A miniature recreation of Dreamland in 1960 is being displayed at the entrance to the park.
The amazing static model is being exhibited by the Dreamland Heritage Trust and features the Racing Coaster, Sphinx and the River Caves – with three more rides due to be completed and installed.
It was built by Dreamland enthusiast and former Margate mayor Mick Tomlinson – known by many as DJ Mick Tee.
Mick has been model building for most of his life and made his first Dreamland creation on the 1960s.
He said: “Dreamland has always been a passion of mine and living in Margate all of my life has made it easy for me to grow up with and see all of the changes over the years.
“I started making models of rides in the amusement park way back in the 1960s, the first one being The Paratrooper. I knew the managing director Mr Iles and it was suggested it would be a good idea if someone could build a model of the park that could be displayed at exhibitions, popular at the time.
“Having thought about it, I decided this would be a great challenge, so I took it up and completed it in 1964. I still have some of those rides although they need a little TLC.
“That model took up at a lot of space. The rides were static and it was displayed in many places, even in Calais for a combined tourism exhibition with Thanet District Council.
“I kept the model up to date with new rides and side stalls and when Bembom Brothers took over in 1981, they asked me to build models of the rides they brought into the park.
“This was a new challenge and a working model was built and displayed for a number of years in the entrance, or tunnel as it was known then. It was also displayed at many places, such as Waterloo Station in conjunction with South East Trains for an advertising campaign.
“I still have most of the rides from the Bembom era, although, after over 40 years old, they need a little repair here and there.
“A number of years ago I decided to recreate Dreamland as it was in 1960, at a slightly smaller scale than my original of 1.87’h model, which is nearly completed.
“This one is a static model and I have about three more rides and various stalls to build. It is my intention to hopefully have it displayed in the town eventually and I am very pleased that the Dreamland Heritage Trust now have this on display in the entrance for their exhibition.
“It shows the back end of the park featuring the Racing Coaster, Sphinx and much loved River Caves.
“It is lovely hearing the stories from people that remember the park in those days.
“I am building my own version of a theme park, which is a working model, in situ in the spare bedroom of my house which keeps me busy.
“Dreamland is a love of mine and I hope its future is secure in the way we all love it.”
Dreamland Heritage Trust archivist and project manager Tamara Rattigan said: “Mick’s model is the centrepiece of our exhibition and is certainly evoking many memories of the park’s wonderful heritage.
“It is one of my earliest memories of Dreamland seeing Mick Tee’s model in the main concourse on display and we are delighted to see it on display once again.”
The new DHT exhibition is called DreamCatcher and the Trust is inviting visitors to come and record their memories of Dreamland (past and present) inside the DreamCatcher video booth. It is located in the main concourse of the park.
The video memories will be added to the DHT archive as well as being used to create a video montage which the Trust will share later this year at a special screening.
The DreamCatcher exhibition is open from now until September between 11am-4pm daily during park opening times.
Tamara added: “Our exhibition is overseen by a team of volunteers and we are still looking for people to join us.
“Our team of volunteers play a vital role in helping to promote the history and heritage of Dreamland and we are looking for new members who are passionate about cultural heritage to join our friendly team.”
For details email [email protected]
