Blackgang Chine – The Oldest Theme Park in the UK
Blackgang Chine is located in the Isle of Wight. This amusement park opened up in the 1840s and it is run by the Dabell family. The park is filled with many different themes such as a Dinosaur realm, a beautiful Underwater Kingdom, the magical Fairy Village, the Cowboy Town and a frightening Pirate Cove!
The Isle of Wight became an up and coming holiday resort during Victorian times as people were constantly searching for new places to visit, especially near the coast. The visits to the isle of Wight became larger and more frequent as the railway network approached the South Coast bit by bit. That’s when the founder of this theme park, Alexander Dabell, used his business brain and decided to create an attraction for their new tourists and visitors. The original idea for the park was to actually create relaxing and romantic gardens for the Victorians to visit. However, his idea developed into creating a theme park in 1843 after receiving a lease for that site during 1842.
The idea for the park of curiosity and adventure actually came from when a large whale washed up by the coast of The Needles during 1842. This Whale was bought by Alexander in an auction, he then sold the skin and flesh, got the bones bleached and set it up in the park as a weird and wonderful attraction to all visitors. There was actually a funny story of when Queen Mary came to visit the amusement park. She was admiring the framework from the skeleton of the whale and suddenly she hit her head on the skeletons jaw bone which resulted in her hat being knocked off. Not long after there was a man with a hacksaw removing the piece of bone.
The chine has now been destroyed due to the frequent landslides. The park is definitely more aimed towards kids these days with lifesize moving dinosaurs becoming a main part of the park. There are many attractions and rides here such as the Cliffhanger. This ride opened in 2005 and can be seen in the image above. This ride climbs up so you feel like you’re hanging over the sea and then it drops and twists and turns. There are plenty more thrilling rides as well such as Water Force, Pirate Barrells and many more exciting attractions that can be discovered here.
One of the oldest attractions still there today that you can experience is the Hedge Maze which opened in 1963. This amusement park has seen many attractions come and go, many new faces and many old faces. With the history and excitement of the park, it is definitely worth a visit. Imagine telling everyone you have been to the UK’s oldest theme park! I bet they can’t say the same.
