The Kursaal function-cum-skating-cum-cinema centre first opened in 1906 (see Mumbles Times May 2016) and occupied part of the site, with housing at the southern end and a fairground in the middle, which was officially opened on 27 May 1909.

It comprised a big tent, where entertainments were held and where the children could buy 'teasers', which were tubes filled with water to squirt at one another. Alongside, there was also a 'captive aeroplane', side shows such as coconut shies and penny-a-peep and a 'figure-of-eight', described as 'a 2,000 yard long American Gravity ride, taking one minute and fifteen seconds to negotiate its course. Its track was made of hard sugar maple, its wheels were steel-plated, encased in brass running on oil, making it virtually silent when in motion'.

Southend youngster, Henry Jenkins worked on it and the Ride operator was Thomas Brown, who had come from Whauphill in Scotland via America, where he had been employed on a similar ride. He went on to settle here, marry a local girl, Elizabeth Latimer and become father to four children. The Mumbles Weekly Press reported that 'soon men and women of all sorts and sizes are patronising it'. Henry's young sister, Marjorie enjoyed her visits to the fair and the Kursaal, where she would go skating, having saved her sixpenny piece for the session.