Penzance Mazey Day led a number of celebrations and festivals in Cornwall in late June and early July, with Ben De-Vey paying tribute to the late Kelvin James in Praze.
Redruth lies in the south west of Cornwall, and in its heyday it was at the heart of the tin mining area. In June the town celebrates the memory of one of its famous sons, William Murdoch, an inventor and chemical engineer. This year the celebrations took place on Saturday 17 June.
As usual the funfair was located in the Teapot car park, and once again Raymond Amusements were the lessees. Attractions on offer included Alan Jenkins’ Terminator Miami, Philip Kefford’s fun house and James Kefford’s ghost train and slip. Other amusements were presented by Ann Raymond and Robert Kefford.
Penzance Mazey Day and fair
Further to the south west, Penzance celebrated Mazey Day on Saturday 24 June and Quay Fair Day on Sunday 25 June. For Mazey Day, the main street is closed and a beautiful and bohemian parade takes place.
The following day the activities move down around the harbour for Quay Fair Day. The quay area is closed to traffic and all along the road are colourful stalls selling a mixture of crafts and food.
Throughout the weekend Raymond Amusements were the lessees for the funfair which ran along the front, starting from the Art Deco lido swimming pool. Larger rides here included David Rowland Jnr’s Spin ‘n’ Speed waltzer and Extreme Orbitor, Aaron Brett’s Twister, Alan Jenkins’ Over the Falls and Terminator Miami and Alan & Michelle Jenkins’ tagada. Other attractions included Philip Kefford’s fun house, James Kefford’s ghost train and slip and Ann Raymond’s amusements.
Heartlands
From Thursday 29 June to Saturday 2 July Raymond Amusements presented an interesting funfair at Heartlands, a Cornish Mining World Heritage site at Pool, Redruth. This was a very picturesque setting for the fair, which was built up this time on grass and situated underneath Carn Brea.
The amusements here included Alan Jenkins presenting Thomas Rowland’s track, together with his own Miami and Over the Falls and his wife Michelle Jenkins’ tagada. Also here were Aaron Brett’s Twister and Kray O’Connell’s fun house.
Praze an Beeble
The fair here took place between Thursday 6 and Saturday 8 July, where Alan Jenkins presented Thomas Rowland’s Atlanta dodgem.
The dates covered what would have been the late Kelvin James’ birthday. Kelvin came from Praze and had been the manager of Anderton & Rowland’s no. 2 section dodgem that visited Praze an Beeble over many years. His brother Geoffrey asked Ben De-Vey, whilst he was in the area, if he could take his dodgem truck over to Praze, which he kindly did.
