UPDATE – Additional weekend added, will now run on 17th/18th September as well.
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In a few weeks time, the Carters Steam Fair will make its last visit to a London venue, and the touring fair prepares to settle down after years of being on the road.
Carters is a collection of classic Victorian funfair rides from the famous to those that we may be less familiar with. Over the years, they added to their collection, and now it ranges from the 1890s to more modern 1960s rides. Everything at the fair has been restored to its former glory using traditional signwriting techniques.
(c) Carters Steam Fair
Over the past 40 years, they have been rescuing and restoring vintage fairground rides and attractions taking them on tours around London and the South East for everyone to enjoy. It’s now time for them to settle down, and they are currently looking for a permanent home.
Their final London visit will take place over the weekend of 10th and 11th September – and will be based at Croxley Green, near Rickmansworth.
There will also be a free firework display at 9pm on the Saturday evening.
(c) Carters Steam Fair
Entry into the fair is free, and if you want to go on the rides, they operate a token system, with each ride and sidestall requiring 1 token per person, which costs £3.
You can pay on the day, but if you buy a token bundle online in advance you get extra free rides.
- 10 tokens = 2 free rides
- 15 tokens = 3 free rides
- 20 tokens = 4 free rides
- 25 tokens = 5 free rides
- 30 tokens = 10 free rides
Food is paid for with cash or card.
Getting to the fair
At the time of writing, there are no planned disruptions on the Metropolitan line up to Croxley tube station, which is the closest to the fair.
The funfair is about 20 minutes walk from Croxley station, or about 30 minutes from Rickmansworth station. There are Arriva buses, but they only cover about half the route between Croxley station and the funfair, so by the time you’ve waited for a bus, you could probably have walked.
Worth noting many more trains go to Rickmansworth as it’s also on the Chiltern Railways line out of Marylebone – there is also a taxi service at Rickmansworth if you’d prefer to avoid the walk.
Not only halting the touring part and looking for a permanent home, but I read from the site you linked that the Carter family are ‘handing on the baton’ and the whole kit and kaboodle is up for sale.
Anyone got £2½ million and a couple of big fields for the 13 attractions as well as all the associated sideshows?
It would be a disaster for living history if it is somehow broken up, although I can’t see the conscientious Carters letting that happen without a fight.
A former resident says “forget the bus, forget the taxi, it’s an easy short walk up New Road from Croxley station to The Green.”
If you go to Rickmansworth station, you can also see a water tank presumably left over from the days of steam. At the country end of the London bound platform, the step ladder is still in place for access (although blocked off) and a measuring board to show how full the tank was.
You can also partially see it on Google street view.
I used to have a boat once and it nearly sank me. Maintenance of this lot and touring it must be crippling. Mind you, the film and tv world will miss it. The rides often form the backdrop for dramas. Perhaps the hugely enriched studio system should buy it and park it on one of their spacious backlots ?
Carter’s has been a staple in our diary for years, and marks the start of autumn for us. We’ll miss it hugely, as the backdrop to so many wonderful memories. If you haven’t yet seen Mackenzie Crook’s delightful Worzel Gummidge adaptations, treat yourself to last year’s Christmas special, which shows the fair in all its evening glory (and has Bill Bailey as the fairground owner).