Roll up, roll up! Black and white photos show fun and games at London’s fairgrounds through the years

Take a step back in time with this brilliant glimpse into life at the fun fair
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These stunning black and white photographs provide a fascinating glimpse of London’s fairgrounds in bygone decades - long before theme parks and rides like the Big One, Nemesis and Oblivion became the norm.

The images show all manner of jolly attractions at early fairgrounds from the early 1900s up to the 1950s, from flying boat rides to wooden carousels.

The fairground has long been a place for Londoners to enjoy a family day out and the pictures show how life at the fun fair has changed over the years.

Health and safety experts would probably have something to say about some of the terrifying rides on display, many of which would turn the stomach of even the most experienced of rollercoaster riders.

There’s the ‘flying cars’ at the festival fun fair at Battersea Park - bumper cars that ride in a loop inside a giant cylindrical track - and an early switchback wooden roller coaster that looks as though it could topple over at any moment.

In one surreal photograph, two dodgem car passengers are surprised to see Susie the circus bear bumping into them in her own car, at the fun fair in Olympia in 1954.

Elsewhere, American Romany singer and radio entertainer Gypsy Nina sings at an annual gypsy fair in Hampstead in 1935, while in 1936 a girl on a scooter marvels at her distorted reflection in an early fun fair mirror.

In one of the most striking photographs, a WW2 sailor helps a young woman hit the bell with the hammer at a bank holiday funfair in 1943.

These photographs take us on a tour of some of the capital's most popular fun fairs over a four decade period, from 1910 to 1951.

Click on the image at the top of this page to browse the gallery.

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