As the Easter weekend approaches, many of us will be planning fun-filled days out with the children. In the ’80s and ’90s, a trip to a local theme park was always a surefire hit.

During those times, we were spoilt for choice, whether it was in Lancashire or just a short car or train ride away to a park in Greater Manchester, North Wales or Derbyshire. Unfortunately, many of these havens for adrenaline junkies have since shut their doors.

However, there are still major amusement parks in operation, such as blackpool-pleasure-beach>Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Alton Towers in Staffordshire. So, for those who can recall the fluttering sensation in their stomachs at the sound of rollercoaster screams and the scent of candy floss, here are six fairgrounds and amusement parks that we used to adore but are sadly no longer with us.

Feel free to share your memories in the comments section.

Camelot

A visit to Camelot theme park was a highlight on any school child’s calendar back in the day. Established in 1983 by Park Hall Leisure, the park drew in both adults and children with tales of King Arthur, his knights of the Round Table, and the wizard Merlin.

The late ’80s marked the golden era for the site, following the launch of rides such as Dragon Heights, Kingdom in the Clouds, Dragon Flyover, and Falcon’s Flight. By this time, the Chorley-based park had been acquired by Granada, which bought the holding company, Park Hall Leisure.

Its unique quirks and features distinguished it from other theme parks, and many will recall the excitement of rides like Knightmare, the Tower of Terror, and Excalibur. However, by the mid-’90s, the park’s heyday began to wane, with visitor numbers dropping to around 500,000 a year in 1995, down from 2.5 million in 1987.

Granada was sold to Prime Resorts Limited, which discontinued rides including Excalibur and Tower or Terror while introducing Excalibur 2, Whirlwind, and the new Knightmare. By 2000, annual visitors had fallen to 400,000, decreasing further to 380,000 by 2004.

By 2009, attendance figures were below 300,000, leading to the park entering receivership and eventually closing for good in 2012.

Frontierland

hose who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s may recall the thrill of a visit to Frontierland. The Wild West-themed park in Morecambe is remembered for its classic rides, such as the Texas Tornado roller coaster, Runaway Mine Train, and Polo Tower.

The park first opened its doors in 1906 as the West End Amusement Park. It underwent several name changes, becoming Fun City and then Morecambe Pleasure Park, before finally rebranding as Frontierland in 1987 in an attempt to boost dwindling visitor numbers.

New attractions were regularly introduced during its 12-year stint as Frontierland. In 1989, the ‘Sky Ride’ was launched, a cable car system that allowed guests to soar over the park and out over Morecambe’s stunning promenade.

Frontierland added the Polo Tower in 1993. Originally known as the Space Tower, the ride had been a mainstay at Blackpool Pleasure Beach for over a decade but had to be relocated to make room for The Big One, its now-famous £12 million, 235-ft-tall roller coaster.

The new tower, sponsored by Polo Mints, was positioned at the front of the park, resulting in a welcome boost in visitor numbers. Unfortunately, the park began to downsize in 1998 as rides were sold off before officially closing in 2000.

Granada Studio Tours

Telly fans rejoiced when it was announced that the Granada Studios Tour would open in Manchester in 1988. Visitors took a guided tour, including walking along the Coronation Street cobbles and visiting some of the iconic sets.

The tour also allowed guests to walk along Downing Street, explore the Baker Street set from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and look around the lounge at Emmerdale’s Home Farm.

Although it didn’t have the big-name thrill rides of other parks, it did have Skytrak, the world’s first ‘flying’ rollercoaster. Skytrak was also a ‘solo coaster,’ meaning riders would experience the ride with only one person per car. The single-passenger design kept the ride’s capacity low, at only 200 hourly riders.

At 1,282 ft long and 50ft high, passengers would fly around the track at a speed of 28mph and experience a G-force of 2.5. Sadly, it lasted only a year, and many who wanted to ride on Skytrak never got the chance.

With visitor numbers 30% less than expected, in December 1999, the entertainment theme park closed to the general public. However, it welcomed visitors as part of hospitality packages until 2006, when it closed for good.

Belle Vue

It’s been over 40 years since Belle Vue closed its gates for good. It started life as a small private collection of birds owned by gardener John Jennison but blossomed into Manchester’s very own theme park.

By the early 20th century, its collection of animals – from Asian elephants to chimpanzees – was being sold as the ‘showground of the world’, eventually making it one of the north’s most popular tourist attractions and the country’s third largest zoo.

For a century and a half, the area off Hyde Road in Gorton boasted the now legendary zoo gardens, fun fair and amusement park, circus, concert venue, greyhound track and speedway stadium.

With such a wide variety of entertainment, it attracted up to two million visitors per year in its heyday. Mancunians didn’t have to venture outside M18 – never mind embarking from Manchester Airport and travelling abroad – to feel like they were on holiday.

However, spiralling debts saw the zoo wound up in the 1970s, and the park closed its gates in 1982. Its legendary attractions were later demolished.

Ocean Beach

For over a century, a historic North Wales seafront welcomed holidaymakers and day trippers with its attractions and rides. Transformed from marshland, Rhyl’s Marine Lake opened on May 24, 1895, and is North Wales’ only salt-water lake Marine Lake.

It became home to Rhyl Swimming Club in 1896 and was also used for bathing and boating. The Rhyl Amusement Company took over Marine Lake in 1910, transforming it into a Victorian funfair with a water chute and merry-go-rounds. The miniature railway circling the lake opened in 1911 and is the only attraction still operating today.

After the war, the company leased land across the street and began developing it into the Ocean Beach Funfair, which began operating in 1954. By the late 1960s, the original fun fair on the Marine Lake side had been demolished but the much loved Ocean Beach remained until it sadly closed in 2007 and left in a state of decay. It was later demolished to make way for the Marina Quay Retail Park.

American Adventure

The American Adventure theme park in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, was a much-loved Wild West-inspired theme park. Famous for its white-knuckle rides, it opened on a country estate in 1987 and thrilled visitors from all over the North West in the ’80s and ’90s.

Owned by Manchester-based Granada, American Adventure had an Old West and cowboys versus Native Americans theme. Despite being in direct competition with the likes of nearby Alton Towers, American Adventure proved a big hit with its rollercoasters, fairground rides and even its own Wild West town called Silver City with a saloon – Lazy Lils – featuring spectacularly staged shoot-outs.

Some of the park’s most memorable thrill rides included the Runaway Train, The Missile and the Rocky Mountain Rapids. In 1989, the Wild West theme expanded to include other North American culture and history elements.

This included an area based around space travel and featured the Missile roller coaster, which was officially launched by Apollo 11 lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin and voted the best roller coaster in the UK at the time. Another of the park’s memorable rides was the Log Flume, which had the tallest drop of any in the country.

The park began to decline in 1996, and in 1997, Granada sold it to Ventureworld. Sadly, the park’s fortunes couldn’t be turned around, and it closed for good in 2006.

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