The fascinating stories behind Britain's forgotten theme parks

Theme parks are a mainstay of British childhoods, up there with sand-filled socks from seaside trips and beanbag-heavy sportsdays. But many of these smaller bastions of fun have closed down over the years, unable to keep up with behemoths like Alton Towers and Thorpe Park. Devoid of candyfloss and merriment, many were left to fall into ruin, while others have vanished without a trace. From classical seaside attractions to the sets of long-running soap operas, the hills of Britain are littered with the ghosts of amusement parks long gone. Here are the stories behind a few of them. 

1. Camelot, Lancashire

Opened in 1983, Camelot theme park was once a hive of activity, with a 100ft roller coaster - the Knightmare - as one of the main attractions. Yet in 2012 the 140 acre site near the village of Charnock Richard closed down, claiming bad weather and the 2012 Olympics were behind dire visitor numbers. Now, it lies forgotten, many of its rides left to rust and moulder - a far cry from the park's illustrious origins. Themed around the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the park took inspiration from the local area, which used to be submerged by the largest lake in England: Martin Mere.The water was drained in 1692 by Thomas Fleetwood of Bretherton, but before it lost its waters legend has it that Arthurian knight, Sir Lancelot's parents, King Ban of Benwick and his queen Elaine, sought sanctuary in this part of Lancashire. King Ban fell by the lake, and Elaine set the young Lancelot down by the shore as she went to help him. Poor Lancelot was promptly abducted by the nymph Vivian who vanished into the waters of the lake with him. The rest, as they say, is history and Martin Mere has been locally known as the 'Lost Lake of Sir Lancelot' ever since.

2. Frontierland, Lancashire

Opened in 1906, Morecambe's Frontierland theme park came close to a century of operations, but unfortunately officially closed in 2000. Originally West End Amusement Park, the park was bought in 1909 by the Thompson family (who also own Blackpool Pleasure Beach) and became Morecambe Pleasure Park. Visitor rates went up and down in rollercoaster-like surges, though the Thompsons tried many tactics to keep numbers up. One such was a 150 foot high big wheel, aptly named 'The Big Wheel', which again proved popular until complaints about peeping Toms being able to see into bedrooms from the ride saw it taken down. In a final fling, the park became Frontierland in 1987: 'the UK's premier western theme park'. It worked for a time and people flocked to have a go on rides like the Texas Tornado and meet the park's gun-slinging mascot, Frontier Fred. Eventually the novelty wore off, and not even a visit from Margaret Thatcher, who named one of the horses on the rides after herself, could save it. The Thompsons began to dismantle, sell and ship the rides to other theme parks all over the world, before selling the site to Morrisons. In spite of this, to this day the site remains a wasteland, its buildings left empty: a Wild West ghost town. 

3. Belle Vue Gardens, Manchester

Manchester's lost pleasure gardens have a 140-year history behind them. Opened in 1836 by John Jennison, a Stockport entrepreneur, it was the first privately financed zoo in England, though it originally started with just a small collection of birds (Jennison ran an aviary at home). By 1856, the range of animals had expanded hugely, including the addition of Maharajah the elephant, bought from Edinburgh Zoo. After tearing the roof off the compartment of his train transportation, poor Maharajah and his trainer had to walk to Manchester from the Scottish capital (a journey which took 10 days), supposedly having an argument at a toll gate about the correct charge for an elephant along the way. The park remained open during the wars, with animals surviving both air raids and rationing - the latter involving animal meat being dyed a lurid green to clearly mark it. In 1925, the business was sold to Belle Vue Ltd, and grew to mammoth proportions, with an amusement park, circus, exhibition hall, boating lake, hotels and restaurants all available for visitors. Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin played at the gardens's concert hall, as part of its roaring heydey in the Fifties and Sixties. Despite its fame, the park took a downturn in the Seventies, closing in 1977 with losses of more than £100,000 a year. Today its cinema and snooker hall are the only traces left. 

4. Ocean Beach, Rhyl

Rhyl's Ocean Beach funfair opened in the 1890s, and became a classic example of Victorian seaside attractions. Though other carousels and arcades have continued in faded glory at destinations like Brighton and Blackpool, this Welsh town unfortunately lost its own in 2007, when the painted horses and vintage toy set were all dismantled to make way for an £85million redevelopment project. The project never materialised and the site was left to ruin, though in recent years a new retail park has been built over its remains. At its height the park was so popular it had to relocate from its Marine Lake home to a bigger location on the town promenade in 1954, and had Britain’s first ever tubular steel rollercoaster and the world's last surviving circular water chute. 

5. Granada Studios, Manchester

Those outside the British isles may not understand the allure of Granada Studios, but for British television fans this is the source of many of the country's most loved shows. The oldest working production studios in the UK, it's brought The Jeremy Kyle Show, Countdown, Take Me Out and Coronation Street - the longest running soap opera in the world - to screens. In 1988, the studio opened its backlot and soundstages to the public, creating a studio park in the vein of Universal Studios Hollywood, with rides and attractions alongside the famous sets. By the late Nineties, visitor numbers had waned, and the Studio tour closed in 2001, along with its replica of Times Square and the House of Commons. Proving the enduring power of Coronation Street, the set of the TV show re-opened in 2014, and stayed open until 2015. As the production company has since moved to MediaCityUK, the site has since been sold and converted into flats and office space. As for the new Coronation Street sets at MediaCityUK, they're now open to the public for a cool £32 a head. 

6. Once Upon a Time, Devon

The Mortehoe and Woolacombe railway station was opened in 1874 to serve the nearby villages of the same name, and went on to be the location of photographer Ivo Peters' first steam train photograph in 1925 and the subject of British comedy duo, Flanders and Swann's 1964 song 'Slow Train'. What few people know is the stations brief stint as the amusement park, Once Upon a Time. When the branch closed in 1970, it lay derelict until in the early Nineties it was transformed into a children's theme park. Four redundant British Railways coaches were wedged between platforms by crane, while the old railway cars were filled with fairytale animations. The surrounding station and area were then peppered with rides for small children. Alas, the lure of property proved too much, and in 2004 the park was sold to a developer, before closing in 2005.

 7. Dreamland, Margate

Britains oldest amusement park opened in the seaside town of Margate in 1880, though did not become known as Dreamland until 1920. The same year the park's now iconic wooden rollercoaster was unveiled. Though Victorian in origin, the park was at its zenith in the Sixties, when the helter skelter was never empty and jellied eels were as popular as the candyfloss. The jellied eels lost their allure, as did the park, and in 2003 the park shut and was left to rot, with the giant wooden rollercoaster serving as a sad reminder of what once was. The grounds became so eery, they were captured in a series of Victorian tintype photographs by Rob Ball, and went on to be both exhibited and immortalised in the book, Dreamlands.  The faded park was almost turned into a retail and commercial development, but in a happier ending was renovated and reopened in 2015, after lobbying from local campaign group, Save Dreamland. Now a wonderland of Sixties nostalgia, the original scenic railway - now Grade II-listed - is once again available for rides. 

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