WE WILL ANSWER ANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT DREAMLAND

[Neil]

Changing tack here's a new question, but as it's to do with listed buildings this may well be the wrong topic.

I recently visited the Black Country, Dudley. For those who don't know it it's a mock victorian town complete with mine, shops, trams ect (a bit like Beamish). Many of it's building come from the surrounding area and were moved to the museum brick by brick. However several of these building still seemed to obtain listed building status only a couple of months after being relocated (in cases even grade 1). So why is it that the Runnaway doesn't qualify for being listed just because it hasn't lived in Folkestone all its life?

[Nkay11]

thank you

[Nick]

When listed buildings are moved, generally they lose their listed building status. Because much of what is important is their relationship with the street and the town in which they stand. There are examples of listed buildings being 're-listed' when they have been moved. The Black Country example (I have visted the museum, but I don't have any information on the status of the buildings) could be a case in point.

If those buildings have been re-listed, I expect it is to do with the fact that they all originated from the Black Country and are important and rare examples of the area's heritage. The problem with the Runaway Coaster is that it hasn't been there long (since 1998) and it does not really have any links with the history of Folkestone, or at least none that I am aware of.

Some might say that the reason it hasn't been listed is that it is portable. Whether a ride is portable or not is not relevant. Portable structures that have long association with the areas in which they are located are often listed. The most famous example being the Cutty Sark at Greenwich, which is a ship! But the Runaway has no association with Folkestone. It is not, in my opinion, a candidate for listing.

I would like to see that ride saved as much as anybody else, but I don't think listing is the way to do it. The ideal situation is for another park to buy it and restore it, but this is looking less and less like it is going to happen.

Nick

[nmud13]

I first visited a theme park in 1976, the park in question was Belle vue (possibly mis-spelt) near Manchester, it must have had a great impact on me as I can still remember the day as if it was yesterday.
My first and only visit to Dreamland was in 1985 I believe, when it was run by Bembon Brothers - this had an even greater impact on me, however living in London with plenty of other things to do theme parks were not too high on my entertainment agenda.
It was in the summer of 2000 that with my son and my partner who at the time was 5 months pregnant I returned to Dreamland to share with them the most magical of experiences - what a shock I received the park was a shadow of its former self. I can't remember exactly what was there but there was one of those reverse bungee jumps. I left Dreamland a very sad individule.
This summer I decided to take my two children now aged five and three to Margate for the day, I wanted to find out if there was anything left of Dreamland so looked on the web whhre I found this site - and what an eye opener it was.
In the end we went to Margate, the kids and I loved the beach but than it was off to Dreamland - my kids loved it even though they were too small to go on the Scenic Railway or the Wild Mouse (this meant that I couldn't either).
I now realise that kids love theme parks and even though Dreamland is a shadow of its former self they still love it (and so did I for the record) I just hope that Mr Godden sees sense and sells the place to the right person so the magic can once again return to Dreamland.
In 1985 the Looping Star was awsome but I had had a couple of beers and couldn't face the Mary Rose from what I remember there was a superb Fun House is this right or am I dreaming