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Alton Towers Guide Book 1978(?)

Rick

TS Member
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Crux
I've just completed a marathon scanning session for my website. I've lost track of which vintage Alton Guides are online and so much of the content was reused in multiple versions over the years.

I think this one is from 1978, but could perhaps be 1979. As far as I can tell, they're undated for the most part so they don't have to be updated every year - which makes sense, given the nature of the park at the time.

Enjoy, folks.

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Wow thanks for sharing, and the website looks great! One thing that caught my eye is the model railway... I wonder what happened to it?
 
Great guidebook; thanks for posting @Rick! One thing that caught my eye is the castle structure that now encompasses the Mutiny Bay courtyard being shown in one of the pictures; I certainly never knew that that predated the theme park! In all honesty, I thought it was theming built in the 1980s or 1990s!
 
@Matt N someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I am sure but I believe that building was used as stables for the main house.
 
Nice to see King Inas rocks back on the map Rick.
Me and my mum tried to find them in the corkscrew opening year...And got hopelessly lost for an hour so gave up.
Found them a couple of years ago outside the fence.
Going to be a lovely waste of an hour reading that lot, well done.
 
Yep, the courtyard was the stables for the house and so obviously dates back to the early-mid 1800s. Also used to house a car garage for petrol etc in the mid 1900s and a pottery studio etc. The castellations/crennelations which make it look a bit like a castle were one of the many building fashions of the early 1800s.
 
@Matt N someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I am sure but I believe that building was used as stables for the main house.
Yep, the courtyard was the stables for the house and so obviously dates back to the early-mid 1800s. Also used to house a car garage for petrol etc in the mid 1900s and a pottery studio etc. The castellations/crennelations which make it look a bit like a castle were one of the many building fashions of the early 1800s.
Ah right. Thanks for the clarification, guys; interesting to see such a historic space now used for more themed purposes!
 
You could argue that the whole estate was "themed" when it was built. Making things look old was the fashion for Victorians. Just look at Tower Bridge (without looking it up, how old would you think it is?)

The Earl invented theme parks in Staffordshire, not Disney in Anaheim! :p
 
I’m amazed they had a skatepark at one point wonder if there’s any photos lying about of it


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“By the end of the war the house was in a very dilapidated state….handed back to the owners…. due to leaking roofs and spread of wet and dry rot the demolition of the interior was unavoidable”

Lies Lies Lies... Boo them !
:confused:
 
forgive me if I'm being stupid but what is the coaster in the amusement section? This guide predates CS by two years and I wasn't aware they had a coaster prior to that?
 
forgive me if I'm being stupid but what is the coaster in the amusement section? This guide predates CS by two years and I wasn't aware they had a coaster prior to that?
I think it might just be a stock image of some sort, but I'm not 100% sure.
 
Well, it's a Vekoma Corkscrew train, in the same colours as Corkscrew, and from the rotation of the cars, quite clearly traversing through a corkscrew.

What's that old saying? If it looks like Corkscrew and quacks like Corkscrew....
 
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