1950s the BFS had ceased publishing and the FCSF publications were dwindling in useful content. The nostalgia-facing outlook was starting to dry up and repeat articles from earlier and out-of-print editions, and the society had still not grasped any kind of sense of imperative for an engagement with the contemporary fairground. Meanwhile specialist interest in fairground organs had migrated to the Fairground Organ Preservation Society (FOPS) founded in 1957, and traction engines to the Leeds and District Traction Engine Club who, by forming in 1963, absorbed the remains of the BFS. The FOPS hit the ground running with its 'Key Frame' publication and continues with some strength to this day.

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