In the
summer of 1929, the English Showman Charles More introduced to the
Great British public a sensational motorcycle act which would be
seen all over the country in fairgrounds and exhibition spaces.
Initially riders came from the
United States of America and South Africa. The crowds would queue to
see and hear a noisy performance of motorcycles within a wooden drum
riding vertically, and the venue had tiered viewing access for the
spectators. Without the use of wires or magnets, gravity would hold
the riders both male and female as they rode around its vertical
wall.
The act would be copied by other
showmen with British riders learning the art and within three years
the name Wall of Death would be used by everyone to describe the
act. By 1933, practically every fairground in the country had
received a visit from a Wall of Death. Some events even had more
than one wall attending, and an added attraction to the act would be
the use of animals, sidecars and cars. This would be the peak of its
popularity but it would continue through and beyond World War Two to
the present day.
This book covers the first 10
years' history of this act in Great Britain.
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