Originally built by G.V. Llewellyn in 1911 the Southport lakeside miniature railway has been operating for nearly 100 years on the site alongside the marine lake in Southport. The first train ran on the 25th may 1911 when the railway was called Llewellyn’s miniature railway after the builder and creator, this was later renamed to the Southport lakeside miniature railway as it’s known today.

The original route was a straight line which was extended in 1938 to add a sharp turn under the pier into the second station on the line the Marine Parade Station. The original station at this end of the line was called Princess Park which was closed when the extension and Marine Parade stations were built.

The materials for the line were supplied by Bassett-lowke a toy company based in Northampton who was established in 1899, the bassett-lowke brand name was bought by the famous model company Corgi in 1996 and railway locomotive products were relaunched by Corgi in 1999 at which point Bassett-lowke would have been 100 years old.

I have lots of memories of this railway as a family we would visit Southport every summer and spend a few hours on Pleasureland and take a trip on the miniature railway.

Lets take a look at how the railway is looking today

The main station as viewed from Pleasureland. I can remember back to when you bought tickets for the railway from the turnstile on the right hand side, this has been closed for a number of years now and these days tickets for the railway are purchased on the train. The fare for 2009 is £1.50 one way and £2 return.

On the platform looking back at the entrance way above.

Today the signage around the area is looking a bit washed out.

The main platform. I haven’t seen the line on the left operate for some time, can anyone confirm if this is still used, it certainly doesn’t look overgrown.

Looking back to the entrance from the top of the platform.

One of the storage sheds on the left hand side.

The Southport Miniature railway also operate a second engine, which I can only assume runs when the Miniature railway is busy. The shots below were taken on a busy day for the railway the passenger carriages were extended to almost double the previous size.

Train in the second station

The Marine Parade Station.

Signals

A view from the roadside looking at the station.

Again another shot from the second station

A look down at the second station

This shot is taken from a footbridge over the track.

A shot taken from above showing the track going of toward the main station.

Bridge just before pulling into the Marine Parade station – which can be seen in the distance.

A longer range shot of the bridge above adorned with graffiti

A view from the train this time, going under the bridge shown in the above photographs.

I seem to have an obsession with this bridge.

At this point the train has cleared the bridge above and its in the distance of the shot below just around the corner.

Moving quickly toward the main station, this is a shot from the rear of the train.

\

Southport Marine left is on the right hand side of the shot below.

Coming into the main Pleasureland station.

A view from the Pleasureland station showing the trains maintenance areas on the left hand side.

One of the maintenance areas.

And the second.

I would recomend this railway to anyone who has some spare time while visting Southport as it really is a gem. If you would like to contribute to this article or have any amendments you feel are factually correct then please get in touch via the contact form I would love to hear from you. Im not a railway enthusiast so any additional information is more than welcome.

Thanks for reading

l would like to thank a freind of mine Gordon Clinton-Lindop for allowing me to use these photographs of American adventure.

They were taken during the 1990 season and I know from comments to the site and emails its a park allot of people have missed.

I only got to visit the park once during its operation and that was the year before it closed.

The Vekoma boomerang coaster featured on the left  hand side was once classed as Britains best coaster after it opened in 1989.

For anyone that have never been to American Adventure theme park, it was built on the site of an old open cast coal mine and centered around a huge lake in the middle of the park. Some people believe the demise of the park came in 2005 when they re-themed the park as a family park and got rid of the white knuckle rides  including the Vekoma Boomerang coaster they named “the missile’.

Bottom of the first hill, beginning the slow pull back.

Buffalo ride.

I’m guessing this photograph was taken from the wheel. In the distance the log ride and balloons (far left)

Helter Skelter.

A view across the huge lake.

Thanks again to Gordon Clinton-Lindop for the use of the photographs.

To see my previous trip report from American Adventure click here.

If you want to comment on this please use the comment form, contact form or join the ridemad discussion forums.

Thanks for reading.

One of Alton Towers latest attractions as well as the Dung Heap kids area is Haunted Hollow, an in house project costing the park 250k. The Interactive walk through is using an existing short cut from Gloomy wood (opposite Duel) to Merrie England (near the boats). When I last visited the park during adrenalin week the attraction wasnt completed. During normal park operations this attraction isnt scary and even my youngest 5yr old found it quite fun. It should be fantastic if they use this area for the parks Halloween event later in the year from October 13th – November 4th. When the attraction first opened some of the gravestones were attacked by mindless vandels, Its nice to see Alton Towers has fixed these up again.

