THE upcoming closure of a much-loved fairground attraction and museum has been met with a warning from the operators that it is the last opportunity to experience the sights of a historic dodgem-like ride.

Dingles Fairground Museum, near Lifton, is set to close its museum hall at the end of August, with its assets dispersed between other similar attractions around the country or being placed into storage. The adjacent rides hall is set to close in the Autumn.

However, less than four weeks remain to view the ‘Orton and Spooner Speedway’, one of only four which were made and of which only the example at Dingles remains in its original configuration.

In 2021, it was brought out of storage to be featured as a static display at the museum.

A spokesperson for the museum detailed the history of the ride, saying: “It is similar to the Dodgems in appearance, but there are a number of differences, mainly that rider’s race against each other rather than crash into them. Unlike Dodgems, the power is supplied from the floor only, by parallel strips alternatively positive and negative. It was patented in 1937 – known as the Brooklands Speedway or’ Monte Carlo Rally’.

“It was pitched at younger patrons (but not children) with notices stating: “Drive your own sports car!” The ride enjoyed its heyday before the end of the Second World War, David Braithwaite, notes in his 1968 book, Fairground Architecture, ‘with bumping with the Dodgems tradition difficult, movement confined to one direction only, and the opportunity to vary ones path fairly limited the Monte Carlo Rally has never really caught on’.

“Robert Edwards ordered the ride in 1937 from Orton, Sons, and Spooner of Burton on Trent at a cost of £1,050 without cars. The track is 80 feet in length by 40 feet and originally had a fleet of ten cars. The decoration on the ride is classic art deco style, probably by Sid Howell, who also painted the Chariot Racer. Bob Edwards asked if they could make one in a month.

“They managed it in six weeks! A new fleet of cars was supplied in 1964 by Supercar, but they only saw a season’s use before the ride was packed away at Edwards’ depot in Swindon at the end of that year. By that time such rides were a rarity and most were laid up the previous decade.

“A lot of labour was required to build them up. Although the novelty of driving your own car has never waned with the Dodgem the appeal of driving your own sports car around a fixed track did. The frequent tangles of cars, required muscle to heave them apart.”