Loudoun Castle is a popular theme park set around the ruins of a 19th century castle near Galston, in the Loudoun area of Southwest Scotland.
Park
information
The park was opened in 1995 by a company based in London and has
since been through the hands of showman Raymond Codona to its
current owner, Henk Bembom's Parkware Ltd.
Bembom took over the park in 2002 and invested £5m during his
first year there, followed by an additional £2m in the second. He
has continued to bring new rides and attractions to the park every
year since, including another £2m worth of investment in 2007.
In winter 2006, Parkware moved all their operations and ride
stock to Loudoun from their previous storage buildings in Margate.
Шаблон:Clear
Mascot
From the beginning, the parks mascot has been Rory the Lion,
though he has been redesigned since then to become more cuddly.
Rory can often be seen walking around the park greeting guests and
also features in Loudoun's logo.
Rides
Many of the rides had been operated at Dreamland
Margate when it was owned by Bembom Brothers. Loudoun Castle has
three roller coasters;
- Twist N' Shout - a classic looping Schwarzkopf Silverarrow
-
The Rat - a Maurer Söhne Wild Mouse
-
Wacky Worm - a junior coaster by I.E. Park
Also in the park are various thrill rides including;
- Barnstormer - A Шаблон:Convert
shot-and-drop tower built by S&S Power
-
Loggers Leap - Loudoun's original log flume
-
Black Pearl - an inverting Pirate ship
-
The Captains Wheel - an Enterprise ride
-
The Plough - the largest Chair-O-Planes ride in the
world (Originally opertated as The Apollo ride at Margate.
-
The Crow's Nest - a HUSS Troika
-
The Milk Churn - a HUSS Round-Up ride
Dodgems, for younger and older kids
-
HMS Flora McDougal - a HUSS Swinging Ship ride
The park also has many gentler rides, more suited to younger
children.
Live
shows
Several shows take place during the day at Loudoun. These
include;
-
Rory and Friends - where children can sing, dance and
play with the park mascot.
-
High Dive Show - featuring professional divers doing
comical sketches plus high diving stunts.
-
Big Top Theatre - This is no longer at Loudoun.
Barnstormer
On 25 October 2006, the fansite Loudoun Castle Vaults confirmed
that Loudoun Castle would be installing an S&S Power Double
Shot tower. The ride was re-located from the defunct Pleasureland
Southport to the Dougal McDougal's Farm area of Loudoun, where it
was refurbished, given a barn theme and named "Barnstormer".
The ride was officially opened on the 23rd of May by The
MacDonald Brothers.
Trivia
Шаблон:Trivia
- Chris Sawyer, the creator of the hugely popular RollerCoaster
Tycoon series, visited Loudoun for inspiration when designing the
games rides. Several rides similar to those at Loudoun can be seen
within the game.
- A few of the rides at Loudoun Castle can be seen in the Only
Fools and Horses episode Jolly Boys Outing on the Trotters
visit to Bembom
Brother's theme park in Margate. The rides were transferred
from Margate to Loudoun when Henk Bembom moved on.
- Twist N' Shout's trains were given a "mine train" theme for the
2007 season. The new style train is reminiscent of that of
Loudoun's former looping coaster, the Thunderloop Express.
- In 2007 historical re-enactment group Verias Vincit appeared
almost every weekend for the whole summer season. Rain, hail or
shine they turned up wearing various costumes ranging from pirate
costume, medieval, 18th century Redcoats to Jacobite Highlanders.
[1]
Incidents
- On 15 July 2007, 18-year-old ride operator Mark Blackwood died
after falling Шаблон:Convert from a
rollercoaster he was pushing, which had got stuck. He was taken to
Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock for treatment but subsequently
died there on Monday 16 July 2007. After a two-week trial, the jury
found park owners not guilty of failing to provide proper training
and supervision at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Saturday 10 October
2009.
References
Шаблон:Reflist
See also
External
links
Шаблон:Portalpar
