Local History Hancock’s Joy Wheel By Roderick Martin
When asked what was the best Tavistock postcard of all time I have no hesitation in saying that it is the Hancock’s Joy Wheel postcard from the 1912 Goose Fair. In those days the fairground amusements were a lesser feature of the fair, and were erected in the Mine Field next to the town gas works at Pixon Lane. The composition and clarity of the picture with the two young ladies in the foreground, the crowd around the Joy Wheel, and the gas holder in the background is absolutely brilliant given the limitations of photographic equipment available at that time. The name of the photographer is not printed on the postcard but is believed to have been Arthur Thomas Pierce who had a chemist and photographic shop in West Street, Tavistock. It was one of a set of four he published after the 1912 fair.
So who were the Hancocks, and what was a Joy Wheel?
THE Hancocks were a travelling fairground family. There were three principals, brothers William and Charles Hancock, and their sister Miss Sophia. William was the hard worker, Charles was epileptic but good with horses, and Miss Sophia was the driving force, not to be argued with, who 8
had a nice line in flamboyant dresses and hats. The late- Victorian and Edwardian eras marked the halcyon days of the Hancocks shows; a time when their amusements appeared at every major regatta and fair event in the Westcountry. For many years they secured the
lease for providing the amusements at the Tavistock Goose Fair, and sub-let pitches to other fairground operators.
The Joy Wheel first appeared
in America in 1907, and the first UK models were made by Savage Brothers of Kings Lynn, a traditional agricultural
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