Dates

• Existence: 1920 - 1999

Biography

Philip Bradley was a fairground enthusiast born in Ewell, Surrey, who developed a keen interest on the topic from an early age. In 1936 he started to produce a record of his observations on the fairs and during his lifetime he documented his journeys around the country, which enabled him to build a detailed knowledge of fairground machinery. Philip travelled across many areas of the UK to increase his knowledge including parts of Yorkshire, Wales and Somerset, however, his main focus was in his native Surrey and the surrounding Greater London area.

Philip developed a vast collection of photographs documenting developments of fairgrounds and machinery from pre-war fairgrounds to the blackout fairs of the Second World War and the more modern machinery of the nineties. Furthermore, his interest and detailed note taking enabled him to create a variety of models, which were noted for their accuracy.

His photographs were used in his magazine articles, including those written in the Engineer in the 1950s and in the many books on fairgrounds that he contributed to.

The Philip Bradley archive is held at Surrey History Centre.

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