Dreamland, Margate – The Funshine Capital of the South-East

(Includes Video Link)

Dreamland Amusement Park dates from 1863 when buildings opened as a restaurant and dance hall.  Known then as the ‘Hall by the Sea’, the business was sold in about 1870.  Circus Boss ‘Lord’ George Sanger eventually became the sole proprietor of the site together with further adjacent land to the rear.  A menagerie and circular riding machines were some of the early features of the Pleasure Gardens.  Following Sanger’s death in 1911, the site was subsequently acquired in 1919 by amusement entrepreneur John H. Illes.  He renamed the site ‘Dreamland’ after visiting the Dreamland Amusement Park at Coney Island, Brooklyn NY.  The Illes family already owned and operated amusement facilities both here and abroad.  The first new major adult riding machine was opened to the public in 1920.  The ‘Scenic Railway’ was a flanged wheel coaster with Continue reading Dreamland the Amazement Park →