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This
Page is an Archive of all news items featured on the Joyland Books News
Page between 1 January and 30 June 2013.
For the latest news, click here.
Special
Offer: Black Country cinemas and theatres
5 June 2013
Now available on Joyland books are
two companion books describing every
cinema and
theatre
in the Black Country and South Staffordshire, written by Ned
Williams. Both books are large, hardback A4 titles, and Joyland
already sells them at £20, instead of the recommended retail
price of £25. But if you but both books together, we are
offering them at only £35, a saving of £15 off the cover price!
More...
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A
thrilling photographic ride
28 April 2013
American Coasters
by Thomas Crymes is one coaster enthusiast's photographic
journey across the USA in search of the next great thrill. From
Massachusetts to Florida, from New Jersey to California, this
book contains adrenaline-inducing images of more than 100
different roller coasters from 21 different parks in 12 states.
And for the adrenaline junky searching for that perfect ride,
this thrilling look at American coasters also covers nearly 40
featured coaster profiles complete with all the vitals and a
brief commentary. More...
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John Wardley
autobiography released
22 April 2013
The autobiography of the man who
brought the theme park concept to Britain, and created some of
the world's most thrilling rides and attractions, has been
released. In Creating my own Nemesis: The autobiography of the man who designed Alton Towers big rides, and brought the Theme Park to Britain,
John Wardley
talks about his early beginnings in the
theatre, circus and magical cabaret, his time working on some of
the most incredible special effects in the James Bond films
(including the famous bus crash scene in Live and Let Die), and
how he became associated with Madame Tussauds, the world's most
famous wax museum. This led to the development of Chessington
World of Adventures, then Alton Towers. The book answers many
questions about how enormous theme park rides are conceived and
developed, and the fascinating stories behind them, including
his most famous ride "NEMESIS" at Alton Towers.
More...
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New book amusement
park book released
14 April 2013
It isn't every day that a brand
new book on the subject of amusement parks is released. Jim
Hillman's new book, simply called
Amusement Parks,
captures the sights, smells and continuing vitality of a grand
American tradition.From
Jones’s Woods, America’s first amusement resort, to Coney Island
during the golden age of the mid-1900s, and well beyond into the
twenty-first century, the thrills of the amusement park have
been a treasured part of childhood for Americans from coast to
coast. Though many of the country’s grand amusement treasures
have now vanished, and many other parks are struggling for
survival, their memory and legacy are very much alive: there
will be a fascination with these American classics as long as
the clatter of the old coaster cars and the thumping of the
carousel band organ remains.
More...
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Discount theme park tickets
24 March 2013
As Easter approaches, we have
updated our
Discount Theme Park Tickets page with some of the best
deals we can find. If visitors to the page know of any deals we
have missed, please contact us
and let us know so that we can share them.
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The voice of
travelling fair people
18 March 2013
Despite a tide of interest in
travelling communities, there hasn't been a mainstream work
about showmen for 40 years.
For over 800 years, showpeople
have brought their rides and stalls to towns and villages across
the country: travelling fairs are as much part of England's
cultural history as steam trains and cricket on the village
green.
Showmen: The Voice of Travelling Fair People by Sally
Festing brings the scene up to date with a book that explores
the place in modern Britain of a close-knit 17,000-strong band
battling to combine tradition with novelty. In an independent
personal exploration that enquires rather than romanticises,
these people speak for themselves about their values and pride
in their way of life. About the prejudice they encounter from
the larger society they both belong to, and are distinct from,
struggle with, and humour.
More...
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The English
Seaside
14 March 2013
One of the best books published on
the seaside is Peter Williams's colourful 2005 book
The English
Seaside. Well after years of being out of print English
Heritage has produced an
updated second edition
of the book, and it is out now.
There is a powerful sense of place
at the seaside. Certain seaside towns have just about
everything: Weymouth, for example, has a grand parade of hotels,
a wide esplanade and a small fishing village. Blackpool has more
of everything - three piers, miles of hotels, the Tower, Winter
Gardens, trams, illuminations, pleasure beach - but no fishing
and no castle!
Peter Williams's evocative
photographs in this fully revised edition of his acclaimed book
will make you want to rediscover what a fantastic place the
seaside is - full of character, charm and 'Englishness'.
More...
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"Colourful": The English Seaside by Peter
Williams |
John Wardley: From Bond
to Barry
24 February 2013
Well known theme
park concept designer John Wardley has written an article for
themagiceye at Joyland,
the website that celebrates all that is great about amusement
park history. In
From Bond to Barry: Creating Uncle Frankenstein's Scream Machine,
John tells of how Barry Island Pleasure Park owner John Collins
asked a budding young special effects designer if he would be
interested in completely refurbishing an old Supercar
double-decker ghost train at the famous Welsh seaside park. John
remembers how the creation of a new spin on the dark ride
formula started his long and successful career in theme park
design.
Read on...
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Above:
Where it all started. John Wardley's Scream
Machine dark ride at Barry Island. Photo:
Michael Smith |
Pennsylvania's Picnic Groves and Trolley
Parks
5 February 2013
During the past
two years, prolific writer for amusement park nostalgia website
themagiceye, Phil Gould, made a couple of US road trips through
Pennsylvania and New York State. The main reason for the jaunts
was to look at the amusement parks that still survive in
this region. While he did stop off at a few of the large
corporate theme parks his primary interest lay in finding the
old trolley parks and picnic groves that had
survived into the 21st century. Phil takes a
look at the amazing attractions on offer at
the parks in Pennsylvania.
Read on...
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Quintessential British piers
20 January 2013
In 2007,
author and broadcaster Chris Foote Wood
achieved a lifelong ambition - to visit
every seaside pier in England, Wales and the
Isle of Man - all 56 of them! This odyssey,
plus copious research, has provided the raw
material for his new book,
Walking over the Waves.
From the
longest pier to the shortest, the oldest to
the youngest, the finest to the most
mundane, they are listed. "Each pier is
different, with its own individual
personality," Chris enthuses, "some piers
are still much as they were when they were
built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras,
while others are wholly given over to
entertainment and modern amusements. Most
are a mixture of the two".
More...
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Proctors Fairs
through two world wars
12 January 2013
A new book has
just been published about Proctors Fairs.
Written by Albert Proctor, father of current
proprietor of Proctors Fun Fairs John
Proctor,
Proctors Fairs Through Two World Wars
tells the story of his life and the
fairground through the two World Wars and
beyond.The
Proctor family has been providing fun fairs, predominantly in
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, for over 100 years. The founder of
the business was John Albert Proctor, whose family were circus
entertainers. His son was Albert Proctor who, in the 1970s, wrote a
book about his life on the fairgrounds through the two world wars
and some of the hardships and tragedies that befell the family
during this time. This book is his story, as he wrote it.
More...
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Contrasting old and new
Blackpool
5 January 2013
Rising from
obscurity just over 150 years ago, Blackpool
- Britain's best-known seaside resort -
nonetheless has an impressive record of
innovation, worlds firsts, development and
progress. The first British electric street
tramway opened here in 1885, whilst the
first electric street lamps were switched on
here, starting a tradition of lighting
displays that came to be the world-famous
Blackpool Illuminations. Opened in 1895,
Blackpool Tower was an instant success,
whilst the Pleasure Beach has passed its
centenary yet is still drawing visitors
today.
Blackpool Then & Now by John Burke
is a delightful and nostalgic tour,
containing a wonderful collection of old
Blackpool postcards compared and contrasted
with modern day photographs.
Click here for more information or
here for an exclusive interview with the
author.
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