Tiny fairground rides bring in big money
FATHER’S LABOURS OF LOVE WERE MADE ON DINING ROOM TABLE
“MIND-BLOWING” handmade model fairground rides that were found in a garage have sold for thousands at auction
Phone and internet bidders battled to own the “extraordinary” handmade working model fairground rides and trucks which had been languishing in a Derbyshire garage for years.
The rides, which each took two to three years to make, were the work of Derby man Patrick Burton. They went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall yesterday and made a combined hammer total of £4,380.
The biggest battle was fought over a Noah’s Art caterpillar ride which was contested to £1,900 – more than double its £700-£1,000 estimate. A chair-o-plane ride reached £1,000 and a cake walk sold for £600. A further lot consisting of fairground trucks and an organ sold for £880.
The intricate models, made piece by piece by the late Mr Burton, from Chaddesden, were all part of “Pat Burton’s Model
Fun Fair”, the name he painted on his colourful creation.
His son
Michael, a 58-year-old joiner from Chaddesden, said: “Dad made models for more than 40 years. He started in his 30s with horse-drawn carts and wheelbarrows, that sort of thing, then moved on to fairground rides which he built for 32 years. “After he died at the age of 73 in 2003 the rides ended up in a garage for nearly 20 years. We wanted them to go to a good home and be enjoyed again. Dad used to show them at steam fairs around Derbyshire.”
Patrick Burton, a former work study officer at Derby pipe-making firm Aiton’s in Stores Road, was born in Breedon-on-the-Hill before later moving to Chaddesden.
He had five children and Michael remembers him returning home from work and building his models night after night on the family’s dining room table.
He said: “It was just something he liked to do. I think he found it quite therapeutic. He had a very understanding wife in our mum Peggy who’s 86 now.”
Steve Fulford, toy valuer at Hansons, said: “I’m delighted the models have been snapped up by keen buyers because they are extraordinary. We had really strong interest in them and deservedly so. I just couldn’t get over the detail. Each ride has hundreds of individual components and he made every one of them and then painted his creations by hand. They are mind-blowing, colourful and certainly capture all the fun of the fair.”
The rides, lot numbers 6401, 6402 and 6403, each had an estimate of £700-£1,000. In addition, lot 6404, a set of scratch-built fairground showman’s caravans and fairground organ, had an estimate of £200-£300. They were sold yesterday in Hansons’ Toys, Models and Gaming Auction. To find out more or to arrange a free toy valuation, email sfulford@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk or dwilsonturner@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk