30-540: Longmoor may refer to several places: Long Moor , Berkshire, a heathland surrounded by California Country Park Longmoor, Hampshire , a place in England, the location of: Longmoor Military Camp , a British army camp Longmoor Military Railway , connected the army camp to the mainline rail network Longmoor, Ontario , a place in Canada [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
60-429: A ferruginous swamp, Longmoor Bog, caused by a bacterium that deposits rust-coloured iron hydroxide . In 1931, it was established as an amusement park and zoo by Alfred Cartilage and was called 'California in England'. Cartilage built the park so that he could use his Teddington -based Charabanc compan to take parties of people from London to the countryside. The miniature railway was initially laid out to ten and
90-609: A courtyard, accompanied by tournaments and various equestrian demonstrations and games, including the spearing of cardboard heads of "Moors" and "Saracens". The most famous carousel of this kind was held by Louis XIV in June 1662, in the courtyard of the Tuileries Palace , to celebrate the birth of his son and heir. The site of the event, next to the Louvre, is still known as "the Carrousel". By
120-467: A fully orchestrated concerto" and from the first note, the carousel would start turning while each horse would make a galloping movement with a visitor riding on its back. Merlin did not patent his inventions and engineers were allowed to come to create their own models of his creations. Viewed from above, and from the riders' point of view, in the United Kingdom , merry-go-rounds, called "gallopers" by
150-478: A position guide for the bottom of the pole and as a place for people to walk or other stationary animals or chariots to be placed. He called this ride the 'Platform Gallopers'. He also developed the 'platform-slide' which allowed the mounts to swing out concentrically as the carousel built up speed. Fairground organs (band organs) were often present (if not built-in) when these machines operated. Eventually electric motors were installed and electric lights added, giving
180-458: A quarter inch (260 mm) gauge but was soon changed to 18 inch (460 mm) and this lasted until the outbreak of the Second World War when the park closed and all the buildings were used for the manufacture of munitions for the aircraft industry. Cartilage reopened the park after the war and set about developing the rides many of which were designed and built onsite, including
210-410: A roundabout with boats that would pitch and roll on cranks with a circular motion, a ride he called 'Sea-on-Land'. Savage applied a similar innovation to the more traditional mount of the horse; he installed gears and offset cranks on the platform carousels, thus giving the animals their well-known up-and-down motion as they travelled around the centre pole – the galloping horse. The platform served as
240-491: A variety of mounts, for example pigs, zebras, tigers, or mythological creatures such as dragons or unicorns . Sometimes, chair -like or bench-like seats are used, and occasionally mounts can be shaped like aeroplanes or cars. The names carousel and merry-go-round are also used, in varying dialects, to refer to a distinct piece of playground equipment . The modern carousel emerged from early jousting traditions in Europe and
270-453: Is a cafe, summer paddling pool, toddler swings and an adventure play area. A 5k parkrun started on 23 February 2019 and takes place every Saturday at 9.00am. 51°22′46″N 0°52′28″W / 51.3795°N 0.8745°W / 51.3795; -0.8745 Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English ), merry-go-round ( international ), Galloper ( international ) or roundabout ( British English )
300-439: Is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down by gears to simulate galloping , to the accompaniment of looped circus music . Carousels are commonly populated with horses, each horse weighing roughly 100 lbs (45 kg), but may include
330-402: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Long Moor California Country Park is a 100-acre (40 ha) country park covering Long Moor at California , Berkshire , England. It consists of lowland heath and bogland, including Longmoor Bog , a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Local Nature Reserve . The park
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#1732856131635360-496: Is managed by Wokingham Borough Council and is open every day throughout the year. The country park is situated approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Wokingham and is bounded by Arborfield Garrison to the west, California to the east, the Nine Mile Ride to the south, and what was once Barkham common to the north. The site covers 150 acres (61 ha) features a six-acre (2.4 ha) lake. The park features
390-642: The Middle East . Knights would gallop in a circle while tossing balls from one to another; an activity that required great skill and horsemanship. This game was introduced to Europe at the time of the Crusades from earlier Byzantine and Arab traditions. The word carousel originated from the Italian Carosella and Spanish Carosella ("little battle", used by crusaders to describe a combat preparation exercise and game played by Turkish and Arabian horsemen in
420-408: The 12th century). This early device was essentially a cavalry training mechanism; it prepared and strengthened the riders for actual combat as they wielded their swords at the mock enemies. By the 17th century, balls were no longer used, and instead, the riders had to spear small rings that were hanging from poles overhead and rip them off. Cavalry spectacles that replaced medieval jousting , such as
450-459: The Snake Train. The railway was re-established as 18 inch gauge using a petrol-powered locomotive. His son, Norman, took over in the early 1950s and continued the development of the site. At this time, the original miniature railway terminus station was moved to the outer north-western edge of the extended play and rides area. The track was extended across the bog and had a point installed with
