Dreamland gives Margate a taste of the future

A Kent seaside town is getting a glimpse of what a disused site could be like permanently as vintage fairground rides move in for the bank holiday.

Rides dating from the early 1900s are among vintage attractions at the Dreamland site in Margate, Kent over the three-day weekend.

Carter's Steam Fair was booked by the Dreamland Trust, which hopes to open a permanent heritage amusement park.

Funding of £10m has been secured to start work on the restoration.

Another £2m has yet to be found to complete the project.

"We wanted to show Margate and to show Kent the kind of things that we are planning for the future," said project director Jonathan Bryant.

"Carter's travelling classic steam fair has achieved everything that we want to achieve on this permanent amusement park site."

Anna Carter, who runs the travelling fair, said she wished the trust well.

"They are so enthusiastic about the regeneration of Dreamland and I hope they can get it together," she said.

"But it is going to take so much effort and so much commitment.

"We have been doing this for years and we never stop. We work all winter and it is a huge project."

The fair has been timed to coincide with Monday's Margate Meltdown, when more than 30,000 motorcyclists are expected to visit the town.

The event is a day of live music, trade stands and fundraising entertainment.

Organisers have appealed for "as many people as possible" to turn up, but police have warned bikers they will be on the look-out for dangerous or antisocial driving.