pier Amusements

[amethyst]

Who loved to go on the piers whilst on their seaside holidays.

Maybe the odd loose plank of wood as you were walking along

If it was a long pier you could jump on the pier train

Old gents sitting on the seats with a knotted handkerchief on their head

Amusements I rem the penny one arm bandits

The machine with a silver marble going around where you had to keep it in play to win fruit polos or something

The noises of the machines the laughing policeman

That machine with MONEY and maybe a watch where this arm had to reach for them for you to win,There was a catch it never worked

[Twocky61]

One of the arcade machines I remember was the Tutti Frutti, where you dropped a 2p into one of the slots at the top of the machine. The coin then moved its way to the bottom via discs and spikes and if it hit a disc that disc would light up. A line of lit discs meant you won some 2p's - I forget how many

[amethyst]

One of the arcade machines I remember was the Tutti Frutti, where you dropped a 2p into one of the slots at the top of the machine. The coin then moved its way to the bottom via discs and spikes and if it hit a disc that disc would light up. A line of lit discs meant you won some 2p's - I forget how many

Cant rem that one twocky

[80sChav]

Who loved to go on the piers whilst on their seaside holidays.

Maybe the odd loose plank of wood as you were walking along

If it was a long pier you could jump on the pier train

Old gents sitting on the seats with a knotted handkerchief on their head

Amusements I rem the penny one arm bandits

The machine with a silver marble going around where you had to keep it in play to win fruit polos or something

The noises of the machines the laughing policeman

That machine with MONEY and maybe a watch where this arm had to reach for them for you to win,There was a catch it never worked

What memories indeed amethyst - all these are fond memories no doubts with a few that perhaps are less so now - like your 2nd one (re; due to Health and safety) and the old Gent with an Hadkerchief possibly too!

On the subject of pier amusements - I recall at least until about 1996 ..... in a Town near by me, thy had an Amusement Arcade based in an old Bingo Hall wth a Coffee Shop and the works - Games-wise!! sadly it does'nt exist now (as far as I know) but the memories that place brought on the 3 or 4 occasions I went - really brought the old Seaside Pier memories returning in a unique and special way no doubts!

80sChav

[amethyst]

A lot of old piers have been burned down were they set on fire on purpose,for insurance payouts because it costs a lot of money for their up keeps

[bakermuk]

Growing up in Norfolk I had access to many an amusement arcade in Yarmouth, Cromer etc

My personal favourites were:

the horse racing game where you placed a bet by putting a 2p on a slot - the race started and the coins all dropped into the machine.....and we always lost!!

the ball bearing game where you sat on a seat and held onto a large "steering wheel" with which you could move lateraly in all directions and had to steer the ball bearing round a course - I never ever made it!

The first video games - Space Invaders, Asteroids, Scramble, Pacman

My favourte was a driving game (early 80s) where you had to steer a VW Beetle down a course.... two gears with speeds "fast" and ""going to crash" - if (and when) you crashed the VW went red and the thing made a loud crashing noise! Played that one for hours!

[Richard1978]

I think that VW Beetle driving game was called Speed Bug. I remember the "crash" sound effect.

The Arcade in Wells New The Sea had one for years.

[amethyst]

There are a lot of machines now that give you tokens in exchange for a bit of tack ,especially the 2p games where you put the coin into the slot and the piles of 2ps get pushed forward and down onto the next level
More often or not you end up putting the coins back in rather than taking them home with you

[I. R. Fincham]

The slot machines today aren't nearly as much fun as when I was a kid. It was far more satisfying to pull a lever and spin the wheels than to push a button. And the price is horrifying. Back then, you could have hours of fun for a couple of quid, and sometimes even win, and end up with more. Today, you can blow through five quid in a minute. Shocking.

[amethyst]

The slot machines today aren't nearly as much fun as when I was a kid. It was far more satisfying to pull a lever and spin the wheels than to push a button. And the price is horrifying. Back then, you could have hours of fun for a couple of quid, and sometimes even win, and end up with more. Today, you can blow through five quid in a minute. Shocking.

We save up the 2p for our but of fun on holidays,but as you say it can be expensive if your not careful.We always avoid 10p,50p and £