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2017 Heritage Stuff (The Real TLC)

PeteB

PeteB

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Nemesis
Anyone here follow much of the heritage stuff going on at Towers? In other words the real TLC the park needs.

Just a couple of things I've noticed and wanted to open up discussion about:
  1. The fountain in Her Ladyship's Garden which was recently restored has been taken away. WTF?
  2. The fences surrounding Her Ladyship's Garden have also been removed - this I'm very pleased to see because I thought they looked completely stupid. Why were they even put there? They seemed overkill for Scarefest given temp fencing was always used. Either way, this pleases me.
  3. The main stained glass windows at the front of the Towers are still missing with a scaff tower sitting in place. Thought that would have been finished by now. What gives?
  4. The Pergoda fountain looks to be under restoration. Fantastic!
  5. The garden conservatories are surrounded by scaff. Anyone know if this is just maintenance work or are they putting in something new?
  6. The gardens are STILL, generally speaking, a horrendous mess.
  7. The Swiss Cottage looks depressing. I hope if it's not going to used for anything that they keep it in good standing.
  8. The Towers ruins still have very limited access, which again is very disappointing.
Any thoughts or opinions on these things? Know of any other heritage projects going on?

https://www.altontowers.com/alton-towers-heritage - Yeah something's gone wrong alright, it's Merlin's ownership of this park!
 
So what happened to the heritage pages then?

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As you've probably guessed in the past, I do try to keep up with what's going on with the heritage of the place. Comments on your points above:

1. Do you know what, I've been around Her Ladyship's Garden this season and I hadn't even noticed it had gone. Like you say, seriously, what the hell is going on there?

2. I'm also glad that those fences have gone. They really stood out and looked awful. Good riddance.

3. No idea what's going on with those windows. It must be a good 5-6 years (maybe longer) since they were removed now. As far as I know they went back to the original manufacturer (Hardman, Birmingham?) to be sorted out, and then they would be replaced. Let's be honest though, if they do replace it, they'll probably have to protect it somehow or close off another room to stop people smashing it.

4. Glad the Pagoda seems to be close to getting some work done. They had scaffolding up last season, and have added a tent this season. Not actually seen any work being done to it yet though.

5. Garden Conservatories. Looks like they've removed a lot of the old damaged glass etc. I'm sure someone linked to a site somewhere to a company who were involved in 'restoring' it, so I'd expect they'll be replacing glass and other stuff eventually.

6. Yes, they are a horrendous mess, compared to how they could be kept. Pure lack of funding for staff.

7. I also hope that they look after the Swiss Cottage. Like many have said for years, they should open this up as a cafe in the summer. Doesn't need to cost a lot.

8. My pet hate, the Towers ruins accessibility. Still pretty poor due to the usual crap being left in there. This will no doubt continue until a time when Scarefest stops making money for them.

We should probably use this thread for any 2017 updates or comments on Heritage now. I'll be keeping my eyes open :)
 
I tried them with this a few days back, I knew not to expect anything but worth the ask o_O
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I hadn't noticed the fountain missing in Her Ladyship's Gardens. Wonder if it was vandalised - there was a cherub fountain to the far right of the conservatories that had to be removed years ago due to being vandalised. Hopefully not though.

Noticed the scaffolding over the conservatories - also noticed all the glass had been taken out of the domed roof. Maybe they are going to give all the metalwork a lick of white paint.

As for the Swiss Cottage - its been said so so so many times over and over that this would be a fantasic(al) spot for the summer to have drinks.

Will be great to see the Pagoda fountain back up and running in all its glory again.

And yes, we wandered into the towers and had very limited access. Pity. I guess they are keeping some areas closed off as its less work to re-install stuff ready for Scarefest?
 
Pretty sure they're aiming to have the Pagoda up and running by the end of the year. It'll be interesting to see if the water reaches the Skyride gondolas again.
 
Do they actually have any intention of turning the water back on? It was not operating prior to the scaffolding going up, out of choice. What makes people think they're going to have it running after any of this work? I'm not saying it will or won't, just wondering if anyone had heard anything?
 
The water in the fountains was switched off in prt to prevent the spread of plant disease, no idea if the works will fix this.

The banqueting hall stained glass window, there was talk that the company the glass was sent to went into administration and the glass was lost, but despite having an ask around not been able to get any confirmation that this is the case. There was talk of getting brand new glass made up but again this is rumour.
 
GaryH said:
As for the Swiss Cottage - its been said so so so many times over and over that this would be a fantasic(al) spot for the summer to have drinks.
Click to expand...
As much as I love this as an idea, I'm not convinced more than a few people would go out of their way to get there.

As long as it's dry and being looked after structurally, I guess it leaves the option for someone doing something with it eventually.
 
I hope they have some sort of entertainment with a restaurant and maybe a scare maze/zone (At Scarefest) which would make the a bit more busy, The gardens is a nice area of the park but is often abandoned. If Towers put a focus on the gardens in a small CAPEX year it would help flow when the park gets busy.

As for the type of restaurant maybe what has already been said with a drinks bar but it would be nice for a Nitrogenie to go there. I really like the gardens, they looks nice with the heritage but with the annoyance of the long, steep windy paths I hardly go into the gardens. Please do something with the gardens Towers. It would be very appreciated.
 
Yes, get the volunteer gardeners in, work the mornings, free rides in the afternoon.
Buddy them up for H&S with staff gardeners the first couple of sessions, and free beer for the hard working with lunch.
I'm in.
 
...That's when I usually sneak off to the coasters anyway!
I do quite a bit of my gardening work in the rain, you have to if you are a gardener in Lancashire!
 
Least they are open again!

It seems you can't use the spiral staircase at all in the towers. Last season they stopped access to the very top of the towers, and that couldn't get to the very bottom as half the maze was still set up. I wonder if it's a H&S issue (with towers no doubt going OTT, as every other castle or old building in the world still has spiral staircases )
 
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