• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

New book about Towers

Sam

Sam

TS Member
Another new book, this time about the theme park in general, and seemingly a bit about the ruins.

Tales%20from%20the%20Towers.jpg


ThemeParkTourist said:
Tales from the Towers: The unofficial story behind Alton Towers, Britain's most popular theme park

The upcoming book Tales from the Towers will take the first ever in-depth look at the story behind Alton Towers, Britain's most popular theme park.

How did the imposing mansion come to be, with its seemingly random array of rooms, chapels and sprawling corridors? Who was behind the stunning gardens, and the many unusual structures within them? And how on earth was anyone permitted to build a theme park on the site, when planning consent would surely be refused today? This book has the answers.

During my research, I've uncovered a huge amount of interesting information about Alton Towers, all of which will form part of the book. This includes:

  • What it was like to visit the estate in the 1800s, including the amazing Grand Fetes that attracted upwards of 30,000 visitors in a single day.
  • Why the Towers mansion was stripped bare and the building left in ruins.
  • How a 1960s fairground laid the foundations for today's theme park.
  • How Towers owner John Broome saw his empire come crashing down when he tried to turn London's Battersea Power Station into a second theme park.
  • Abandoned plans for a "sister park" at nearby Trentham Gardens.
  • Tussauds' plans for a rival park at Woburn Abbey before buying the Towers.
  • How John Wardley created "Secret Weapons" Nemesis, Oblivion and Air.
  • The many crazy marketing initiatives undertaken by the park over the years, including a bizarre proposal to artificially control the weather.
  • The clashes with local residents that have limited the park's ambitions.
  • The strange items that have been sold by the park over the years, including the legendary Nemesis Cola and Oblivion condoms.
  • Details of accidents and mishaps that have taken place over the past three decades.
  • The rides that never were - plans for vertical launch coasters, interactive aquariums, hot air balloons and more.
  • Enjoy an adventure through time as you discover how Alton Towers developed into a place that has entertained tens of millions of people over nearly two centuries.

Sign up for our special newsletter below to receive updates on Tales from the Towers and to be notified when it is released. Don't forget to check out the preview articles which follow, which include some stunning images.
Click to expand...

This one probably interests me a bit more than the Haunted House and John Wardley books, as it's more general. It sounds like most of the stuff we'll already knew, but I bet theirs quite a few gems in there as well if the author has done some new research (the vertical launch coaster is new to me). Hopefully he'll have interviewed quite a few different people - I bet Wardley is included.

This could be interesting, as I've heard a few rumours that someone connected to Merlin is working on a similar history of the theme park! Competing tomes anyone...?
 
Quite a few of them points seem to be past Talbot Street Tuesdays :p

Anyway will be interesting to see what the book is like once it comes out and a few people have read it.

Also whats with the sudden release of Alton books? I'm sure this is the 3rd or 4th this year!
 
I would be interested in reading the book hopefully it's alright
 
Sounds like its been written by either an enthusiast or a previous staff member, as a lot of that information has been around in various public domains for years.

I don't know... I'm not sure whether I'm convinced it would give me things I don't already know :p

Sent using Tapatalk
 
As a few of you may have seen (if we're friends on Facebook), I have recently been sent a pre-release copy of this book by the author and have written a short review of it.

I'll attempt to address some of the concerns that have been aired in this thread so far.

Sazzle - You are very much correct to some extent. You will be well aware of a decent proportion of things discussed in the book (as was I). However, the Author (Nick Sim) has evidently worked hard to properly research many different themes in the history of the place and has presented them all in very good detail. Being that the history of Alton Towers as a simple pleasure ground consisting of a house and gardens compared with a modern day theme park is quite varied, I came across many points of interest throughout the book which I had previously been unaware of. If I'm being honest, I wasn't expecting to learn too much from the book, but I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by certain sections.

Sam - I would suggest that your thinking in your first line underneath your quote from the website is pretty much spot on. This is a properly researched and fully referenced book of easily over 300 pages. As I've already said, the book spans such a wide variety of things from the park's past that I doubt anyone could be aware of everything that has been covered.

Here's my review that I posted on Facebook in the early hours of this morning:

Book Review :
TALES FROM THE TOWERS - BY NICK SIM
A review - By Adam Perry (AltonTowersMemories.Net)

