Lakin
Waltzer

W8 Waltzer made by R. J. Lakin & Co of London in 1938. Built for W.H. Marshall & Sons of Bradford. Known as the Masterpiece Waltzer this ride is probably one of the most important fairground rides in the world today.

We believe it to be unique in that the majority of the artwork on this ride is the original artwork painted by the finest fairground painter ever Edwin Hall. This machine is extremely elaborate in terms of its decoration and survives in wonderful condition due to it spending most of its life in doors under the ownership of the Wilkie family in New Brighton.

In the early 1960’s the entire machine was taken to Maxwell’s where a section of rounding boards was removed in order to reduce the machine in height. In addition it was painted over and it seemed the wonderful artwork was lost forever.

Since purchasing the machine Littleboy’s have employed the services of Mr. Bill Treen of Tewkesbury who has spent thousands of hours removing the later paintwork and who along with fairground artist Katie Morgan have worked a miracle in restoring this machine to its former glory. This work has also involved a complete refurbishment of the entire machine including returning it to its full height

Scroll through our picture galleries below for a journey through the life of this magnificent machine.