Situated on the top of a hill in Scarborough's North Bay
recreation area, Marvels once boasted to have the largest rollercoaster in North
Yorkshire! It was a Pinfari Zyklon coaster which is now located at Knowsley
Safari Park in Merseyside. All that remains are the stands, cables, chairs and loading
huts of both the North & South chairlift rides, a few decorative panels from the
coaster, and a lone, dodgem shell. Click the thumbnailed images to enlarge.
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UPDATE - MAY 2006
: David Humphreys kindly
emailed us this link:
http://www.thesandsnorthbay.com/availability.asp
On it are the master
plans for the site - this includes a large indoor leisure facility on the
site of the former Marvels, forest holiday homes on the site of Kinderland,
and a hilltop resort with apartments & holiday homes. The Water Chute,
Miniature Railway & the Chairlift ARE INCLUDED IN THE PLANS! which is
great news... |
This
water chute is located in the North Bay area, Scarborough. It is within the Kinderland
park, which due to vandalism the childrens' play park is in need of repair. Kinderland was
run by the Sykes family for the last 2 seasons, however, with the parks current condition
the agreement between the Sykes family and Scarborough borough council has not been
renewed for 2004. The miniature railway around the foot of the hilly park is still in
operation, offering trips around the disused park, which is need of the major
redevelopment, which is currently being planned (April 2004!). There has been a
campaign by locals to save Kinderland, the future of which is still uncertain, and
concerns have been raised regarding the redevelopment proposals. A statement has been made
by the planners in which the water chute is to be included in the plans, however the plans
are not yet finalised... it seems the future of the water chute is uncertain to. It would
be a shame to loose this ride. I have not been able to find any information about its
history, who built it & when,although it does look very similar to Water Chutes built
by Charles Wicksteed, founder of Wicksteed park. There is a chute at Wicksteed still in
operation which looks very similar to this one. There are records of one of his chutes
being at Queens' Park in Hull, not too far from Scarborough... could this be the same
chute? Please email me if u have any further pics /
info... thanks, Col. |