It was in the early months of 2012 that I had learned of the intentions of the author of this book, Nick Sim, to produce an original book that would chart the history of the development of Alton Towers as an early pleasure ground and then go on to discuss the circumstances that led to its current state as a fully fledged modern theme park. Given the fact that the time frame for essential research and the actual writing of the publication was quite limited (due to personal reasons - which are revealed within the book), I was dubious to some extent, and doubted that anyone would be able to produce a competent piece of work on this subject in a relatively short time.
I needn't have worried about the ability of the author and his content. 326 pages later it has become clear that the research and referencing within the book is excellent, with the use of newspaper archives being particularly impressive. The book will appeal to any readers who have an interest in any particular period of the history of Alton Towers as the author has taken care to make sure that many years of development have been covered very well from c1800 (and earlier - briefly) to the present day. Each period in the development of Alton Towers has been pieced together with excellence by Sim. This is a book written with a very high level of competence.
The author has evidently taken time to consult many different primary and secondary sources when discussing the early years of Alton Towers during the 19th Century and also when moving on to the developments of the 20th century and beyond. Sim provides an excellent description of the pre theme-park years and therefore the reader is in a position to understand and enjoy the subsequent developments adequately.
Interestingly, when discussing certain rides at Alton Towers during the present and the past, the author takes care to compare them with similar attractions at other theme parks throughout the world, and how they compared with each other during the same period. In other words - How innovative were Alton Towers being with some of their flagship rides? This book provides the narrative and evidence around the introduction of all of the new rides over many years.
As the reviewer, I will admit that I had not been overly aware of the career of John Broome before or after his involvement at Alton Towers. This book has given me a much greater understanding of his involvement at the Towers as well as his earlier and later career exploits (which were particularly interesting). It was also very interesting to come across the occasional 'Hidden Secret' which had been placed throughout the book. There were many of these, which did surprise me (I would not want to spoil them for the future reader).
As the author moved on to the theme park years in the 1980s and beyond it was very interesting to learn about the potential new competitors that threatened the dominance of Alton. There were several of these and it was interesting to learn of how these threats came and ultimately went away. Also discussed was the issue of objections to the noise and traffic congestion caused by the Theme Park. This includes arguments from both sides of the argument and the complainants are not only the now notorious Ropers. There is also a section in the book about the park mascots which I found particularly entertaining.
In Conclusion, I believe that this book needed to be written. This is a book that anyone interested in Alton Towers should get their hands on. Michael Fisher wrote a brilliant book about how the house and gardens came to fruition since c1800, and I doubt it could ever be bettered. However, the need was there for a book to explain how the leisure side of the park had developed since that period which would explain to people how we have arrived in the situation that we find ourselves in, with several world renowned Roller-coasters and other well renowned attractions. There is so much more that I could say about this book using certain superlatives, but to put it simply, Nick Sim has pulled it off.
 
I have had a copy for a few weeks but my time to read is extremely limited lately. Nevertheless from the first few dozen pages I have read I can tell you the book is extremely in depth about the history of Alton Towers going back to centuries ago. I'd recommend it to all of you without a doubt.


-Sent from a mobile phone-
 
No, not yet. It will probably be between a few weeks and a couple of months, as far as I understand :)

There isn't a set date at the moment.
 
I'm halfway through it so far, really in depth and enjoying it so far. Hoping to get it finished over the next few nights!

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk 4
 
Spark said:
Will this be available from general book shops or just the towers?
Click to expand...

I don't think it will be available in shops, although they will be able to order it. It will be more an Amazon thing.
 
Hi all,

As the author of this book I've stayed out of this thread as I'm not a fan of self-promotion on forums.

As there are direct questions about the release date above, though...to answer them, it's now available in physical and Kindle formats via Amazon. If like the folks above you're not sure if you'll learn anything new, you can download most of the first chapter for free using a Kindle (or Kindle app), and there are sample articles on the website linked to above.

Quite a few Towers Street members helped out during the course of writing the book - thank you all very much! You've enabled me to achieve a lifelong ambition.
 
I intend to buy it and have a read. From what I have heard from others, it has quite a few bits in it not seen in other books/videos.
 
It really is a great read, and the effort and massive amount of research that Nick has put into it really shows. Although the book may seem quite large at first, it is covering a massive amount of time from the park's inception as a stately home through to the modern day. I think we all know there's a wealth of information out there about Towers to be found, but it's spread across many sites on the internet and a myriad of books and archives in libraries. The book does a great job of pulling together this absolute wealth of information into a really good comprehensive guide on the park. Definitely one to curl up with now Winter is here :).
 
Liked the sound of Nick's book from various comments made about it on here and was very pleased with the online offer price. I had intended to save it for reading through the winter months but opened it up when it arrived and was still reading 40 pages later.

This would make a great Xmas present as it is a very instructive and entertaining read combining information from many sources. Given the fact that he had to get this book written in a short space of time it is a job well done.

Hope Nick gets to enjoy many more coaster rides.
 
Just finished it today, was a really good read. A must have for any towers fan. Well done Nick

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
It is a really good read. Written in a way that keeps it from being a straight boring history book. Love the little ref numbers, really nice idea. Allowing the book to work on two levels. the everyday AT enthusiast and the History Buff, that like to read the background evident.
 
Dan - sorry for the late reply.

As the book is part of Amazon's Kindle Select programme, I'm obliged to keep the e-book version exclusive to Kindle for now. If you have an iPad or iPhone, though, you can read it via the free Kindle app.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments, which have made my day :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top