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| Manufacturer | Bennett | ||||||||
| Product | Sky Ride | ||||||||
| Designer / calculations | Alan Hawes | ||||||||
| Capacity | 2 per gondola | ||||||||
Sky Ride was a Ropeway built by UK manufacturer Bennett that was previously located at Pleasureland Southport in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK. The ride ran alongside the full perimeter of the eastern side of the park.
History
The ride was erected in 1974 and opened at the park in 1975.[1] Its station was built on the former location of the Art Deco entrance.[2]
The ride was originally operated by the Sunnysands Leisure Group during its earlier years at the park. Eventually at some point, when its executive owner left Southport for Wales, the Sky Ride's ownership was transferred to the park and its owners, Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
It would continue to operate until Pleasureland Southport was closed by Blackpool Pleasure Beach on 5 September 2006.
After the park's closure, the ride was purchased and dismantled by The Save Dreamland Campaign in June 2007 along with a few other former rides from the park, being relocated to the site of Dreamland Margate as part of a planned heritage park that was proposed by The Dreamland Trust.[3][4] It was subsequently left in storage.
In August 2013, it was determined that containers holding key parts of the ride were reported to be stolen from the Dreamland Margate site, resulting in the loss of much of the ride system. This was later confirmed by chairman of The Dreamland Trust, Nick Laister in November 2013.[5]
In 2015, a further inspection conducted determined that the ride was not to be utilised in the reopening of Dreamland Margate and would instead be used for upcycling and engagement purposes for the park.[6][7]
Incident
On 25 August 2004, a 59-year-old worker was killed when he became entangled in the machinery while working on lubricating the ride during maintenance.[8] In late November 2007, the park was fined £95,000 and was ordered to pay £50,000 in costs. This was just over a year after the park's original owners Blackpool Pleasure Beach closed the park.[9]
References
- ↑ "14 Jul 1975, page 1 - Daily Post (Merseyside ed.) at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
- ↑ "Cableway". Joyland Books.
- ↑ "SAVE DREAMLAND CAMPAIGN RESCUES VINTAGE RIDES FROM SOUTHPORT FOR MARGATE HERITAGE PROJECT". Joyland Books.
- ↑ "Save Dreamland Campaign Dismantles Rides at Southport Pleasureland". Joyland Books.
- ↑ "Vintage rides missing from Dreamland". Joyland Books.
- ↑ Ride Review Final.docx.html "Ride Review Final.docx.html "Trust Ride - Review and Assessment March 2015"". WhatDoTheyKnow.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ↑ "THE NEW RIDE LINE UP". Joyland Books.
- ↑ "Safety gear trapped man". Liverpool Echo.
- ↑ "Pleasureland fined over at worker's death". Liverpool Echo.
External links
Sky Ride in storage at Dreamland Margate in April 2008