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Talbot Street Tuesday/Thursday (Picture Heavy)

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Awesome pictures as per! The conservatory looks in such a sorry state in those :(

Amazing how much it's been transformed now! Looks a completely different place :)
 
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This is incredible. I really should spend more time in the Towers themselves on my next visit.

Those outdoor photographs are especially telling, it is much easier to comprehend how the ruins. I actually find the appearance of Her Ladyship's Garden completely overgrown and the conservatory roof smashed quite fascinating. It has so much atmosphere to it. Of course, the restoration has been brilliant, especially the conservatory's new roof, but I think the time spent in ruins was an important chapter in the building's history that makes it the rather sinister monument to history that stands today.

The stripping of the interiors is a huge loss, though. There's exaggerated Gothicism everywhere, verging on melodramatic. These photos don't really show the full scale of the building. It must have been a whole different world walking inside that building in its peak years.

I hope one day they recreate the ruined corridor that they gave up restoring for Hex (the Talbot Gallery I think it's called?), as that is really the last part of the Towers that is totally open to the elements. The interiors will probably never be recreated due to the enormous cost, unfortunately.
 
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The photos are amazing. I never really go through the towers, but next time I'll have to have a look. The conservatories look bad there, its good to know that now they're being well looked after.
 
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Those images a heartbreaking to look at. The house was so intricately designed knowing that it all got ripped out shortly after these photos were taken is sickening.

Seeing a few little bits in those photos that still sit there today is a bit strange to think about, it's just a shame most guests don't realise how old most of the remaining interiors are in the towers, and insist on covering them in graffiti.
 
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The towers look a poor state within the photos, it's a shame they where left to ruin over time.

But there is a great afternoon within the towers, really enjoy wondering round the towers
 
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In all the excitement of the Smiler Game, this week's Talbot Street Tuesday is coming to you on a Thursday!

Today we travel back to 1991, for a fascinating rare documentary following John Wardley through the conception and construction of the Runaway Mine Train and Haunted House.

http://youtu.be/uO7YbvlnLpE
 
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Even though I've seen it a few times, still very nice to watch again. :)

It'd be great if you guys could put up The Magic Factory for another future Talbot Street Tuesday/Thursday.
 
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I've actually not seen this before. Just about 20 mins through now and it's really interesting as well as having a nice bit of nostalgia thrown in. Cheers :)
 
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Ah, the good old days ;)

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Never seen this before and it's rather good to watch thank you for the post :)
 
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In the words of the great man him self.... WOW!

Some really interesting bit in there, and nice to hear some of the ideas that never quite made it to the final attractions. Also nice to see the ghost from electric bills corridor working there briefly, looked really impressive shame that was one of the first effects to be lost.

Also never realised the Haunted House and RMT were opened by the legend that is Phillip Schofield!! Back in his hair dyeing days obviously.
 
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Those images of the Toyland Tours Boat are really sad. :( I'd love to go on a tour one day and have a look at it once again. Last time I saw it was 2003 I think. :/
 
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With the arrival of the new Burger Kitchen outlets when the new season opens, we thought it would be a good time to look at some of the branded foodoulets that have graced the park over the years, and that Alton Towers have spent the past few seasons replacing with their own offerings.

Back in 1998, when the park first switched to branded outlets directional signs such of these could be found littered throughout the park. Here we see the themed MacDonald's markers pointing the way to the Cred Street Diner, The Generator in Forbidden Valley and Jester's Court in Merrie England.
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Speaking of the Cred Street Diner, here we see it in it's former guise as Snack in the Box, during it's final season before becoming a MacDoanld's franchise.

Most recently this has been the Cloud Cuckoo Land Burger King, and is currently completing its transformation into the largest of the three Burger Kitchens.
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The concept artwork for the Cred Street Diner is surprisingly close to the finished product.

The Diner is much missed, for it's highly themed interiors, which captured the essence of Cred Street, and seamlessly weaved the MacDoanld's brand into the park.
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Few if any of the original directional signs still exist today, and here we see a generic version (potentially used in Festival Park) and the Gloomy Woods sign. Notice the bat details on the latter of the two.
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At the same time MacDonald's arrived at the park so too did KFC and Pizza Hut, at the Katanga Cookhouse, here we see some well themed signage for the unti, which would have been found in Katanage Canyon itself and Merrie England.
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An artists impression of what the inside of the Katanga Cookhouse looked like, looking towards the entrance. In the same picture today, the pizza counter of Explorers would take up the majority of the picture.
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The other KFC/ Pizza Hut unit was the Meltdown in X Sector (today The Fried Chicken Co.

This signage would have been used in the front lawn area of the Towers, where the Goalstriker unit and Sales and Information are located.
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Outside the park in the entrance plaza, signage was introduced to advertise the new offerings within the park.

This signage still exists to this day, and has recently been updated to reflect the new Burger Kitchens opening this season.
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These days the home of Old El Paso in the park can be found at the Mexican Catina, however the company's links to the park are well estabilshed, and they used to sponsor Beastly Bites, a long since departed unit, which used to site in between the Thunder Looper and the Beast in Forbidden Valley.

The site of Beastly Bites is roughly the same location that Mutant Racers used to operate.
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Finally this week, we come to Nemices. The long establihsed Doughnut shop in Forbbiden Valley.

The unit has changed surprisingly little over the park 15 years, but here we see the concept artwork for the shortlived time when this unit was sponsored by Dots of Fun.
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Re: Talbot Street Tuesday (Picture Heavy)

Awesome pictures as per, thank you! ;D

I never knew Old El Paso had a partnership with the park. Learn something new everyday!
 
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Rollercoasters4Life said:
This might sound stupid, but why is it spelt Nemices Donuts & Nemesis Donuts?

I've always wondered that, it's surprisingly really not obvious at all that the "ices" refers to ice cream - rather just appears a misspelling.
 
Re: Talbot Street Tuesday (Picture Heavy)

It's a good old play on words - it's like a scouser saying nemesis.

It also sold ice cream. It's an ace name for a unit, which is probably why it's kept it's name all this time.
 
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It's interesting to see how close to the concept drawing the Katanga cookhouse actual was.
 
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