Dates

• Existence: Born c1967

Biography

Ken comes from a family of showmen who ran a shooting arcade on Skegness Pleasure Beach, directly opposite to a wall of death show. Ken first became interested in the wall of death through comic books. By the time he was thirteen years old he had fallen in love with it and he started to visit the rides and spend time with them. At sixteen years old he became an apprentice rider.

After years working for other wall of death owners, Ken had his own wall build in 1995 in a ship yard at New Brighton. The Wall made it's official travelling debut at the 1995 Rempstone Steam Rally. The Wall itself is 20ft high and 32ft diameter and made completely of Oregon Pine.

In 1987 Ken met Julie at the Southport Amusement Park and they got married in 1997, with a blessing held inside the wall of death at the Great Dorset steam fair. They had two sons Luke (b.1987) and Alex (b.1994). By the time Ken’s sons were eleven years old they were both taught to ride the wall of death and join the family business, while attending school in the winter months and being home schooled the rest of the year.

The Ken Fox riders are Ken, his two sons and Luke's partner Kerri, who started working for the wall of death in 2004, while his wife Julie sells tickets and for many years Neil Calldine did the spieling outside to attract customers.

The family winter quarters are on grounds outside Ely, in Cambridgeshire.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records: