Aerial photos from about 1984/85

[Steve74]

Just seen this post on Facebook taken from a helicopter circling to land. You can clearly see Katanga Canyon/Rapids being built and shows how massive that area is. Also, the one that fascinates me the most is the picture of Towers Street being constructed with the Sea Lion pool on the lawns! That explains the man-hole covers in the lawns today I guess!

In another picture you can also see the Hold Tight Tv programme snakes and ladders board in the Towers ruins


From: https://www.facebook.com/groups/546762108810092/permalink/2660146397471642/?mibextid=oMANbw

 

[Squiggs]

Lots of good things going on in those pictures. They are from Winter 1985, with lots of construction going on, as well as the rapids and Towers Street, Kiddies Kingdom is also under construction next to Towers Street.

Also in the Festival Park shot, you can see the site cleared ready for the Spider to go in at the centre of the shot. And, even more exciting at the bottom of the same shot you can see a very rare glimpse of the Ferris Wheel, which looks like it's under construction having been moved to make way for Skyride construction.

The Aqua Land shot with the close up of the Courtyard has some really interesting things going on too. You can see the original miniature railway maintenance shed/platform, where Marauders Mayhem is today (the Mutiny Bay Toilets are built over where the track originally ran through). As well as the Country Bar, which was the park's pub, built inside the old blacksmith shop (the building is the same one with Mutiny Bay Donuts at the end now).

 

[Jb85]

Really cool photos.

 

[Matt.GC]

The Aqua Land shot with the close up of the Courtyard has some really interesting things going on too. You can see the original miniature railway maintenance shed/platform, where Marauders Mayhem is today (the Mutiny Bay Toilets are built over where the track originally ran through). As well as the Country Bar, which was the park's pub, built inside the old blacksmith shop (the building is the same one with Mutiny Bay Donuts at the end now).

Am I right in thinking that the more modern building sitting in front of where Heave Ho and Marauders are currently, pointed directly at where the entrance to the toilets from that side now sits, is the maintenance shed/platform of the park railway you are referring to? With the tracks running through the gap between the buildings on the site of where the toilets and current Freestyle building where built but being obscured visually with the snow?

 

[GaryH]

There have been a lot of amazing old photos posted recently in the group : Alton Towers Past on Facebook.

 

[Squiggs]

Am I right in thinking that the more modern building sitting in front of where Heave Ho and Marauders are currently, pointed directly at where the entrance to the toilets from that side now sits, is the maintenance shed/platform of the park railway you are referring to? With the tracks running through the gap between the buildings on the site of where the toilets and current Freestyle building where built but being obscured visually with the snow?

I don't have a huge amount of specialist knowledge on the park railway, but I believe that is the case, yes.

If I'm reading the image correctly, there's actually two parts to that shed/platform building. You can see a slightly longer part of the roof, with skylights - this would have been the maintenance shed. The rest of that 'building' looks to be the old platform, with temporary looking walls built around the platform canopy (the canopy was added in the final years of that station's operation).

I believe this photo might have actually been taken very shortly before the building was demolished, as I believe that happened during the 1985 closed season.