Rod Spooner Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection includes photographs taken by Jack Mellor and includes images of fairground rides, sideshows and traction engines. There are copies of Rod Spooner's photographs of South and Midland Fairs from 1952-1953. Also included is a cassette recording of an interview With Kay Smart and other showmen/women.
Dates
- Creation: c1900 - 1989
Creator
- Spooner, Rod, 1927- 2011 (Fairground Enthusiast) (Person)
- Smart, Kay, c1930 - 2016 (Person)
- Mellor, Jack, c1894 - 1979 (Fairground Enthusiast) (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Items are available to view by appointment in the NFCA reading room. Audio equipment must be booked prior to visit
Conditions Governing Use
Copies may be supplied or produced at the discretion of National Fairground and Circus Archive, subject to copyright law and condition of the material
Biographical / Historical
Rod Spooner was a fairground enthusiast born in 1927. His love for the fairground started at a very young age when he first saw his local fair pulling on for The Alcester Mop. Rod wrote articles for the World's Fair newspaper for fifty years until 2008. Although he stopped working on his capacity as a reporter for the World's Fair his passion for the fairground remained as strong as ever and he continued attending his local fair in Seahouses, Northumberland, where he could be found riding the dogems up until his death in 2011.
Extent
1 Box(es) (50 photographs and 1 audio cassette tape)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Catalogued according to type
Existence and Location of Copies
Audio cassette tape 178E5 digitised as part of the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project led by the British Library 2021.
Subject
- Billy Smart's Circus (c1946 - 2006) (Organisation)
Cultural context
Occupation
Topical
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Created by Ian Trowell, updated by Arantza Barrutia on Finding Aid Date field date
- Date
- 24 February 2015
- Description rules
- International Standard for Archival Description - General
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Fairground and Circus Archive Repository
The University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield South Yorkshire S10 2TN United Kingdom
0114 222 7231
lib-special@sheffield.ac.uk