Scarborough Fair Collection
Encyclopedia
The Scarborough Fair Collection is a museum
of fairground
mechanical organ
s and showman's engines, located in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, one of the largest collections of its type in Europe
.
Farmer
turned entrepreneur
Graham Atkinson is the owner of the Flower of May holiday park, in Lebberston
, who wanted to both indulge his passion for fairgrounds with entertaining his holiday park clients. Starting his collection in the late 1980s, the attraction was occasionally open to holiday park residents and enthusiasts until its formal opening in 2008.
.jpg)
The collection spans vintage car
s, miniature vehicles and model railways, but the three cores to the collection are:
There are two theatre organ
s that feature during open days and weekly Wednesday afternoon tea dances from 13:00. Both instruments are "Mighty" Wurlitzer
s of 3 manuals
and 8 ranks (of pipes)
with specifications:
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of fairground
Fairground organ
A fairground organ is a pipe organ designed for use in a commercial public fairground setting to provide loud music to accompany fairground rides and attractions...
mechanical organ
Mechanical organ
A mechanical organ is an organ that is self playing, rather than played by a musician.Usually, mechanical organs are pipe organs although some instruments were built using reeds similar to those found in a harmonium. Since the 1950s, some instruments have been built using electronics to generate...
s and showman's engines, located in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, one of the largest collections of its type in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
turned entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
Graham Atkinson is the owner of the Flower of May holiday park, in Lebberston
Lebberston
Lebberston is a rural village surrounded by farms, situated in North Yorkshire on the east coast of England. Lebberston is also a civil parish. It lies between the villages of Cayton and Gristhorpe. The village hall and church are in Gristhorpe. The main Lebberston Manor lies in the centre of...
, who wanted to both indulge his passion for fairgrounds with entertaining his holiday park clients. Starting his collection in the late 1980s, the attraction was occasionally open to holiday park residents and enthusiasts until its formal opening in 2008.
Vintage car
A vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930 known as the "Vintage era". There is little debate about the start date of the vintage period—the end of World War I is a nicely defined marker there—but the end date is a matter of a little...
s, miniature vehicles and model railways, but the three cores to the collection are:
- Steam engines: four showman's engines, including The Iron Maiden; a Foden steam wagonSteam wagonA steam wagon is a steam-powered road vehicle for carrying freight. It was the earliest form of lorry and came in two basic forms: overtype and undertype – the distinction being the position of the engine relative to the boiler...
, and a Barrows and Co. portable enginePortable engineA portable engine is a small steam engine, mounted on wheels or skids, which is used for driving machinery using a belt from its flywheel. It is not self-propelled and is towed to the work site by horses or bullocks, or even a traction engine. Portable engines were used mainly for driving... - Fairground rides: including a (circa) 1893 gallopersCarouselA carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
ride and a 1928 'caterpillar' ride - Mechanical organs: including the 97-key 'Oktoberfest' GavioliGavioliGavioli & Cie were a Franco–Italian organ builder company that manufactured fairground organs in both Italy and later France.Gavioli was founded in 1806 in Modena, Italy, by Giacomo Gavioli . Giacamo's hobby was the development of automatic playing musical instruments like bird organs and flute...
Concert organ, and the 101-key Hooghuys 'Condor' organ
There are two theatre organ
Theatre organ
A theatre organ is a pipe organ originally designed specifically for imitation of an orchestra. New designs have tended to be around some of the sounds and blends unique to the instrument itself....
s that feature during open days and weekly Wednesday afternoon tea dances from 13:00. Both instruments are "Mighty" Wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
s of 3 manuals
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
and 8 ranks (of pipes)
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
with specifications:
- Granada Theatre, GreenfordGreenfordGreenford is a large suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, UK. It was historically an ancient parish in the former county of Middlesex. The most prominent landmarks in the suburb are the A40, a major dual-carriageway; Horsenden Hill, above sea level; the small Parish Church of...
: English Horn, Tuba, Diapason, Tibia Clausa, Saxophone, Gamba, Gamba Celeste and Flute - Granada Theatre, MansfieldMansfieldMansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
: Style 'D' Trumpet, Diapason, Tibia Clausa, Clarinet, Violin, Violin Celeste, Vox Humana and Flute