Orton, Sons and Spooner

Exhibit at Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre

Exhibit at Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre

Exhibit at Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre

Makers of fairground rides and equipment

Charles Spooner was a wood carver in the brewing industry in Burton upon Trent where he was making elaborate drays and handcarts.

George Orton’s first premises in Burton-on-Trent were said to have been at the bottom of Bearwood Hill, where he started building Gipsy and other wagons, and in 1875 he established the "Lion Carriage Works".

1892 Charles Spooner set up his own business. Spooner’s father had been the landlord of Burton’s Old Swan Hotel and it was in the hotel yard that Charles set up shop, hence the name "Swan Works". Orton was one of his customers

1894 Spooner started to work with the wheelwright and coach builder George Orton although the 2 business were not to amalgamate formally for some years. They were responsible for some of the most sophisticated and sought-after wagons and shows at the turn of the 19th century.

Orton and Spooner also specialised in the building of the huge ornate shows that were precursors to the bioscope, which dominated the fairground landscape at the turn of the 19th century and were defined by their intricate carved fronts.

Orton and Spooner were also some of the most successful fair carvers of the time. Their galloping horses were reputed to be the best, with the company supplying many mounts to rival manufacturer Savages of King's Lynn. The carved horses featured meticulous anatomical detail and the company quickly moved to an impressive repertoire of carved animals including cockerels, swans, turkeys, pigs, donkeys, cows, goats, elephants, ostriches, bears, lions and dragons. A unique diversion included the carving of generals' heads from the Boer War, creating a surreal effect by grafting them on to animal body mounts.

1910 Orton senior retired; the business was in the hands of George Orton’s two sons, Tom and Charles, his daughter Annie and Charles Spooner.

1911 Orton bought some land in Victoria Crescent, Burton-on-Trent and the following year new Erecting Sheds were built there, capable of housing a complete adult-sized fairground ride. It is said the structural woodwork continued to be made at the Lion Works and moved to Victoria Crescent by hand cart.

1912 The first Orton & Spooner Scenic Railway was built for Holland brothers of Swadlincote, Derbyshire. It was 57 feet in diameter, had a circular undulating track, was controlled from its paybox and ran eight electrically driven motor cars, each in charge of a Chauffeur!

By 1914 Charles Spooner had stopped designing and carving and became a travelling salesman for the company.

WWI Orton’s was run by the government and made portable aircraft hangers

Post-WWI Demand for new fairground equipment declined. Orton's re-entered the fairground business in 1919 by producing the Dragon Scenic. They continued working with the idea of the Scenic Railways, featuring new themes such as Dragons, Peacocks, Whales and Dolphins.

1924 The Crescent Erecting Sheds were destroyed by fire at huge cost to the company and many valuable patterns and other important material were lost. Two days after the fire George Orton died, aged 81 years, at his home in Stretton, near Burton-on-Trent.

Business was temporarily transferred to The Crescent Brewery, which was situated on the opposite side of Victoria Crescent, near to the Junction with Horninglow Road. New Erecting Sheds were built on the same site and became fully operational during 1926. Bigger now they were capable of holding two complete roundabouts at the same time.

Orton & Spooner built their last Scenic Railway in 1925, a machine delivered to showman William Davis of Stoke-on-Trent.

1925 The 2 businesses were formally amalgamated as George Orton, Sons and Spooner Ltd.

With the exception of the blacksmith’s and machine shop, all other workers were transferred from the Lion Works in 1926 to the new premises in the Crescent. It is said the Lion Works in Princess Street were sold to a Mr R.E. Cooke in the late 1920s, although the works in Meadow Road continued in use until 1932.

The late 1920s and early 30s saw a change in the type of roundabout being manufactured. Gone were the heavy and expensive rides to be replaced by Noah’s Arks, which were easier to build, decorate, transport and were very cost effective; in some cases, they were less than half the price of previous machines. Their name came from their animal-shaped mounts. They proved very popular with both showmen and the public. Initially Ortons imported partly-built rides from Germany which they finished at their Works. Later they built them from scratch to create some of the finest and fastest machines in the British fairground, completing more than 70 machines. The company led the field in Ark manufacture and production of their subsequent variants, Speedways and Waltzers, as many of the Arks underwent conversion.

During this period Orton’s would also build any fairground machine or side stall imaginable. The first Swirl, or Skid, for example, was built for Pat Collins in 1928 and it is said that from 1930 over 50 Dodgem tracks were built, along with Ghost Trains and Rotors.

c.1930 A number of British firms, including Orton and Spooner, Robert Lakin, Lang Wheels and Rytecraft, introduced Dodgem rides which made them acceptable to British fairgrounds. Savages were in decline by this time but they did build a set of Dodgems for London showman Patsy North.

1930s They began manufacturing Ghost Trains. This ride was a cross between a show and a ride and emerged at a time when mechanical rides were developing at a rapid rate, in effect signalling the slow demise of shows as the driving force of the fairground.

Charles Spooner died in 1939, and during World War II the bulk of company work was connected with the war effort, in particular the manufacture of military vehicles.

1951 Orton and Spooner also worked closely with German showman Hoffmeister to develop and patent the Rotor and famously built the Rotor that formed a landmark for the 1951 Battersea Park Exhibition and Funfair for promoter Max Myers. Myers fought to introduce the Rotor to the United States and at least two machines were constructed by Orton and Spooner to be exported to America. In addition at least two further machines were used in the UK sea-side parks.

Orton and Spooner remained pioneering fairground manufacturers until 1954 after which they functioned as a light engineering company until their closure in 1977.

1978 George Orton, Sons and Spooner was in liquidation

See Also

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Sources of Information

• [1] National Fairground and Circus Archive, Sheffield University
• [2] Fairground Heritage
• [3] History of Fairground rides