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The Alton Towers Gardens

Steve74

TS Member
Gardens fans. TV appearance today.


Did anyone see this? It's on the iPlayer if not:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000l45t/gardeners-world-2020-episode-19

Mentioned in the piece was the fact about a reservoir was built about 2 miles away to feed the flam fountains and streams. Looking on Google Earth, the only reservoir i can see about 2 miles away is a flooded quarry the other side of Oakmoor and looks too modern. If that isn't it, does anyone know where it is?

Looking at the reaction on Twitter, so many people were praising how stunning the gardens are and many also commenting on the fact they didn't even know AT had gardens. I think with the popularity of the open gardens last month, and if this interest is anything to go by, they could be onto a real winner if they somehow had garden-only tickets and/or garden only days out of season or on closed off-peak days.
 
Did anyone see this? It's on the iPlayer if not:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000l45t/gardeners-world-2020-episode-19

Mentioned in the piece was the fact about a reservoir was built about 2 miles away to feed the flam fountains and streams. Looking on Google Earth, the only reservoir i can see about 2 miles away is a flooded quarry the other side of Oakmoor and looks too modern. If that isn't it, does anyone know where it is?

Looking at the reaction on Twitter, so many people were praising how stunning the gardens are and many also commenting on the fact they didn't even know AT had gardens. I think with the popularity of the open gardens last month, and if this interest is anything to go by, they could be onto a real winner if they somehow had garden-only tickets and/or garden only days out of season or on closed off-peak days.
The problem with opening the garden out of season is that it just won't look as good as it does during the summer. In the past, people have asked for a towers and gardens only ticket which is unlikely to happen because it would be difficult to police on days the park is open.
 
The problem with opening the garden out of season is that it just won't look as good as it does during the summer. In the past, people have asked for a towers and gardens only ticket which is unlikely to happen because it would be difficult to police on days the park is open.
Granted, it wouldn't look as good out of season but more fool the person who visits in February expecting it to look like mid-June! There would be solution to garden only tickets somehow, turnstiles at ride entrances where you scan your ticket is one option. I'm sure there are others too. If they really wanted to do it, they'd find a way.
 
Granted, it wouldn't look as good out of season but more fool the person who visits in February expecting it to look like mid-June! There would be solution to garden only tickets somehow, turnstiles at ride entrances where you scan your ticket is one option. I'm sure there are others too. If they really wanted to do it, they'd find a way.
This would be brilliant except this is Merlin we are talking about.
 
The problem with opening the garden out of season is that it just won't look as good as it does during the summer. In the past, people have asked for a towers and gardens only ticket which is unlikely to happen because it would be difficult to police on days the park is open.

I believe May and September are some of the best times for the gardens, so off peak closed dates as gardens only could be a good start.
 
I believe May and September are some of the best times for the gardens, so off peak closed dates as gardens only could be a good start.
Alton Towers is now open every day in September.
Edit: just realised how off topic this thread has gone.
 
Alton Towers is now open every day in September.
Edit: just realised how off topic this thread has gone.
That's the first time in a good few years. If Covid wasn't around, they'd still be closed. Wouldn't be surprised if they went back to closed days next season
 
Sorry for dragging this thread up, I didn’t think it was worth starting a brand new one on the Gardens.

Going through some photos from 2023 I found a picture I took of the gardens that I had forgotten about. More specifically I found a picture of the gardens that I took because the state of them shocked me at the time.

I have searched online to try and find a comparison to show what this area used to look like in the 1980s, versus how it looked in April 2023:

Then.
IMG_6028.jpeg
Credit

Now(ish)


IMG_4791.jpeg

The recent photo was taken from the white bridge seen in the first picture. Now I know there is a seasonality aspect to the gardens, but it basically looks abandoned?

It seemed that during covid and in the seasons following Towers sort of woke up to the fact they had this massive asset in the middle of the park and started to use it. With gardens only opening during covid and then the light trails for Scarefest and Christmas they were being used more than in the previous 20 years, however last season both of those were scrapped.

Would anyone else like to see more love and attention put into this unique part of the park?
 
I had a little wander around the gardens in December when I popped in to take a look at the Christmas event. Now of course that is not the best time of year to see them, however they really are in such a state; it's sad to see.

Like with many other aspects of the park, it's caused by of years of neglect and now if they do want to restore them to close to their former glory it will take a lot of time and money. Do I think they see this as a priority right now? Probably not. But I would like them to.
 
As a gardener for a living, who used to love wandering the gardens of the top photo, the place is a shocking disgrace...
Fencing off the bottom half of the gardens, fencing off loads of paths, letting others vanish under shrub growth not pruned for decades.
Wild brambles and hypericum seedlings everywhere, all lakes getting silted up.
"Nobody goes down there, there is no money in it..."
Nobody goes down there anymore for a reason.
 
