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VIKINGAR'S LAST STAND (PART 8) Article by Gary Radice, Nick Laister, Dave Boardman, Ash Stanworth, John Forknall, Fraser Grant, John Burke, John Phillips, Gordon (from Holland), Brian McCormick, George Drew, Ryan, Gary Amos Article: Added January 2006 |
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Many
thanks to George Drew for the following: If my memory serves me well this ride first opened in 1957
(although some say 1956).
This turned out to be the last fixed ride to be built at
Belle Vue under the auspices of the old Iles regime; very soon afterwards the place came into the ownership of the then Forte
hotel and catering empire (later more well known as Trust House Forte), an ownership which as it turned out was the beginning
of the end for Belle Vue.
As was the norm The Water Chute was heralded by, and opened
with, great blazes of publicity, which in all honesty the ride failed to live up to.
True, it was popular for a time, indeed very popular in the
early years but paled into insignificance alongside its more illustrious neighbour - Bobs Coaster.
Although carrying the name 'Water Chute' on its signage that
name was always qualified by the addition of the word 'Giant' in the early waves of publicity.
During the Forte ownership, for whatever reasons, Belle Vue
as we know went into decline, at first only slowly, but the decline soon accelerated.
One of the most marked features of those times seemed to
be the strangely mis-directed publicity for Belle Vue, which to me only made thing worse. Anyway, the end result we
all know!
What of the final fate of The Water Chute then?
True enough it was "dismantled" in the late seventies (more
like outright demolition from what I saw of it taking place) and possibly a lot of its parts ended up at Blackpool.
These parts probably would have been the "boats"
plus much of the operating mechanism, station, and brakeman's control cabin.
Certainly not the wooden "superstructure" which could hardly
have survived demolition let alone being rebuilt, and as we know the structure at Blackpool was metal, not wood.
Last summer on a visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach I wandered
over to have a look at the Water Chute, and what a sad sight I beheld - just derelict and forlorn. I could see no
sign of the "boats". Truly, but sadly, the Water Chute (sometimes Waterchute or Giant Waterchute) was
all washed up. |
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