Disaster - Monday 7th July 1975

She was six weeks old and it was only two weeks before the start of the full season. The ride had been oiled, greased and safety checked all over. I was running her at a gentle pace, there were very few punters about – it was so hot most of them were on the beach. With only two riders, I checked they were seated and the safety bars closed. Back in the pay box I started the ride, counted the money and began to increase the speed. All was going well - the ride had almost reached full speed – then, without warning there was this horrendous bang. Wrenching the knife out from the contact box, I grabbed the brake with two hands and pulled with all my might. As the ride was shuddering to a halt I realised that one of the three arms had completely stopped turning. I could see a young boy lying on the floor beneath the ride. The ride still in motion was passing just over his head. I remember shouting down the microphone ‘Lay flat – lay flat – do not move – do not get up’. It seemed like an eternity but the ride had stopped within seconds. I flew out of the pay box to the boy lying on the floor. He was badly winded and in shock. Thankfully his worst injuries were grazes, cuts and bruises. I thanked God that day for the fact that the Twist was a ‘grass cutter’ – a ride without platforms. If the ride had had platforms, there would have been no room for the ride to pass over the boy who was lying on the floor – it didn’t bear thinking about. The ride was shut down immediately. Fellow workers quickly came over to the ride to help. I was in shock and very concerned whether or not the young boy was OK. Many thoughts began running around my head – maybe it was my fault, maybe I hadn’t done the checks properly, maybe I hadn’t shut the safety bar correctly, maybe, maybe, maybe…

Once the accident and the damage had been assessed it became clear that the fault had been in the manufacturer's design. The sturdy metal bars supporting the cars were only secured in place by a single cotter/split pin.

This pin was woefully inadequate for the purpose it was intended for. It had completely sheared off. The bar connecting the car to the arm was then free to slide, which it unfortunately did – this in turn allowed the car to drop a few inches – instead of the car passing over the main arm it smacked straight into it. It was an immediate halt. It was this that threw the boy out of the car onto the floor.

Each of the three arms are connected to independent clutches and this enabled the damaged arm to stop circling whilst the ride itself continued turning until being brought to a halt using the brake.

The Twist was out of action.