480-485: The animals would hang from chains and fly out from the centrifugal force of the spinning mechanism. They were often powered by animals walking in a circle or people pulling a rope or cranking. By 1803 John Joseph Merlin had a carousel in his Mechanical Museum in London, where gentry and nobility liked to gather on winter evenings. The horses "floated free over a pole". It was connected to a "big musical instrument that played
510-637: The carousel in America was the early 20th century, with large machines and elaborate animals, chariots, and decorations being built. The National Carousel Association maintains a list of Historic Carousel Award winners, primarily focused on carousels in Canada and America. The 'Vermolen Boden Carousel' in the Efteling dates back to 1865. It was originally turned by horses. At present it is turned by an electric motor. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Today this old stoomcarrousel
540-414: The carousel its classic look. These mechanical innovations came at a crucial time, when increased prosperity meant that more people had time for leisure and spare money to spend on entertainment. It was in this historical context that the modern fairground ride was born, with Savage supplying this new market demand. In his 1902 Catalogue for Roundabouts he claimed to have "... patented and placed upon
570-529: The early 18th century carousels were being built and operated at various fairs and gatherings in central Europe and England. Animals and mechanisms would be crafted during the winter months and the family and workers would go touring in their wagon train through the region, operating their large menagerie carousel at various venues. Makers included Heyn in Germany and Bayol in France . These early carousels had no platforms;
600-411: The intention of constructing a loop. Trackwork was never completed beyond the apex of the loop, and it is here that after the park closed the last loco on the line was run off into the swamp. The cleared area between the railway and the original rides was developed with extra rides. There was a small carousel , a full size chairoplane , climbing frame, swing boats , and a concrete oval track. The latter
630-523: The market all the principal novelties that have delighted the many thousands of pleasure seekers at home and abroad." In the United States , the carousel industry was developed by immigrants, notably Gustav Dentzel of Germany and Charles W.F. Dare from England, from the late 19th century. Several centres and styles for the construction of carousels emerged in the United States: The golden age of
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#1732856131635660-508: The operator or by ponies. In mid-19th-century England, the carousel became a popular fixture at fairs . The first steam-powered mechanical roundabout, invented by Thomas Bradshaw, appeared at the Pot Market fair in Bolton in about 1861. It was described by a Halifax Courier journalist as "a roundabout of huge proportions, driven by a steam engine which whirled around with such impetuosity, that
690-465: The restaurant. This structure was destroyed by fire in 1976. From the 1930s to the 1950s the park was home to a speedway track. The Reading and District Motor Club ran a series of meetings in 1939, on the dirt track laid out in a remote corner of the estate. Later from 1954 to 1956, a local speedway team, the California Poppies , rode on the track. In the early 1960s the amusement business
720-643: The ring tilt, were popular in Italy and France . The game began to be played by commoners, and carousels soon sprung up at fairgrounds across Europe. At the Place du Carrousel in Paris , an early make-believe carousel was set up with wooden horses for the children. Another kind of carousel emerged in the 17th century in Belgium and France to celebrate special events. This was a ceremonial parade of knights and noblemen on horseback around
750-426: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Longmoor&oldid=1052014433 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
780-471: The showmen community when populated by model horses, usually turn from the left to the right or clockwise (from the outside, or from the spectators' point of view, animals face to the left and the carousel apparently turns from the right to the left, the spectators' sense of clockwise ), while in North America and Mainland Europe , carousels typically go counterclockwise , that is, from right to left (from
810-400: The spectators' point of view, animals face to the right and the carousel is seen as turning from left to right, the spectators' sense of counterclockwise). By the mid-19th century, the platform carousel was developed; the animals and chariots were fixed to a circular floor that would suspend from a centre pole and rotate around. These carousels were called dobbies and were operated manually by
840-539: The wonder is the daring riders are not shot off like cannonball, and driven half into the middle of next month." Soon afterwards, English engineer Frederick Savage began to branch out of agricultural machinery production into the construction of fairground machines, swiftly becoming the chief innovator in the field. Savage's fairground machinery was exported all over the world. By 1870, he was manufacturing carousels with Velocipedes (an early type of bicycle) and he soon began experimenting with other possibilities, including
870-512: Was failing and the site obtained new owners who turned it into a holiday camp. Caravan and camping facilities are still available on site at the California Chalet and Touring Park but the main part of the original amusement area is within the country park and now largely overgrown. The park has the following animals The park has the following flora: As well as offering walks and wildlife watching, especially around Longmoor Lake, there
900-468: Was initially intended for petrol driven go-karts but these were replaced by children's pedal cars of the Austin J40 and Pathfinder type. The removal of the original railway station opened up access to a further area of scrub which was cleared to provide a site for a circus which operated each summer for several years. The Art Deco main building, built around 1937, included a sprung glass-floored ballroom over
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