Vintage rides go under the hammer

The highlight of the sale is the three abreast gallopers

A slice of British history is going under the hammer on Friday and Saturday with the sale of the entire contents of an amusement park.

Buyers will be bidding for rides from Fleggburgh's Village Experience, including a vintage set of three abreast gallopers built in 1897.

The park closed down last month when the owners decided to retire.

Also up for sale are steam engines, railway memorabilia, steam models, vintage cars and motorcycles.

Owner Joe Larter said everything had to go.

Top item

"The top item is the gallopers made by Savages in King's Lynn which could go for anything between £100,000 and £500,000," he said.

Mr Larter, who bought the business 11 years ago, said they were selling because the attraction simply had not worked.

"It was a business which relied on drawing in local visitors and the surrounding area was not sufficiently heavily populated."

Cheffins auctioneer Bill King said: "The main item is the gallopers which were made in Norfolk so people will be very upset if they leave these shores but there is every chance that they will go abroad, which will be a shame.

"There are people in America with private collections of steam fairground rides. I believe there will probably be interest from European countries, especially Holland."