Out&about

From carousels to candyfloss, relive fun-filled fairground days with a visit to the old-fashioned pleasure park, Dreamland Margate

What was your favourite part of a childhood visit to the fair? Was it reaching the top of the Ferris wheel, or eating so much sugar your head went a bit funny after your seventh go on the helter-skelters? Whatever your memories of the traditional fair, you can rewind the clock and enjoy them all again, perhaps with your own grandchildren in tow, at Dreamland Margate. Lighting up the Kent coastline, this nostalgic seaside attraction boasts vintage rides, old-fashioned amusements and a packed programme of live events. Considered to be the oldestsurviving amusement park in Great Britain, Dreamland dates back to the railway boom of the 1860s. Today, the attraction has had a full makeover and there are plenty of carefully restored historic rides, from the gallopers and swing boats to the waltzers and Wedgewood tea cups. But there’s more than just retro rides to enjoy. Animal lovers won’t want to miss the chance to climb aboard the Dreamland Ark, where there are raccoons, reptiles and lots more creatures great and small to meet. Meanwhile, Dreamland’s Roller Room offers the chance to strap on your skates, just as we did at the roller disco years ago, and whizz around in time to our favourite tunes. The grandchildren will love Octopus’s Garden, a unique fun-fuelled playground with circus tents, beach huts, sand pits and potting sheds for arts and crafts. Little (and big) ones will also be dying to have a go on the World’s Biggest Bouncy Castle (open August 12-26), with side turrets equal in height to the walls of Cardiff Castle. And when you’re ready to put your feet up, sit back with a bag of street cuisine and authentically sourced gastro food or pop into the seafront Thirties Cinque Ports pub, which was once a favourite haunt of Sixties Mods and Rockers. Dreamland is open and free to enter until October. To find out more call 01843 295887 or visit www.dreamland.co.uk