Robert Tidman and Sons
of Bishop's Bridge Ironworks, Norwich
1883 Company established by Robert Tidman
1884 Erected the Foundry Bridge with cast iron panels made by Sabberton Brothers
During the 1880s several manufacturers competed to try to make the 'stationary' Dobby Horses gallop. In 1885 Savages built their first Platform Gallopers for John Murphy from Tyneside. The same year Messrs Reynolds and King designed the overhead crank system which was improved upon the following year by Tidmans of Norwich.
Later joined by his sons Frederick Tidman and Robert Tidman
Savages, Tidmans and Walkers continued to supply steam-driven rides until the outbreak of the Great War and also applied the technology to old ideas and designs which reappeared in slightly different formats. Pat Collins took delivery of a Velocipede as late as 1896 and Reuben Holdsworths' Pigs and Balloons built in 1908 were essentially a Platform Galloper of the 1885 patent with the addition of a counter-rotating top.
Produced portable steam engines of which twenty-two are preserved
1925 Company closed
c.1890 small Tidman portable steam engine on display at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse (see photo)
See Also
Sources of Information
- Traction Engine Album by Malcolm Ranieri. Pub 2005
- Steam Engine Builders of Norfolk by Ronald H. Clark. Published 1948 by The Augustine Steward Press