Camelot Theme Park

Before we get to the adventure, I want to do a big shoutout to my father, who passed away on Friday. I last saw my father in hospital, and he was full of optimism that he would get better. When I was a child he was a very outdoors person and I definitely think I picked up that trait from all of the countryside walks of the old days. I think the best way to honour the deceased, especially the man who brought me into this world, is to celebrate existence. And well aware of my own mortality, I do celebrate my existence. The old saying "live each day like its your last" is stupid though. I prefer to live each day like its my first. Every single day the world is new again and every breath of fresh air, and every sensation, is truly brilliant to experience. Thank you Dad.

So to celebrate existence, I decided my next adventure would be a giant leap beyond Shropshire, to the magically abandoned land of Camelot.

*cue dramatic music*

For those of you who don't know, Camelot was a theme park in Lancashire, with a medieval / King Arthur theme. The site is actually built on what was once Englands largest lake, which was drained in 1692, but features in Arthurian legend as the Lost Lake of Sir Lancelot. The story goes that Lancelots parents were fleeing to Lancashire from France, but the mother tripped and dropped baby Lancelot, and he was abducted by a lake nymph that raised him. He then became one of the knights of the round table.

Many people I know in Shropshire have said that they went to Camelot as a child, so I hope the photos today will trigger some nostalgia, and that you can correct me if I get anything wrong.

The park opened its doors to the adoring public in 1983. The naughties were brutal for Camelot- A 2006 survey of healthy food at tourist attractions placed Camelot joint bottom. It closed temporarily in February 2009 due to a drop in sales, only to reopen in May, and then close again in 2012, blaming a lack of sales on one of the wettest summers in Britain in 100 years, and other events distracting people like the 2012 Olympics and the Queens Jubilee. Most of its rides were sold to other theme parks, but the sites largest roller coaster is still there.
As of 2014 rumours began flying around of plans to wipe the whole thing out and build houses there, so I didn't want to waste any time getting there and checking the place out.

As always, I want to point out that I don't vandalize, steal, force entry or disclose means of access. Of course in this case there was nothing much to hide in terms of access. I even ran into two other urban explorers in there who commented on ease of access. But still, I didn't break any windows or fences to get into this place.

The first thing I found myself exploring was a building. Due to horror stories of security guards patroling the area, I wanted to initially be indoors so that I could listen for footsteps and spy through windows. I'm unfamiliar with the place but I presume this was some kind of reception area, and a place to buy tickets. It had been ransacked and trashed but a few gems were among the remains. Click a picture to see it big.

According to old maps of Camelot, there was a racing car attraction out front, and this is probably referencing that.

Content that there was nobody in the imediate area except me, I stepped outside and beheld the kingdom of Camelot...

The view was very apocalyptic. 

Amongst the wreckage was a mannequin limb, but I soon realized that this wasn't a rare sight at Camelot. They were everywhere. 

What caused such devastation, you might be wondering?

There you go folks, church was here. It was an act of God.

Anyway, not wanting to go right to the front of the big white castle, I instead took a detour around the perimeter to survey the wreckage, dreading that I was too late, that demolition had started and there was nothing left to explore.

I found what I call the Green Room. The ceiling was partially a transparent green plastic that gave the interior a green tint.

I've never seen such a passionate hatred for local legend. I couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm displayed here.

Returning back to the front of the castle, I found that the front of the castle was actually still quite pretty. In fact it was too pretty, almost reminiscent of a theme park that had just closed at the end of a busy day and was awaiting staff to undo the mess and litter caused by a stream of visitors. It was eerie with its emptiness. It felt like it should still be occupied.

The castle itself had a very awesome moat, which was now full of junk.

The means of crossing the moat was a drawbridge that looked just unsafe enough to make me want to cross it. 

But we'll come back to the castle...

This would have indeed made me smile had it been grammatically accurate.

This spacious area was where the catterpillar ride had stood. It seems to be a fairly standard catterpillar themed rollercoaster that goes through a giant apple. It doesn't seem very Arthurian. The ride is still in use at Gullivers World in Warrington.

This ominous building labeled the DNB Arena was the giftshop back in the day. I took a look inside. Apologies for the blurriness.

The main castle, meanwhile, had both a sign advertizing hot dogs within a 180 degree turn away from a sign asking not to consume food on the premises. But it was a very large expansive area, and was once also home to some dodgems.

Back outside, there was an entrance on a downhill slope. Pendragons Plunge was a water ride, but it's no longer there.

I made my way down the sloped pathway, where a pathway up to a high up circular building had been seriously dilapidated, and all the windows had been smashed. This turned out to be an old bar area, with a balcony surrounding it and overlooking the rest of Camelot. I really apologise for the glare- the sunlight was strong, and it worked against my abysmal phone camera.

Well I guess I'm not the first to ignore this sign.

A balcony view of the park. The walls next to that blue shed were, I think, the bottom of Pendragons Plunge. According to maps of the theme park there was also a ferris wheel between here and those buildings. But given that a water ride was also there, I'm not sure how it would have all fitted together.

