There are some types of rides that are just a staple of that iconic theme park experience, and have been since pretty much the beginning- a carousel, a ghost train-esque darkride, and of course a rollercoaster. Coaster can come in many different variations, whether they be steel or wood, B&M or GCI, suspended, stand-up or sitdown, but where did it all begin, and what was our first introduction to these twisted wood/steel thrill rides here in the UK?
Pull down your restraint and keep your hands, arms and legs inside the train at all times, as we dive into the history of the UK’s first rollercoasters, operating and defunct!
Scenic Railway, Dreamland Margate
When you think of classic amusement parks in England, Dreamland, located in Margate, Kent, is likely one that comes to mind. And no wonder, the seaside resort and historic tourist attraction has been welcoming guests since around 1840! The first amusement rides arrived at the park in 1880, known as ‘Sea on Land’ attractions, which were similar to carousels but with a roughness intended to simulate being on a stormy sea.
The pleasure park continued to grow and expand throughout the following decades, yet after several changes in ownership and the opening and closing of a range of family flat rides, something huge was coming to the park.
The owner at the time, theme park entrepreneur John Henry Iles, visited Coney Island in 1906, and had the idea to transform his Margate park into the family and thrill attraction it is today. Soon the park was renamed Dreamland, and with construction on Dreamland’s first rollercoaster starting thirteen years later, the future was looking bright for the park.
Scenic Railway, a namesake to the very similar coaster at Coney Island, made its debut on 3rd July 1920, a side friction woodie, as the second rollercoaster to open in Margate after the Switchback Railway opened on the Margate coast in 1888. While attractions came and went at Dreamland and the park went through two name changes in the 80s and 90s, the Scenic Railway continued to deliver an exhilarating thrill to riders with almost no changes, and was granted a prestigious Grade II Listing in 2002 to symbolise its amazing history.
Sadly however, by the mid 2000s, the Scenic Railway’s future was looking rough, as was the park’s itself. Dreamland began to fall into decline, with attractions being in visible disrepair and rumours circulating that the park would be demolished, so the historic seaside resort was sold to Thanet Street Council and closed for extensive refurbishment in 2007. The Save Dreamland campaign begun with £18 million in public funding, and it seemed that the popular resort was finally being restored to its former glory.
But not everyone was on board with the campaign, unfortunately. In 2008, a suspected arson attack caused a fire to destroy the middle part of Scenic Railway’s track, as well as the station and a nearby workshop. Kent Fire and Rescue Service were able to respond and put out the fire quickly, and the reimagining of Dreamland continued with not too many other setbacks.
9th June 2015 was a massively symbolic day for the UK theme park industry. A completely reimagined Dreamland Margate welcomed back its first visitors in over five years, with a range of new attractions including a Reverchon Wild Mouse, Dodgems and a Zamperla Enterprise. Although Dreamland have confirmed that they will not open during 2020, it is likely the nostalgic park will be able to reopen once again in 2021, and we will be able to ride the UK’s oldest operating rollercoaster once again.
Big Dipper, Blackpool Pleasure Beach
This 1923 out-and-back woodie is well known for just having a lot of history, but its famous for another reason too. In 1998, the Big Dipper hit the record books after teacher Richard Rodriguez marathoned the coaster for 1000 hours straight, before riding it for a further solid 1000 hours two years later in the year 2000 to raise funds for a charity. Now that’s dedication!
But as with all of these rides, lets start right from the beginning. When Big Dipper was constructed in the early 1920s, Blackpool Pleasure Beach was by no means new to rollercoasters, with four coasters already operating and one having closed in 1922. Four coasters may not sound too impressive for a popular park like BPB today, but it was almost unheard of at the time. The park was also home to a range of thrill rides, including a W.F. Mangels Whip ride and a Rainbow Wheel attraction, however neither rides are in operation today.
Overall, the park was way ahead of its time in the way of amusement offerings, so the possibility of a new ride was certainly on the horizon. This came in the form of a new rollercoaster, designed and built by engineers William Strickler and John A. Miller. When the Big Dipper opened on the 5th May 1923, costing £25,000, it operated with very little change until 1936, when the coaster underwent a major extension. Soon it would have extra drops and areas of track arching over one of the park’s entrances.
Dreamland’s Scenic Railway has not been the only older wooden coaster to experience a fire- 1952 left parts of the ride damaged, before another fire twenty three years later in 1975 destroyed a nearby arcade as well as the Big Dipper’s engine room.
Now one of ten rollercoasters at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Big Dipper is still going strong, as the oldest operating coaster at the park!
Nickelodeon Streak, Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Staying at the UK’s most ICONic theme park, lets visit the third coaster on this list. Making its debut with the very creative rollercoaster name Roller Coaster, the ride was the second out-and-back woodie to open at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but is pretty unique- in that it is partly an amalgamation of several other rollercoasters! During construction, parts were taken from the recently defunct Velvet Coaster, which had closed just a year earlier, including the lift hill. This wasn’t the only time parts from another ride were used for Nick Streak, however, as, in 2006, trains were taken from Big Dipper, which had restraints while the original trains did not.
Roller Coaster operated relatively uninterrupted for the best part of seventy-seven years, until came a huge announcement from Blackpool Pleasure Beach which would change the future of the coaster forever. A great new land themed to the cartoon-centric TV channel Nickelodeon was unveiled, along with a range of new rides from a Zamperla Crazy Bus to a small Droptower, but what was arguably the biggest change for the area would be the retheme of Roller Coaster as Nickelodeon Streak.
As part of the refurbishment, the coaster was repainted orange so as to fit with the new theme, as well as parts of the coaster being rebuilt to have a more modern feel. Being a family coaster it fitted amazingly into the area, as Nickelodeon Land’s headliner attraction.
Grand National, Blackpool Pleasure Beach
The Grand National may be the name of a famous UK horse race, but it is also a wooden rollercoaster, and one of the oldest in the country at that! Grand National thrilled its first riders in 1935, when it opened as the largest rollercoaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and very likely one of the largest in the UK. The Big One, an Arrow Hyper opened in 1994, has now taken both of these records, and Grand National’s height record of 62ft isn’t all that impressive today, but it was a lot more so at the time.
The Mobius Loop woodie was built by Charles Paige, who built several other rides at the park, with the station being designed by an architect who played a major part in the design of many of BPB’s oldest buildings. Grand National is loosely themed to its namesake horse race, featuring sections of the ride with signs saying “They’re Off” as riders reach the top of the lift hill and “Winning Post” at the end, as well as a racing element that makes the experience all the more exhilarating.
Like all the rides on this list, Grand National has had some pretty interesting and, in some cases obscure history in its eighty-five year run. The early 1990s brought a bit of romance to the thrills, when enthusiast Andy Hine got married on the ride, but some more… unusual events have also occurred on the coaster, and quite recently, too. In March of 2019, the rather strange record of the number of naked people on a rollercoaster was broken with 195 clothes-less riders conquering the twists and turns of Grand National.
The racing-themed ride has certainly had its ups and downs over the years, from an electrical fire in May of 2004 to its prestigious Grade II Listing thirteen years later, and you can still find Grand National beside Big One and the Thrill-O-Matic darkride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach today!
Have you ever ridden any of these iconic coasters? Which is your favourite? Let me know in the comment box below!
If you enjoyed this article, you’ll love my other posts from theme parks and attractions around the world! Check them out here!
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