Theres 2 entrance to this attraction as explained above the first been Gloomy wood. Ill start the walk through from this side to end up over in Merrie England. It’s great if youre a lazy sod like me too as it saves walking up the hill towards the rapids to get back round to Merrie England.

One of the first statues to great you.

This one reminds me of school dinners.

I think this one is a butler.

It looks like a feather duster, but I dont think it is.

The Gravestones.

The bust in the center.

On the left hand side of the bust.

On the right hand side of the bust.

Ok carry on past the lake to the next part of the walk through.

Abonded undertakers carriage.

It would be great to hide in this.

Im not sure what this is supposed to be, for now ill call it the mirror building.

Heed the warning.

I wont spoil the rest of this, see for yourself. Ok lets carry on along the leafy pathway.

Some more gravestones, these ones talk to each other

Further along towards some scary looking doors.

Next is the tomb ‘look if you dare’ is the warning.

Walk a bit further and your at Merrie England, this concludes the walkthough.

The majority of the gravestones talk and theres a bit of interaction but I wont spoil this for anyone.

My Verdict ‘if that counts for anything’

Its worth walking through this just to see what they have done, younger children wont be spooked so dont let that put you off. The area toward the rapids, mine train and log flume does get congested so its an ideal way to open up such a short cut, and great if like me your lazy.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

Having heard nothing but good things about Oakwood we decided to take the 5 hour journey to south wales in the summer of 2006. We visited for the weekend leaving on Friday afternoon with the intention of visiting Oakwood on the Satrurday and Folly Farm on the Sunday. We stayed just outside Tenby in a Travel Lodge which was central to both attractions and cheap.

Unfortunately for us and other visitors to Oakwood this was the wettest day of the year by far and we ended up completely soaked through to the skin within about 1 hour of arriving at the park and we still had another 9 hours until the park was closed.

Location
The park is located a few miles from Tenby just of the a40, its well signposted from Tenby and the M4. its probably no more than 25 minutes from Tenby.

Admission Prices
On the day we visited in the height of summer 2006 standard entry price for over 10′s was £14.75, Junior £13.50 and then various reductions for disabled and family tickets with an after dark (entry after 5:30pm) ticket at £10. The only additional charges in the park are for Vertigo the skycoaster which was about £30 for a single rider. Once you get your tickets you jump on the park train and take this into the park, the train takes about 5 minutes and doesnt really give you a view of anything as most of oakwood is in a valley.

Megafobia
The main reason for my trip to Oakwood was to ride the wooden coaster Megafobia, built by CCI coasters international in 1996 its considered to be the best coaster in the country and always comes out high on the favoured coaster list of many coaster enthusiasts.

From the photo above the lift hill on the right and first drop on the left hand side under the trees. The ride boasts an impressive 2956ft of track with a maximum speed of 48mph and a height of 85ft. This is one of those rides you really have to ride to believe, it is absolutely stunning and a credit to the park. On the day we visited we got to ride it 8 times and its just kept getting better. They also have one of the most entertaining ride ops I have ever met, i didnt catch his name but the guy is nuts.

Speed(new for 2006)
Speed built my Gerstlauer in 2006 is the first ride in the uk to feature a 90 degree lift hill and a 97 degree first drop.

As you can see from the picture above the lift hill is 90 degress and you get the impression you are going to roll back out of your seat as you climb it, in a way you feel like an astronaut in a space shuttle, once at the top of the 115ft tower the car just rolls over the top and you drop. One thing about a coaster with a vertical lift and an over 90 drop is you dont see the track until the last minute, then of course its too late.

This is looking up from the bottom of the first drop. I enjoyed speed this was the first ride on a coaster like this for me and i hope it wont be the last, unfortunately the photographs dont do it justice, the weather was that bad on the day only a couple of speed photographs turned out how I wanted for a more detailed look at speed have a look the 97 degree website

Hydro

Built by Intamin Hydro opened in 2002, its a 121ft plunge ride down a 87 degree drop. According to the offical oakwood website it took 3 weeks to fill the 1 million gallon pool of water at the bottom. Hydro opens at 12:30pm and its the only ride i know which has a changing room you get that wet. I had no intention of riding this but people i know that have ridden it say its some experience, perhaps next year if the weather is a bit better.

