by furie » 06 Sep 2006, 10:18
With the general removal of rides very subtly over the last little while, and the way things have changed, it was clearly only a matter of time.
Geoffry seemed to have some grand plans for Southport, and I remember in 2004(?) when a large set of Jurrasic Park style gates arrived opening onto the old zoo site. They promised something huge for the next season. It was only a month or so later that Geoffry sadly passed away. The plans for that area were seemingly scrapped, and it opened as a "paintball" arena this year. The other two new attractions this year were a very poor "chairoplane", and a hand restored ferris wheel (with a spinning base).
To keep this kind of on topic, Southport was a very similar park to Dreamland. Certainly they've seen very similar rides over the years.
There was a "travelling" Scenic Railway opened in 1922 (removed in 1946). The River Caves are a classic much like, and of a similar age, to the ones ripped out of Dreamland.
In the 80's, Southport also had a "Looping Star" of the same, or similar, type to the one everyone loved at Dreamland. Silcocks used to run half the park with "fairground" attractions, while the permanent rides were run by Pleasure Beach Ltd. It used to be a heady mix of bright lights and loud music, interspersed with wonderful, classic old rides. When Pleasure Beach took control, they completely renovated the park. It lost it's atmosphere, but became much more family friendly.
The Suspended Looping Coaster and shot tower don't really interest me, but Southport had the following rides worth remembering:
- Cyclone. Classic, late 20's woody with the most twisted hill ift, and slowest turnaround ever seen. The brakes on the station were still operated by hand.
- King Solomon's Mines. One of three remaining wooden wild mouse coasters in the world. Moved from Morecombe (not Yarmouth) when it shut, this is an evil ride and well worth preserving. Modern WIld Mouse coasters have nothing on this baby.
- Caterpillar ride. Originally built by a local engineer, this was made for Belle Vue in Manchester in the 1920's. It's a circular train, on an undulating track. After a couple of minutes, a cover raises over you, sealing you into a canvas "cocoon". My first memory of any ride is this one, whileit was at Belle Vue. It moved to Southport in around 1980 when Belle Vue closed.
- Helter Skelter. The ONLY helter skelter in the world where you land into a smooth wooden bowl at the bottom. Unique, and removed at the start of this season for "reasons unknown".
Sandstorm. The original Round-up ride from Blackpool. Moved three seasons ago to Southport. It stood in the dome at Blackpool for over 30 years, and was still running well at Southport.
Wildcat. Standard Pinfari affair, but the oldest operating one in the country. One of the first steel coasters to arrive in the country.
Fun House. This is still operating! It's a minature version of the old fun house at Blackpool, with centrifuge, spinning barrel, and slippery spinning disk. Plus moving stars, falling walkways, and everythnig else you come to expect from a classic, 60 year old plus fun house. I believe this is the last one in the country.
River Caves. I mentioned these above, but they are a classic, old set of River Caves. Revamped last year to a new Dinosaur theme, I have a lot of fond memories of riding this.
Ther emay be other rides that people remember, but for me, these are the rides that will be missed. KSM could be transported elswhere, it's already made the move to Southport. Cyclone I doubt will go anywhere though other than the fire. It's a good little coaster, but by no means a real classic. The Pinfari will likely be melted down for the scrap, and the Caterpillar ride will go the same way. River Caves will fall under the demolishers bulldozer and the other "assets" sold. If the land is redeveloped as commercial land, I can see a new owner taking on the Fun House though. In this day and age of "Wacky Warehouses", this would make a good expansion to a Brewsters style pub, or on that kind of faceless estate we see everywhere. Fingers crosseed on that front at least.