The Barron Family
The origins of the first amusement arcade in Great Yarmouth have their roots in the travelling fairgrounds and mechanical amusement machines.

George Barron Senior was born in Yorkshire in 1853 and married Leberena Grey in 1873; the Greys were a family of showmen of long-standing and were well known in the travelling fairs that had been entertaining people all around Britain for hundreds of years.

George and Leberena moved to Norwich in the same year and set himself up as a small engineer and as one of the first manufacturers of bicycles in the UK.

After the birth of his first son Clarence, the family moved to London where George began to build on his manufacturing and wholesale engineering business.

In the early 1890’s he saw a new market opening up – the new Automatic Amusement Machines.

This new trend had originated in America with Thomas Alva Edison (the co-inventor of the electric light bulb) and others who were creating new coin-operated fun machines that were beginning to sweep across America and Europe.

The Future of Fun and the Movies
Because of his wife’s family ties, George realised that these coin-operated machines would revolutionise the funfairs, and there was a major opportunity awaiting the first entrants into the manufacturing and distribution market in the United Kingdom.

By 1895 George had imported a number of theses machines into the country and had set himself up as both an operator and distributor and had even begun to design and make his own machines.

This new venture proved an immediate success with the public and with his son Clarence ordered many more machines – Dice Machines, Fortune Telling Machines, Picture Boxes and Music Machines, and it was a full time job supplying public houses with these music machines and the tin discs that contained the latest songs. (These machines were the forerunners of modern jukeboxes)

In 1896 George bought a shop in Upper Street, Islington, London where the first permanently sited Amusement Arcade was established in this country.

In the same year the Barron’s opened one of the first cinemas above their amusement arcade showing the newly developed moving pictures to thrilled patrons at 6d per person.

These picture-shows proved so popular that the Barron’s opened new premises in St. John’s Road in Islington to accommodate the numbers of people wanting to be entertained. They also went out to established theatres such as MacDermott’s in Hoxton and the Old Bedford in Camden Town, and projected these fantastical images for the amazed public.

Roving Fun Purveyors
As news of the family’s success grew and again through the contacts that his relations had in the funfairs, George began to supply other showmen with films and coin-operated fun machines.

Clarence was sent out as a roving operator travelling around the country taking orders, replacing the music discs with the latest songs and ensuring that the machines were kept working.

Not only that but the family began to visit other towns and cities theatres and music halls, such as the Brighton Gaiety, Barnard’s in Chatham, the Bedford Music Hall, Foresters in the Cambridge Road, the Sandgate Alhambra, the South London and Hoxton Varieties and the Queens at Poplar amongst others.

The Family Expands
George Barron by this time had seven sons in all and along with Clarence they began set up other businesses around the country.

It was in 1896 that the family under the direction of Clarence and Stanley Barron opened up Great Yarmouth’s very first permanent amusement arcade at 34 Marine Parade where the family still operate from the original site.

In 1904 William Barron and his wife Maud opened an amusement arcade called The Funland in Kingston-upon-Thames and in 1912 opened a second arcade in Kingston.

The War Years
At this time however the First World War made things difficult for manufacturing side of the business and the family decided to concentrate on operating fun arcades and during the war period the family operated three premises in London at Coventry Street, The Strand and Westminster.

After the War, the centre of operations was moved to Gt Yarmouth where the family under Clarence and Stanley ran the Paradium and the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach. Clarence and William also ran the Southwold Pier, and William successfully operated the Revolving Tower until it was closed and taken down for scrap at the start of the Second World War in 1939.

During the Second World War (1939-1945), the family had to close down all of their amusement businesses in Yarmouth as the seafront Golden Mile and the beach were taken over by the military.

Soldiers were billeted in the Paradium and actually caused a deal of damage to many of the machines and rides that the family had to leave behind.

During the war years the family moved to London and opened up several arcades and entertainment centres in the city and in other towns and cities across the country.

After the war was over the family returned to Norwich and then to Yarmouth where they began to rebuild their amusements arcades and other businesses.

Waxworks, Fun Houses and Gallopers
The Barron’s knew that the success of any Fun Palace was to be able to cater for all possible tastes, so not only did the arcade have thousands of different coin-operated machines throughout the years but also had many other fun-giving attractions too.

Over the years the Paradium has hosted magnificent Roundabouts with galloping horses, a cinema, a Wax Museum with all the famous celebrities of the day, side-shows with darts, hoop-las, rifle-ranges, giants, bearded ladies, midgets, Fasting Ladies and African chiefs; stalls selling candy floss and Soda Pop, wheel-em-ins, and dodgems cars.

The arcade also had for many years a Crazy Fun House which had Laughing Mirrors that made you look tall, thin, short, fat and just plain silly; moving floors and wind machines!

Also there were full-sized rides such as the Cresta Run and the Alpine Chair Lift and the Bloody Tower.

As times and tastes changed over the years the arcade had a wide range of amusement machines that ranged from prize-winning cranes, gambling machines, video-games, dancing machines and whatever new comes along.

The End of the Story
It is with regret that in 2004 the family business, started over one hundred years ago by their great, great grandfather George Barron, was closed.

Dennis, the last surviving son of Clarence, passed away aged 87 on Friday 8th April 2005 after a short illness.

Dennis was very well-known in the amusement business and ran many joints in the Paradium, the darts stall, hot dogs, the Table Bingo and finally the Pool Hall.

Dennis' brothers Terence, Leonard, and George all pre-deceased him.

Coming Soon
ENTERPRISED
"Write for
YOUR Business!"