Belle Vue Archive

 The Belle Vue Archive Visit made me aware of the darker side to the fairground and entertainment industry. The park was operational between 1836-1980, founded by the Jenison family and was described as being 'bigger than Disneyland'. It was one of the biggest successes in the entertainment industry at the time and the Jennison family made a huge amount of money from it due to making everything themselves - beer, designing signs and catering for example. There were things featured at the park that people hadn't seen before such as wild animals in the zoo and impressive fireworks to exhilarating rides and dramatic circus shows. Belle Vue was advertised to be something really beautiful, but it was a dark place sometimes - it had an 'ugly' side. 

The animals in the zoo didn't survive very long due to being mistreated and worked to death. Once they arrived at Belle Vue the animals only lasted weeks/months. 

In addition, once an accident had occurred (such as a member of the public being decapitated on a ride because he stood up), the Jenison's didn't acknowledge it or enforce any safety procedures. Another worrying event was when George Jennison (grandson of the founder) was bitten by a Chimpanzee, so he shot it dead in front of the public. A famous chimpanzee called 'Consul' was also made to smoke and ride a bike, but only survived 5 years and was replaced with a replica chimp to deceive the public. Baring in mind chimps live to be 30/40 usually, this was horrific.

Other attractions included, 'The Palace of Strange Girls' which was suspected to be either 'fat' or 'dwarfed' girls that the public went to laugh at.

The park was sold in 1920 and the new owners built a fairground on it which was successful for many years due to it having the fastest and highest roller coaster in the world there - the 'BOB'. However, the popularity of the whole park declined around 1960 due to better places being available to go. 

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Archive

The trip to Blackpool made me realise how much thought goes into the entertainment industry. The man giving the initial talk explained that the Pleasure Beach as a business have to keep updating their rides and attractions in order to sustain the interest from people seeking thrills. He also explained  how this influenced people after World War 2. I believe that the park was part of an escape from reality after the war and allowed people to escape from the real world for the time that they spent on the rides. I also believe that the rides allowed people to experience thrill for the first time in a long time.

Bright strobe lighting

Exploring the park enabled me to view the structure of the rides and the way that they all interlink with each other across the park. I also noticed the bright colours of the rides and the graphic text on the signs around the park. I particularly liked the lights that hung around the park as I feel it makes the park look magical and mystical. This adds to the feeling of escapism and being in a land of wonder and dreams. 

Roller coasters are mainly simple primary colours. I find it fascinating how the track swerves back through the centre of the coaster and loops round.

After being shown the costume collection that they have there, I found that the colours were, again, bright and would make anyone stand out from the crowd. I loved the designs that were pinned on the wall in the studio too, due to their bright, graphic quality. 

The costumes were the most interesting part of the visit for me. I liked the carnival feeling to them and the bright colours used on some of them.

One of the head wear pieces reminded me of the famous fairground snack candy floss due to its feathery, light consistency.