Woodford's Golden Gallopers is a traditional Victorian style highly decorative carousel. It has thirty horses (sometimes known as gallopers) and two chariots which can accommodate around 60 passengers at any one time.

The ride travels in its own self-contained transport and can be positioned, built and ready to gallop in six hours. The lighting on the carousel is absolutely spectacular with over three thousand individual bulbs. These make night time operation something very special.

At the heart of the carousel is the grand organ, a genuine 54 key hand-made wooden instrument complete with Sir Kingston Bagpuize, the mechanical bandmaster.

The organ can play a whole repertoire of modern and traditional tunes. The centre pieces of the carousel are intricate cut glass mirrors and flamboyant artwork reflecting the crafts and tradition of hundreds of years of carousel history.

History of the Carousel

At the beginning of the last century fairgrounds were state of the art entertainment and the carousal was the centre point of any fair with its multimedia experience of lights, music and breathtaking galloping speed and motion.

Nowadays there still seems something magical about the whirling gallopers charging through a magical world of lights and music. The name carousel derives from the old Spanish and Italian words garosello and carosella meaning little war.

This was because early machines were used for cavalry training by the Arabs in the 12th century. Carousels first became popular for entertainment in the great public parks of Europe in the 1700s but then declined with widespread social unrest. The industrial revolution saw their return, this time powered by the new steam engines and with up and down motion to make the galloping even more exciting.

Competition between manufacturers and show families intensified and the designs of carousels and horses because ever more dazzling and sophisticated. 'Frontage' - richly carved, gilded and painted panelling - became increasingly important to seduce the passing customer and also to mask the increasingly powerful internal workings.

New technology and the rise of theme parks in the 1950s and 1960s saw a steep decline in traditional fairs and many fine old carousels were scrapped and even burnt along with their beautiful horses. In the UK only about 80 carousels survive of the 1000 or so built over the years.

By the end of the 20th Century a growing awareness that funfairs were part of our folk history, saw substantial efforts made to preserve and restore the traditional rides including the lovely carousels.