From the turn of the twentieth century, when amusement parks first sprang up in cities and seaside resorts across Britain, their mixture of fantastical architecture, technology and multi-sensory thrills resulted in an appeal that transcended age, gender and class boundaries for decades. This international and interdisciplinary collection of original and thought-provoking essays explores the social history and cultural heritage of the amusement park. It examines the notion of modernity and the heyday of the amusement park in the UK, then compares the UK's experience with a range of international cases, before focusing on their decline, demise, cultural significance, heritage and protection.

Jason Wood is Director of Heritage Consultancy Services, Lancaster, UK, and former Professor of Cultural Heritage at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.

Introduction

1 Fair grounds for debate: Celebrating the heritage of amusement parks

JASON WOOD

PART I Development of the amusement park in Britain

2 Mechanical pleasures: The appeal of British amusement parks, 1900-1914

JOSEPHINE KANE

3 From Battersea to Alton Towers: In search of the Great British theme park

IAN TROWELL

PART II International case histories

4 The heritage of public space: Bondi Beach, Luna Park and the politics of amusement in Sydney

CAROLINE FORD

5 The Turkish amusement park: Modernity, identity and cultural change in the early republic

JASON WOOD AND B. NILGÜN ÖZ

6 Knott's Berry Farm: The improbable amusement park in the shadow of Disneyland

GARY CROSS

7 The dilemma of the crowd: Atlantic City's Steel Pier, George Hamid, and leisure and urban space in post-civil rights America

BRYANT SIMON

8 The Parque de Atracciones de Vizcaya, Artxanda, Bilbao: Provincial identity, paternalistic optimism and economic collapse, 1972-1990

JOHN K. WALTON

PART III Cultural significance, revival and heritage protection

9 Last night of the fair: Heritage, resort identity and the closure of Southport's Pleasureland

ANYA CHAPMAN AND DUNCAN LIGHT

10 Delivering the dream: Saving Britain's amusement park heritage and the reawakening of Margate's Dreamland

NICK LAISTER

11 Designing the past: Implications of a new vision for Dreamland

ELEANOR MCGRATH

12 The designation of amusement parks and fairground rides in England

ALLAN BRODIE AND ROGER BOWDLER