Regardless of whether anyone goes down there or not, they chose to build a whopping great theme park on the grounds of a historic stately home. They should be treating it with the respect and care it deserves quite frankly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Regardless of whether anyone goes down there or not, they chose to build a whopping great theme park on the grounds of a historic stately home. They should be treating it with the respect and care it deserves quite frankly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
To be fair, the condition of the stately home was poor before it became a theme park, it became a ruin during the war. If it hadn't become a theme park it might be in even worse condition.
 
Although there was some decline, the Towers didn’t become a ruin during the war. This is bourne out by a survey conducted in 1951 which shows photographs of much of the interiors, ceilings, panelling, decorative plasterwork and stained glass to be intact. It was not until 1952, when the estate had been returned by the War Office, that the Towers were effectively stripped of any items of value, such as its oak panelling (which by some accounts was sold for firewood). There was then some slightly ill-judged restoration work during the 70s to stabilise the building and allow access, which is where the concrete floors came from. There’s little evidence that becoming a theme park has helped the structure itself, over and above the improvements made as a result of planning application contributions. The Towers have effectively become inaccessible in recent years.

The gardens are a shameful reflection of Merlin’s total neglect for them. I think the resort only had two or three gardeners when I heard a few years ago. There is just no way that such a low level of resource could manage the entire site and until there is significantly increased and sustained investment in that team, there’s little hope for there being much improvement.
 
The gardens are such a wonderful asset to the park, but one they seem to have little intrest in. I suppose part of the issue is the park hours are too short to allow people the opertunity to explore them. Let's be honest, most of the season a vist is simply running from ride-to-ride to try and get an acceptable ride count.

Is the park missing out on a moneymaker though? In spring and autumn the could open the for coach trips. There is a fairly substantial market for stately home/ gardens visits. It would also justify the expense of maintaining them.
 
The amount of gardeners these days is totally inadequate for the site, so it's like a game of whack-a-mole. They might be able to sort something out one year, but then they'll have to be off to get the next list of tasks done for the next several years and in that time the original bit of work has become undone. The little iron bridge and canal mentioned at the start of this thread was cleared of reeds etc back before the start of the 2021 season and it looked relatively nice and clear (well, the side between the bridge and the bandstand). However, 2/3 years later and it needs doing again, but so do so many other areas of the gardens. Simply not enough budget afforded to that department. Both of the images below are from my collection. The first one was taken by myself in April 2021 and the second one is a photo bought from Ebay from around the 1920s/1930s (I think) showing how the Rock Garden beyond the bridge should actually look. Clearly defined waterfalls over purpose built rock formations. Now it just appears to be a mass of random growth. It would take a massive project to get it back to this state now I would guess. Something that probably won't happen until the theme park is gone and it eventually becomes just a heritage site again maybe in the next 100 years or so (if the planet hasn't been blown up by then).

canal 2021.jpg

rock garden bridge 20s.jpg
 
Going back to the water post that started this thread. There was no water source at Alton towers and a pipe was laid from a spring in Ramshorn about 4 miles away.

The pipe feeds all the lakes, ponds and water features in the gardens and the end of the pipe is the Pagoda Fountain which can shoot water up 70ft in the air from the force of gravity in the water fed pipe at the very end. Quite amazing really.

I don’t know if the water is still sourced from Ramshorn now though.

As for the gardens, here’s a photo I took early 2000s of the same view. Looked amazing without all the weeds.
 

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I can’t believe as a matter of civic pride, if not historical England listing? They aren’t compelled to upkeep the garden, towers and associated buildings to a much better standard. Constantly.

They want free events for the winter, they have the towers and the gardens and spent nothing on them for years. Look at Trentham Gardens not that far away.

Alton could easily open the gardens/towers/conservatories in Jan/Feb and put half the proceeds back into the park.

No other park on the planet has this history, none. If nothing else for 24 I’d be happy to see them sort the gardens, along with the rest of the site. The “grounds” park wide are in a mess
 
I suppose the only problem with that is that you're trying to get people in to visit the gardens when they're in their worst state (it's cold and there is little to no colour with the flowers and plants). You'd definitely have to have the Towers ruins self-guided tour thing up and running and open to get a lot of people who traditionally visit heritage sites to make it worthwhile to visit. A lot of these people wouldn't go to visit just a garden out of season (some might). You might get a bunch of people at first, but then it would probably die off to nothing. Really, they want to come in Spring/Summer/Autumn but that clashes with the Theme Park opening times and causes an issue with park entry pricing etc. You'd then have to introduce wristbands for people going on rides etc. I could write more but I have to go to work :sweatsmile:
 
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