A NEW gallery featuring vintage fairground rides was opened for the first time last Saturday at the Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre in Lifton. The rides on show included a 1950 dodgem track, a plate smashing stall and a vintage old penny arcade. The dodgem track, the largest ever built in the UK, proved popular with its original sound system playing rock n roll tracks of the 1950s, while great fun was had on the stall and in the arcade. This event was the culmination of a year's work since the new build of the gallery commenced this time last year with the aid of a grant from DEFRA. Private funds were also raised from the fairground community, with the help from Plymouth based Anderton and Rowland and the Cornish Rowland family lending their support. The Fairground Heritage Trust, which owns the vintage rides, was formed 20 years ago to preserve historic rides and artefacts from being exported or destroyed due to a lack of storage space. The attraction re-opens on March 31, 2007 with three new attractions being overhauled for the gallery during winter — the 1930 Supersonic Skid and a 1940s ghost train.
