Vintage funfair sells rides after 40 years

A fairground is giving people one last chance to say goodbye to its vintage rides.

Carters Steam Fair is selling its rides after over 40 years of touring the South of England, as owner Joby Carter hopes to pursue different ventures.

There will be a free open day at the fair's White Waltham headquarters in Berkshire this weekend.

Visitors can see the restored vintage fairground rides from the 1890s to the 1960s, before each one is sold.

Fairground owner Joby Carter inherited the fair from his parents, who founded it in 1977.

He now wants to focus on writing a book and teaching traditional signwriting courses.

Speaking about the sales Mr Carter said: “I know that our fans will be sad to see the collection broken up and we have been humbled by the outpouring of support we had throughout our final 2022 tour and ever since.

"I’ve always said that I am merely a custodian of these heritage rides and if we need to find individual homes for their legacy to continue then it feels like the right thing to do.

"The positive side of this is that the rides can now be experienced and enjoyed by an even wider audience geographically if they are bought by attractions in locations where we did not take our annual tour.”

They were unable to find a buyer willing to purchase the collection of rides and as a result they have been selling them individually.

Items that remain for sale include the British Galloper horses dated from the 1890s and steam yachts from the 1920s.

Some of the rides have featured as parts of sets on movies such as Paddington 2 and Rocketman.