Showman John Lock, who passed away on 28 September aged 92, was immensely proud of his West Country heritage and was held in high esteem by his fellow Showmen.
John Lock was a grandson of Mrs Amy Lock, famed for the set of gallopers she travelled in the West Country from 1915 to 1937, and the circuit of fairs she attended formed a large part of John’s early life.
Ironically, despite this background John was born in Birmingham, at the Loveday Street maternity hospital on 6 May, 1932. His father – also John but always known as Jack – had left his native patch together with a colleague to work on Charlie Hickman’s boxing booth, which had begun its travelling history just after the end of the First World War.
It was on his travels with the booth that Jack met Florence ‘Floss’ Dobson, a granddaughter of ‘Old’ Tom Dobson, the founder of the Dobson dynasty that was to become an important part of the Midlands fairground scene. They were married in 1926 and John was their second of their two children.
John met his own wife-to-be, Tilly Stevens, at a dance in Poole in the 1950s. Their first encounter was a little confusing as John thought she was her sister Elsie – who he had already spoken to! But once that initial difficulty was cleared up they became bosom friends and were married at Gloucester in February 1959.
They began their married life travelling on the T. Whitelegg & Sons’ run of fairs in Devon and Cornwall. John worked as manager of the Whitelegg firm’s Ghost Train while Tilly ran their own shooter. It was his experience of running the Ghost Train that inspired John to consider building his own. He had begun work on its construction when his father-in-law, Billy Stevens, alerted him to an existing Ghost Train that was up for sale.
Billy had learnt of this when attending Newcastle Town Moor fair with his Talk of the Town show. The Ghost Train belonged to the Scottish Showman Jimmy Thomas, who was then building a replacement for it. His first Ghost Train had been a ‘lucky ride’ for him and he was keen to ensure that it was sold out of Scotland so that it didn’t compete with his new one.

Travelling at the opposite end of the country, John was an ideal purchaser and in 1964 he became the new owner of the Ghost Train, travelling to Edinburgh to collect it. In John’s hands its season usually began at the Jones family’s fair at Bromsgrove just before Easter. From there it went on to the first of his three annual bank holiday visits to Hampton Court Green.
After these trips to London John returned to the Midlands, operating mainly with the Jones family around Birmingham and the Black Country. During the backend the Ghost Train appeared at Stratford Mop and Banbury Michaelmas Fair. John was later to acquire positions at Hereford May Fair, Newcastle Town Moor and Bridgwater.
When first acquired by him the Ghost Train had a distinctive front, topped by five cut-out railway locomotives steaming in perspective towards the punters. This striking display made it a natural addition to the Steam Fairs the entrepreneur Harry Wigfield ran in the 1970s. John last travelled the Ghost Train at the start of this century following which he and Tilly contented themselves with their mirror show.
For some years John had been trying to obtain planning consent for an amusement depot on a plot of land he had acquired at Norton, just north of Gloucester. It was a long struggle, but permission was eventually granted. Lock’s Paddock, as it was named, was an ideal home for John and Tilly during retirement and few were the friends who could pass by without calling in for a chat and cup of tea.

John and Tilly celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2019, when they were the proud recipients of a congratulatory card from her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This very happy partnership was ended two years ago when Tilly passed away at the age of 87. John had a strong family to support him and he leaves behind four children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
John was immensely proud of his West Country heritage and he was held in high esteem by his colleagues in that part of the world. When news of his passing on 28 September reached Summercourt Fair – Cornwall’s premier backend fair – a minute’s silence was observed that evening.
This was followed by a blast on the whistle of the steam engine that was powering David Rowland’s gallopers – the same ride that John’s grandmother travelled a century ago!
