THIS article is the second in a series about Shipley Glen and covers the Victorian rides built on the Glen after the Saltaire Exhibition of 1887, which had run from May until October.
Some of the rides were passive in their delivery, whilst others were intended to give their passengers a definite white knuckle experience!
Features at the Exhibition had included a Toboggan Slide and later an Ocean Wave Switchback as well as a Camera Obscura. These were supplemented by newer and primarily wooden rides.
* Exhibition Rides on the Glen:
The Switchback was re-named the Royal Yorkshire Switchback and placed in a field next to Brackenhall Farm in 1888. The ride was made in three cars, each seating 10 people which rode on metal tracks over an undulating route which started with a steep gradient at each end.
It was described as “sailing over large billows at a rapid rate.” It had an excellent safety record and was eventually taken down and sold in 1917.
The Horse Drawn Tram 1888 was an improvement to a ride which had circled the Glen Pond near the Glen Hotel.
It consisted of two horse drawn toast rack cars with long seats which had been used at the Exhibition. Passengers entered and alighted the ride under a canopied archway extension.
The Camera Obscura 1888 was bought from the Exhibition and placed in the field near the Switchback. The camera was mounted in the roof of a darkened wooden domed hut and by rotating it a 360 degree view through mirrors was given of the surrounding area.
* New Rides:
The Aerial Flight 1889 consisted of gondola cars seating eight people, suspended on a stout wire rope between higher and lower wooden platforms at a height of between 33 and 40 ft. Gravity pulled the cars over a distance of 200 yards.
Whilst it was popular with customers, local residents thought that it looked unsightly as it was in a prominent position. Despite having one notable reported accident, it was regarded as one of the safer Glen rides.
It was closed on the recommendation of Bradford Council in 1901
The Glen Tramway 1895 is the only ride which is still in existence - 129 years after it was built and nowadays it is run by volunteers. It has provided an alternative route to the steep path to the Glen plateau.
It was modelled on the Aberystwyth Railway, built around the same time. The ride was 500 yards long, up a gradient of 1 in 9 in a straight line, the cars being pulled on iron tracks by pulleys on an endless wire rope from Glen Wood Bottom up to Prod Lane. It was originally run by gas, then oil power. Sam Wilson and his partner H Wilkinson were the original builders of the track.
The Toboggan Slide 1897 was another ride built by Sam Wilson on a steep slope down the side of the Glen towards Crag Hebble. It was no doubt inspired by the Toboggan Slide at the Saltaire Exhibition.
It consisted of three wooden tracks descending at an estimated gradient of 1 in 4. Riders seated on wooden toboggans would hurtle down the slide which ended in a slight uphill gradient to slow the toboggans down.
The riders then returned to the top of the glen by a gas powered steel cable pulled tram car which carried the empty toboggan in front. The ride was advertised as “The Longest, Wildest and Steepest Toboggan Ride Ever Erected on Earth”.
Unfortunately on Whit Monday 1900 one of the cable cars returning passengers up the steep incline accidentally caught the cable, causing it to snap.
The car, which was carrying twelve people, ran back down the slope at speed and crashed into the barrier at the bottom. Seven people were seriously injured and admitted to Sir Titus Salt Hospital.
As a result the ride was closed by Bradford Council and eventually dismantled in the same year as the Aerial Flight.
* Future Articles:
This article has profiled some of the short lived thrill rides on the Glen and the origins of some of the Exhibition inspired rides.
My previous article featured entertainments including the Bank Holiday Fairs. Whilst these would continue until 1917. local residents were beginning to build up permanent weekend/ holiday attractions on the Glen.
My next article will feature the Japanese Gardens (possibly inspired by the Japanese Village at the Saltaire Exhibition) and the Vulcan House Tearoom - Shipley Glen Pleasure Grounds.
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