Things from our childhoods often turn out to be less good than we remember. I have fond memories of Lightwater Valley, a theme park in North Yorkshire, based on three specific things that sadly, but entirely understandably, no longer exist.
Fort William
The best thing about Lightwater Valley was Fort William, a massive wooden playground, fashioned after a wild west style stockade.
It was a rectangular structure with towers built at the corners and along the walls. There were enclosed rope bridges between some of the towers at multiple levels, and tunnels built under the walls. There were also bridges that stuck out from the walls into the main part of the fort with various things on them, like hanging tyre obstacles. Basically, it was a massive, multi level climbing frame.
It was also presumably a parents nightmare. There was only one way in and out of the fort but once inside children could disappear into one of the many linked routes and easily elude parental capture for hours. There was also probably lots of potential for falling and other types of injuries - often in places not easily reached by a paramedic.
Fort William appeared on park maps as late as 1999, but is sadly no more.
Skate karts
A skate kart was a brightly painted metal frame less than 2m long, with skateboard wheels and a basic seat. You walked up to the top of a slightly sloped tarmac track that wound around a couple of bends before running out on the flat. You'd sit on the skate kart, gripping the frame along the side, and lean into the corners to steer.
One of the best things about them was that you got to go more than once after you'd queued, so if you were quick you could manage three or even four runs down the hill in one turn. I remember spending hours there, queuing up to have another turn as soon as I'd finished.
I'm still not sure how I didn't come away with more injuries. There was no protection for your hands when gripping the outside of the kart, and people would fall over on the corners all the time. Add to this the likelihood of a fully grown adult on a plank of metal colliding with you at speed if you came off, I'm amazed they lasted until apparently 2018. Now the track seems to be some kind of pretend vintage car ride instead.
I found a video of someone on a skate kart, which now makes the experience look slow and uninteresting. Maybe they weren't as good as I remember?
The Death Slide
I can't confirm from the park's website whether the Death Slide is still there or not, but I can't imagine it is. It was inside the play barn alongside a load of other climbing/playing things that I can't remember, and was basically a tall, wide slide that started vertically. You'd climb up on it, sit with your legs dangling over a wall, then push yourself off and fall/slide to the bottom.
I'm pretty sure that even during the time I was there someone managed to crack the back of their head on the top of the slide as they went down. I don't remember there being any padding or even a curve at the very top to stop this happening. It was great, but it was actually a little terrifying too.
The Rat (bonus)
The Rat is actually still there, but it's now dinosaur themed and named 'Raptor Attack'. The Rat was apparently the world's first underground roller coaster. I never really enjoyed the ride part (since you couldn't see anything, even though that was the point) as much as the bit before you got on, which was styled as a series of sewer tunnels you had to semi-explore in order to get to the roller coaster.
And now
I can't say anything about Lightwater Valley today since I've not been for years. I've gathered the above information based on my own memories, photos my Dad took and some searching online.
On reflection, it's quite obvious that there were a number of health and safety issues with those rides, and following several accidents at the park (on other rides) I'm not surprised they've been removed. Based on the website it looks like the whole park is much more focussed on younger children these days anyway.
I'm very glad I got to experience Lightwater Valley the way it was. It's a little sad that it's changed, but it's understandable. Maybe there's somewhere else that will satisfy my inner child's need to clamber erratically on something in incomplete safety.
References
Huge thanks to my Dad for the photos, taken in 1989 and later scanned from 35mm prints.
Here's some other pages about Lightwater Valley, with more pictures and detail.
- The wikipedia page for Lightwater Valley
- A gallery of photos of Lightwater Valley, including an actual photo of part of Fort William, plus park maps through the years.
- A video compilation of Lightwater Valley, including some really old video from the eighties.
- The wikipedia page for the Raptor Ride.