Tree Tops Coaster

A family coaster that everyone can enjoy, it doesnt go high and the trip is through a forest.

Spooky 3D

Spooky 3D is a Ghost train type of ride that uses 3D models to enhance the experience, for me this didnt work as you are made to hold the 3d glass up to your eyes for the trip, it would have been allot better if you had goggles like every other 3d ride, but the kids enjoyed it.

The Bounce

The ride starts by shooting you up 160ft, then it bounces about a bit and you drop to the ground, just as you think the ride has stopped you are hoisted up again slowly this time and the ride eventually drops you after a few second wait, I enjoyed this and im normally not a fan.

Vertigo

Vertigo is a sky coaster, you strap yourself into what looks like a sleeping bag, get hoisted backwards and then dropped on cables, it looks great but theres no chance i would do it. Apologies for the picture quality.

Bobsleigh

This was a very enjoyable ride, you sit in a bob that hoisted to the top of a hill on cable and then its freefall down the channelled track until you get back to the ride station, on the day we visited the ride ops were encouraging everyone to use the brakes due to the track been wet as it does pick up speed quickly.

The final straight back into the ride station.

Snake River Falls

This is pretty good, collect your dinghy and choose one of four ways down, two routes are covered. Some of these boats come down really quick and it was quite common for some to stop by hitting the barriers were onlookers were stood, quite funny for the spectators to watch but probably terryfying for the riders.

Waterfall

Another water ride similar to Snake River Falls but more like a huge slide, guaranteed to get you wet.

Pirate Ship

Not much different from any other pirate ship, but i like the idea that every hour or so they run the ride at half height so the younger kids can have a go, this is a really nice touch i wish other parks thought about younger visitors this way. well done Oakwood !!

Brer Rabbit

The Brer Rabbit ride is an enjoyable journey on a train through Brer Rabbits hideaway, its a nice leisurely trip and the youngsters that rode with us really enjoyed it, some of the scenes are quite funny.

Plane Crazy

Oakwoods newest family ride is plane crazy, climb aboard and the ride spins round, you can control the height of the ride using the sail or rudder.

The park also has a mini golf game and a boating lake.

Kidzworld

Kidzworld is an area especially for the younger children, they have about 7 outdoor rides including a ferris wheel, mini coaster, carousel and tractor ride.

Wacky Factory

Also part of kidzworld is Wacky factory, this is a themed ball park that is huge, you can quite easily loose kids for an hour in this place.

I think they have a couple of slides a waterfall and an area set aside for even younger children.

Techniquest

Techniquest is a science discovery attraction also in Kidzworld, it features lots of hands on activities for kids including how to piece together a human body and various puzzles and games, they also have really helpful staff who walk around the area getting involved with the kids.

After Dark

After dark is an event which is run for a month each year, for 2007 the dates are 1st August through to the 31st, this involves the rides staying open later and some entertainment provided in the theatre near Brer Rabbit, the shows are pretty good but dont last that long, by the time you have a pint and your settled its over. I think they do a couple of shows a night up to about 9:45 when everything is then taken outside for a water fountain display, outdoor live show and a firework display. 2006′s firework display was pretty good. They also have Matt the magic man at the park for 2007 i havent seen him so cant comment, for all events take a look at the parks website

Food and Drink

Theres a large cafe just as you get off the train to enter the main body of the park serving meals like fish and chips they also have more healthy foods on offer which are all good quality a meal for 4 with a drink is about £25 which is good value. The park also has various outlets offering fast food and a nice cafe in Kidzworld. If im honest the food as Oakwood was some of the best ive had at a park this year.

Staff

Considering the amount of rain that fell on the day we visited I found all the staff extremely friendly, approachable and happy. It cant be a nice job when its pouring with rain and your having to check restraints on rides over and over again.

Conclusion

Im my opinion one of the best days out of the year, me and my family thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it rained all day and we all ended up soaking wet for most of it, even after a change of clothes at 5pm we were wet again for 7pm.

Ive visted lots of parks in 2006 and if your reading this thinking is it worth a visit the answer is a definate YES. Its an ideal break for a weekend especially if you visit the wonderful indoor fairground at folly farm.

To see the rest of the pictures from this visit, take a look at the ridemad Gallery

If you want to use any pictures in this article or have any comments good or bad please email me on paul@ridemad.com

http://www.ridemad.com is an independant website not affiliated to any theme parks or fairgrounds, the view expressed are my opinions.

Thanks for reading.