Joyland Books

I am still unclear about the fate of the King Solomon's Mines wooden mouse and the Water Chute from Rhyl...are we saying they are now lost forever?
These were pretty much last of their types and it would be such a shame to have lost them.
Can anyone confirm their status please?
Thanks
David.

Hi David

This is a post made by Nick after the CPO had gone through:

Re: Vintage rides missing from Dreamland

Postby Nick » Sun Nov 17, 2013 4:02 pm
The Wild Mouse is still safe, as is the Caterpillar, Whip, Junior Whip, Meteorite, Corbiere Wheel, Ghost Train, River Caves boats, etc, and some of the fun house items. Lost are the Flying Scooters, some of the Fun House machines and most of the cable car system.

...although in a later post, Nick did say that the Flying Scooter cars were still safe.

David Ellis wrote:I am still unclear about the fate of the King Solomon's Mines wooden mouse and the Water Chute from Rhyl...are we saying they are now lost forever?
These were pretty much last of their types and it would be such a shame to have lost them.
Can anyone confirm their status please?
Thanks
David.

The Water Chute parts from Rhyl still survive, as do the trains and some parts of the Kings Solomons Mines roller coaster. Sadly, following a further survey it became clear that much of the structure was destroyed. It also subsequently became clear that the centre of the Caterpillar had been destroyed, rendering it impossible to restore, but we have found another Caterpillar (this one originating from Battersea Fun Fair) so a Caterpillar on Dreamland is very likely in the near future.

Nick wrote:

David Ellis wrote:I am still unclear about the fate of the King Solomon's Mines wooden mouse and the Water Chute from Rhyl...are we saying they are now lost forever?
These were pretty much last of their types and it would be such a shame to have lost them.
Can anyone confirm their status please?
Thanks
David.

The Water Chute parts from Rhyl still survive, as do the trains and some parts of the Kings Solomons Mines roller coaster. Sadly, following a further survey it became clear that much of the structure was destroyed. It also subsequently became clear that the centre of the Caterpillar had been destroyed, rendering it impossible to restore, but we have found another Caterpillar (this one originating from Battersea Fun Fair) so a Caterpillar on Dreamland is very likely in the near future.

The website lists a logflume, do you know anything about that? I assumed it was nothing to do with the watershute from Rhyl?

And when you say destroyed, Nick, I assume you mean during the scrapping that took place? Just enough of each ride destroyed to prevent the ride being useable. Obviously the actions taken were well considered and designed to do the maximum damage to the chances of Dreamland reopening with the minimum effort on their part.

Did the Corbiere Wheel suffer the same fate? That could have been up and running fairly quickly, and the main structure of the wheel was on site after the CPO, but if it is not appearing, can we assume the worst?

Finally, did anything come out of the legal side of things? Are matters still sub judice, or can the truth start to be told about who did what to the rides?

Yes, by destroyed I mean partially scrapped. The key components (such as the centres) of each ride were scrapped so that it would be uneconomical to restore them. However, the Corbiere Wheel, Whip and Junior Whip are still intact as are the track and cars from the Southport Ghost Train. We would like the wheel to be a future project, although it does need a lot of money spending on it.

There is no legal action taking place regarding the rides and the rides had no monetary value. But replacements were found, so there will be a full line-up of rides from every era when Dreamland reopens on 19th June.

There are no current plans to restore the Rhyl Water Chute. We only secured key components of that ride from Rhyl, so it would need to be fabricated from scratch, which will be several million pounds to do and the budget will not stretch that far.

Thanks Nick. Good to have all this stuff cleared up - the past few years have been quite an adventure! More twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel.

Can't wait until June 19th - hope to see you there...

would the water chute be available for lottery funding Nick,as you have the key components and cars,as as there are no more surviving could it a possible heritage bid in the future

Yes it could be a future project for Heritage Lottery funding. Realistically I think that is the only way it could be achieved.

I haven't logged onto here for a few years but have followed progress and news of the park on other websites but I hadn't found any information on the ex Southport rides until now. As someone who visited Pleasureland many a time in the 90's until it shut down in 2006 I am gutted to learn that most of what was my favourite attractions have been destroyed or scrapped. Why someone would do this to some very historic rides is beyond me. A tremendous shame as I was really looking forward to seeing them restored.

But I have full faith to David Littleboy and the new team at Dreamland as I know they have been working their socks off to get the park open for June, especially Mr. Littleboy who has done an incredible job with the Jets etc.

I wish everyone involved all the best for the future.

Cheers.

Seems the Grasscutter Cyclone Twist is being built up tomorrow. Looks like Frank Edwards has done a cracking job on a classic machine. I much prefer these to the modern equivalents. Some great looking rides now appearing plus the bonus of David Littleboys beautiful Austin Cars & Speedway making a visit its a great current line up. Just need the old girl running now. Don't suppose anyone has heard any news on her opening?

Stumbled upon this document that was reposted by a member on Towerstreet. While I think we knew many of the pleasureland rides were now a thing of the past, I am gutted to hear they aren't interested in adding any water rides to the lineup thus scheduling the old River Caves boats for up cycling. I know the weather isn't particularly great and the funds for a substantial ride may not be there yet but it seems like a very odd move. I know I went on one of the hottest days of the year but a water ride was the one thing I felt would have benefited the park.

Never mind I guess. The park is still making good strides with new rides they are acquiring.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/267878/response/663022/attach/html/21/Trust%20Ride%20Review%20Final.docx.html

That's a really interesting document, thanks for sharing. It's a shame the wild mouse (King Solomon's Mines) is not being considered for reuse at all, but I'm glad to see other rides are still likely to appear in future phases such as the whip, and the circular water chute is still under consideration.

it would depend on hlf finance for some the major refurbishment of remaining part retained classic rides that are in storage.Would absolutely love to see the water chute rebuilt in the future also would love to see a tumble bug back on british soil again

Hi all, a local long supporter of Dreamland I have been posting updates to TowersStreet but have only recently found this forum, doh!

I have visited 3 times so far and my opening day flag is proudly displayed at home I have found it especially interesting to follow the continuously changing line up, every visit I have had something new to experience and it has been fantastic! I just wanted to ask if anyone knows how long the Top Spin is on site, unless it has already left? I have loved the intense ride cycles it has been giving and so am curious to know if it will be around much longer! Could we also be seeing a return of the Wave Swinger after this? Will hopefully be back again in a couple of weeks!