TR: Blackgang Chine

[East Coast Mariner]

25)Smugglers by East Coastering, on Flickr

It is no exaggeration to say that Blackgang Chine is one of my favourite places on Earth. From my first visit in 1983, as I passed the Two Smugglers at the entrance, I knew I was somewhere special. I returned in 1989 and was enchanted by the Weather Wizard. And in 2001, I was greatly amused by the Magic Pet Shop, Triassic Club and Rumpus Mansion. It is the only attraction that I’ve visited on every trip to the island, and I was about to begin my fourth visit.

26)GiantSmuggler by East Coastering, on Flickr

I was greeted by the Giant Smuggler at the entrance, as well as the “Angry Dragon” that has been moved outside the park. The entrance to Blackgang is my favourite theme park entrance - a lengthy hut housing a gift shop that sells all manner of souvenirs. Once through you are into a different world.

T-Rex by East Coastering, on Flickr

My first impression was that everything is very squashed towards the entrance now. I decided to enter Restricted Area 5 first, as if there’s one thing Blackgang has always been about for me, it’s dinosaurs. I made my way down the wooden walkways, which are a clever way of getting you down some quite steep terrain. The animatronic dinosaur models here are superb, especially the Triceratops, Brachiosaurus and T-Rex (although the latter wasn’t working). I was disappointed not to see the Stegosaur and some of the other models they used to have (as well as some better views), but I guess I wasn’t quick enough. Blackgang Chine is always changing, and if you snooze, you lose. Thankfully the squirting Dilophosaur was turned off!

28)JollyRobin by East Coastering, on Flickr

If I wanted to get wet, though, there was plenty of water flying about in Pirate Cove (the former Adventureland)! I, however, was more interested in the Jolly Robin, a Zamperla Pirate Ship relocated from Robin Hill. Sitting in the back seat, I was surprised that this was very, very good, with plenty of airtime.

31) by East Coastering, on Flickr

There is also Extinction, a Zamperla 360-degree pendulum swing. It seems there are two queues - one for the inverting cycle, and one for the non-inverting (120-degrees), but I only had time to watch the former in action. It is strange for me to see something this thrilling at the park. How times change!

Whilst in this area, I made sure to do a few of the other attractions. The Crooked House is much more cartoony than it used to be, full of 2D cut-outs. I can understand why they’ve done this, as some of the old scenes were a little bit creepy. It reminds me of how Adventure Island, Southend, has made everything very cartoony as well. I also had a quick look in two attractions where you press buttons to make animatronics move and sing. The Musical Pet Shop was working quite well, whereas with Dodo Valley, only some of the scenes worked.

BlueWhale by East Coastering, on Flickr

One of the things I was most interested in seeing for the first time was Underwater Kingdom, so I made my way there. The entrance used to be the Smugglers’ Cave, which told the story of the wreck of the Clarendon, but is now a watery-themed tunnel with a wobbly, wooden floor. The general area used to be one of my favourites - Fantasyland, home to the Weather Wizard. Underwater Kingdom itself is full of various aquatic models - crabs, eels and the like. I believe some of them were meant to move, but none of them were working today. The lifesize Blue Whale, though, was very impressive.

CowboyTown by East Coastering, on Flickr

After that I headed to Cowboy Town, a replacement for the much lower-down Buffalo Creek. Full of models and buildings, this is really very good, although somewhat noisy as the shop sells cap guns and an endless supply of Fun Snaps - I kept treading on the bloomin’ things!

I had spent a while in Blackgang Chine and I had to face an uncomfortable reality - I wasn’t feeling it. The magic feel had still been there even in 2001 when I was in my 20s, but something was missing today.

I was, however, about to enjoy the day a lot more.

I encountered the giant Snakes & Ladders attraction, which for some reason I had not been able to access before. It is an array of several metal slides that you can do in any order. I climbed the stairs, selected the biggest slide and… it was excellent! One of them was particularly slow, but at least two of the others were decent as well.

Behind Snakes & Ladders is Fairyland, which I had a quick look in just to see the castle. It is very similar to the one in my 1983 photos.

Leaving this eastern part of the park, I decided to go on the rides in the area known as Blackgang Beach. First of which was Pirate Barrels - a 2H Design Junior Teacups. I found this to be a very pleasant ride, with a great operator who really got into the theme! Next, I had a go on the giant water pillow, which is on the site of the old Cliffhanger coaster. Robin Hill actually has three of these, but I didn’t try any on the day. I’m glad I went on this, though, as it was good fun.

33b)Waterforce by East Coastering, on Flickr

The best ride, though, is surely Waterforce - a Van Egdom Dinghy Slide consisting of two open lanes and one enclosed. I climbed the ramps and selected the enclosed slide known as the Plughole. Down I went through the pitch black, with only glimpses of light as I went over each bump. It was brilliant!

Believe it or not, there used to be three paid attractions at Blackgang Chine - the main theme park, Blackgang Sawmill and St Catherine’s Quay. So much of the cliff has disappeared, though, it is now all rolled into one. Whereas the Sawmill made way for Waterforce, you can now enter the old St Catherine’s Quay building at the back of Blackgang Beach. I went in because there was something I hadn’t seen for a long time - the Fin Whale. This skeleton is from a whale that was washed up near the Needles in 1842. It was quite something to be in its presence again.

The day was getting on, but I wanted to make time for Nurseryland. Situated in the west of the park, this is one of the last pieces of true Blackgang in its original location. The models of Humpty Dumpty, The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe and The House That Jack Built were exactly how I remembered them. The area is quite sobering though - I looked at the cliff erosion and thought of how so much of the park has crumbled into the sea.

30)Whale by East Coastering, on Flickr

If I’m honest, I feel Blackgang has lost some of its charm. It used to have a kind of gentle magic that’s no longer there to the same extent. Some of that is a stylistic choice. Gone are the Gnome Gardens, lantern-strewn pathways and Water Gardens, replaced by pop music, thrill rides and squirting barrels. The park no longer stays open for illuminations, because there’s not really anything to illuminate.

Some of it, however, is out of Blackgang’s hands. As more and more of the cliff has fallen into the sea, they’ve had to move back onto flatter land. And so, the park is less about descending into wooded valleys, such as the Jungleland and Dinosaurland I loved so many years ago. It’s still good, but it’s good as a theme park, not the clifftop fairyland I remember.

But I don’t want to overstate this, because I really did enjoy my visit. Snakes & Ladders, the Jolly Robin and Waterforce are all excellent, and I ended up having a whale of a time. The staff were very welcoming, and it will always have a special place in my heart.

29)Pirate by East Coastering, on Flickr