This toile de jouy takes its inspiration from The Victoria Pleasure Gardens, which were a major tourist attraction in my town (Burgess Hill) from 1897 to 1939.
These splendid gardens, created by Mr Edwin Street, contained many amusements. They included a boating lake, a switchback (an early form of rollercoaster!), swing boats, donkey rides and a cycle track to name but a few. Refreshments were readily available from an Italian ice cream seller and of course, tea and cake.
Today, the lake has been filled in and an industrial estate takes the place of where the Pleasure Garden once stood. However, we still have the view of the Jack and Jill windmills.
