The last remaining mechanical elephant made in Halton near Lancaster will go on display at a popular music and arts festival in the village - and we've been to meet him!
Rajah was used as a children's ride at seaside resorts around the UK, including in Morecambe, after being created at Luneside Engineering, now home of the Halton Mill arts, community and business centre.
He will make his first public appearance since coming home at Millfest, Halton’s annual music festival, this Saturday September 12.
Chris Coates, director of Halton Mill, and Nick Lakin, events manager, told the amazing story of how Rajah came home.
LISTEN to Chris Coates and Nick Lakin
Nick Lakin and Chris Coates with Rajah
Millfest will include a full programme of live music, a new poetry and spoken word stage, kids theatre, puppet making and craft workshops, street food, stalls and loads more.
There will also be a mobile sauna, massage and therapy tent and a bouncy castle.
The Melodrome Stage will host performances from Bobby Peru, Eleanor Bennett, Blanty, Mike 'The Mic' Potter, Ook & The Elephant, The Arcane Hope, Day Haywood, Blanty, Contracoustic and Good Boy Nikko.
The new poetry stage will feature performances from Mick Neary, Trystan Lewis, Caleb Staps, Kate Davis, Hannah Wood and Roland Crowland among others.
Free children's theatre will re-tell the Viking myth of Sigurd and the Dragon, which is still carved on the medieval cross in Halton churchyard and on stones across the bay.
There will be food available from Wrap Ninjas and Morecambe Bay Chowder, plus pizza, craft beer from Lunebrew, and coffee from Bold Cofffee.
"With the return of Rajah, a new poetry stage by the river, kids theatre and puppetry and even a mobile sauna, this year's Millfest is set to be a lot of fun!" said Nick.
Rajah the elephant
"There's a great team working behind the scenes to make this year's festival one to remember, and we can't wait to welcome everyone down to the riverside in Halton once again."
He added that those attending the event are encouraged to walk, cycle or take public transport as there is limited parking at the venue.
For those that do need to drive to the event, please park on Low Road, Forge Lane or at Denny Beck and avoid Mill Lane.
Tickets, priced £7, are available HERE. Under 13s are free with a ticket.
The event runs from noon to 8pm.
Rajah is the last of a series of mechanical elephants built at Luneside Engineering, which was based at Halton Mill until the early 2000s.
Fay Kara and Alison Cahn from Halton Mill with Rajah
The elephants were designed by Morecambe entrepreneur, Frank Smith, who was inspired by a visit to a Manchester zoo, where he saw children riding a real elephant.
Frank started the next day in the garage and made an elephant out of iron bedsteads, balloon fabric, mechanical parts from an Austin 7 and a windscreen wiper motor for the moveable eyeballs, getting his dentist to make the toes, said his son Eric.
Luneside Engineering, set up by Polish servicemen after the Second World War, was commissioned to produce more elephants as rides for children.
The elephants were sent to seaside resorts throughout the UK, returning to Halton for servicing every winter.
Rajah ended up in Merseyside, owned by the Crosby Lions Club, who used him to raise money for charity.
Beyond Radio's Greg Lambert with Rajah
The directors of Halton Mill, a low carbon work and event space, were fascinated by the history of Luneside Engineering and its elephants.
In 2013, Chris set out to find if any of the Luneside elephants survived and eventually tracked Rajah down to Crosby.
He invited Rajah, and his handler Ivan Swainbank, to come as guests of honour when Halton Mill opened that September.
Then a few weeks ago, Halton Mill was contacted by the Crosby Lions.
Halton Mill
They said that Rajah had been shut away unused in a garage since the Covid pandemic.
The Lions' parent organisation would no longer insure clubs to use “mechanically propelled petrol vehicles” and Rajah – who has a petrol engine – came into that category.
Rajah joins another display at Halton Mill, a giant paper whale they have named 'Big Bob'. The whale headed the Baylight light festival parade in Morecambe in 2025.
Read more: Mechanical elephant once used as children's ride returns home to Lancaster - Beyond Radio
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