Many fairground enthusiasts, myself included, dream of owning a traditional showman’s living wagon. And this unique rally, now in its ninth year, is certainly the place to be if you have serious thoughts of investing in a slice of fairground history, if only to rub shoulders with a friendly, dedicated band of living van lovers who have already taken the plunge!
Its easy to understand why these magnificent vehicles attract such widespread adoration. There’s something so very romantic about showman’s wagons which is almost certainly linked with the romance of the travelling fair.

Alice, named after her previous owner Alice Hardiman, is the last working single decker bus left on the British fairground.

Many fairground enthusiasts, myself included, dream of owning a traditional showman’s living wagon. And this unique rally, now in its ninth year, is certainly the place to be if you have serious thoughts of investing in a slice of fairground history, if only to rub shoulders with a friendly, dedicated band of living van lovers who have already taken the plunge!
Its easy to understand why these magnificent vehicles attract such widespread adoration. There’s something so very romantic about showman’s wagons which is almost certainly linked with the romance of the travelling fair.
That’s not to say that life on the road with a fairground ride is always full of romance. Talk to an old showman and he will probably describe fairground life as a very hard slog, made bearable no doubt by having a warm, cosy, lavishly appointed living van in which to retire after a hard days’ graft.
Although fairgrounds having changed dramatically with the loss of much in the way of tradition, the stalwart efforts of preservationists up and down the country has succeeded in saving a sizeable chunk of this important part of our social history.
The fact that a very traditional British fairground is now a firmly established feature of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site owes everything to the dedication of Kevin Scrivens and Simon Harris, two well respected preservationists with an insatiable appetite for all things fairground.
It all began with a bus called Alice - a 1935 Bristol J-Type half-cab thought to have been one of the last working buses on the British fairground. Seeing her advertised for sale in the World’s Fair newspaper, Kevin and Simon travelled to Bristol and ended up purchasing the vehicle, along with 30ft of stalls, from Alice Hardiman, after whom she is now named.
Shortly after acquiring the bus Kevin and Simon organised the first Living Van Rally at Blists Hill Museum and the following year they were invited to take permanent ground on the site and establish a small village green fair with their swing boats, chair-o-planes, coconut sheets, strikers and sidestalls.
H&S Amusements Blists Hill fair is now a fully authentic fairground with a magical atmosphere. Operated during the busy summer season by several paid staff dressed in traditional costume, it now also features the splendid gallopers recently brought back to life by TV’s Salvage Squad - the rescue of which from a museum in Switzerland was related in the last issue of Old Glory.
The small cluster of living wagons dotted around the colourful tober provide on-site homes for Simon and Kevin, occasional guests and folk connected with the fairground.
Living vans have been a feature of fairgrounds since the advent of the earliest travelling shows, circuses and menageries, early references to them occurring in works of literature such as Charles Dickens’ novel The Old Curiosity Shop. Initially horse drawn, they were later adapted for rail travel and then for the long road trains hauled by mighty steam road locomotives. When powerful diesel tractors replaced the steam locomotives the same living vans with their distinctive Mollycroft roofs remained in service, some being extended in size to accommodate integral kitchens. Interiors of older vans were often lined with modern materials such as Formica and Melamine in the post-war years and original matchboarded exteriors were covered with aluminium panels to give them a more up-to-date look.
Modern style living vans began replacing traditional Mollycroft wagons during the 1960s leading to the sad demise of many bespoke wagon makers, modern caravans being purchased off-the-shelf from large volume producers.
Over the past forty years or so, Mollycroft vans have virtually disappeared from our travelling fairs. At last years Nottingham Goose Fair, for example, there were no Mollycroft wagons to be seen among the hundred or so living vans in attendance, clearly indicating the end of an era.
There were around 80 known British builders of showman’s living wagons, although that figure could easily be trebled if you include all the small firms who only built one or two examples. Some showmen built their own wagons, or commissioned local joiners and wheelwrights to construct one-off vehicles. Due to this a large proportion of surviving living vans have no recorded maker.
This year’s Blists Hill Living Van Rally saw thirteen wagons in attendance and what a splendid sight they looked dotted around the fair facing the old village school and Forest Glen Refreshment Pavilion. With Russell Cook’s Vanderbeek organ - soon to be reunited with his 3-abreast gallopers - blasting out magical melodies and gleaming Foster showman’s road locomotive No. 14153 of 1916 Admiral Beatty in full steam the scene was set for a fabulous weekend of fairground nostalgia.
The first living wagon I had the pleasure of stepping inside was Simon Harris’s own dainty little Orton & Spooner van, sheeted down with a canvas cover to protect its paintwork from the strong sun. Built at Orton’s famous Burton-on-Trent works in 1924 as the last of an order of ten preaching wagons, for reasons unknown the order was not completed and the wagon was fitted out to showman’s specification and sold to Joe Fletcher who travelled it with his arcade. This wagon first entered preservation with the late Phillip Swindlehurst before passing to Julia Wedgwood and then on to Simon Harris who shares it with fairground cat Amy.
Close to Simon’s Orton wagon stood a very tidy matchboarded van built by Phillips of Newport in the 1920s. I was surprised to discover that this wagon had once been converted to a fish and chip saloon in nearby Dawley, mirrors embellished with prices for the fish and chips having been discovered during its restoration. Rescued from a scrap yard it was brought along to the first ever Blists Hill Living Van Rally and sold to Simon and Kevin.
Facing the Phillips wagon guest tenants Barry and Marilyn Two had pitched up the scarce 1903 Howcroft shooting gallery they purchased from Jack Schofield in 1999. Having made the long journey from Bedfordshire, the Two’s had a much longer journey ahead, planning to open at St. Agnes in Cornwall before moving on to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. Discovered in a very derelict state, the tube shooter was rescued and restored by Phillip Swindlehurst in 1964. The tubes down which the .22 live rounds are fired from genuine Winchester repeating rifles pass right through the ends of the compact living van which was travelled by the Warrington family of Pickering, North Yorkshire. Howcroft wagons were highly prized by northern showmen and were regarded by many to be the best money could buy.

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