An abandoned beermat. Sadly the alcohol was all long gone.

A back room at the bar also gave a shattered glass view of the park.
From there I entered another building where a magician dressed as Merlin apparently performed magic for a crowd of onlookers. Sadly it was here that my phone camera decided to refuse to focus. But you can still make out the stage, on which someone has written "stage of the damned" which I suppose would work if Merlins magic show was performed via death metal. Somehow I doubt it though.

I left the stage area and explored further.

This awesome signage points towards what was once a mini golf course. If it still exists I didn't find it. It also mentions the Dragon Flyer ride, which is a dragon themed roller coast, the cars for which I photographed up in the green room. 

The next ride I found was now lacking a floor, and also the ride itself, which was one of those massive swinging pirate ships. Now that is a shame. I would have loved to have gotten some pictures of it.

Nearby was an ice cream parlour. I know, I know, ice cream signs are all over this place. But this ice cream parlour was on the map of Camelot, so it must have been the superior one.

I get that it's got a medieval theme about it, but honestly, when you take an old looking building and slap a modern shop aesthetic on the front, all you're really doing is remaking Shrewsbury.

Seriously, this is totally Shrewsbury!

Next up was an area which apparently had a jousting attraction on it. Now it's decorated by a giant boot. Curiously, nowhere on the map of Camelot is there anything that indicates where this giant boot came from. Around this area was also a menagerie of various buildings that had once been games.

Shortly after I took a look at the Dragon Flyer.

Seriously, it's that anti-Arthur grafitti again, and this time a bit more time and effort has gone into debunking Arthurian myth. One would say this person is perhaps a little too enthusiastic with this, to the point of looking a bit silly. It's like an explorer anti-arthurian version of Richard Dawkins.

This little area is where the Dragon Fliers tracks once went. Much of it had now been removed. Still, I was able to follow the tracks around some of the park.

Whoa there! That shadow in the trees? Is that... Slender Man?
In all honesty there was a hotel on the other side of a fence, so maybe I accidentally snapped an onlooker. But if you want a fancy story, let's say the park is haunted.

As you can see, the glare from the sun is pretty horrific.

A spinning ride called Falcons Flight used to be on this circular expanse. 

And this hexagon was once an ice cream stand, now a gallery of the finest examples of literary prowess from one of our worlds finest mind, who clearly took the time out of their day of what I gather to be calculating flight trajectories, to come and display their creativity here for us all to see.

On to the Food Court!!!

Still better quality toilets than the ones in some Shropshire pubs and clubs.

Did someone steal the toilet paper?

 I have no idea what these buildings were, but I checked them out.

The driving school was a car feature across from the food court. 

The Whirlwind rollercoaster currently resides at the Skyline Park in Germany. 

A giant Connect Four set, but no pieces. 

 

 The next attraction I visited was once a scare attraction- probably a ghost train. I made the mistake of walking in the middle of the corridors and accidentally impaling my feet twice on old bolts where the tracks used to be. But at the time I was just thankful they weren't discarded needles or something. Once more my camera failed to focus, and we're left with pretty dismal shots of the remnants of the ghost train and more spooky grafitti than what was outdoors. It would be brilliant to shoot if I had a better camera.

The stairs went to nowhere. Perhaps it was a pop-out prop. 

 There's a mangled dragon prop here, sadly destroyed.

Through a rip in the ceiling I did get a lovely shot of the central support of the tent. My phones camera surprises me sometimes.

Tis but a scratch!

 I'm not sure why there are loads of balls in this room. Or how so many got from the ballpit in the kids area to this place. I mean who would take the time to do this?

Anyway did I mention a ballpit? Onto this castle over here...

I got so embarassingly excited when I found myself alone in an abandoned play area. My child self would have loved it.

This dried can of white paint was quite artistic. 

My excitment doubled when I saw the rope tube. Of course, this place hasn't been tended to since 2012, but surely the ropes aren't too decayed...
Would you try it?

Well I sure did! Of course, holes in the upstairs level and all that creaking did make me a bit wary about staying up there.

Hole in the floor leading down to the ballpit. Sadly not advisable to leap down from into an ocean of plastic balls, but one can dream. 

Cola adverts on tables in the kids area. That's it Cola, get them while they're young.

And a mannequin head. Of course.

The best sign for a legally ambiguous explorer to read.

I could have spent the day there, but moving on...

I love that there's a boat on the roof. 

By this point, we're lurking around the Knigtmare coaster. And I won't disapoint- we will get to that.
First though I poked around this really nifty little garden that was apparently part of the park. 

From there, a small path led to a mini farm or petting zoo, the animals long since gone.

And behind that were two marvelously trashed caravans.

A bouquet of flowers next to a toilet is perhaps the most random find ever. 

An old television left outside.
Nearby was an office that reminded me of Calcott Hall, with the paperwork still in there, including a Communication Book, although its pages were stuck shut from water damage. Curiously, some of the pages were torn out...

Outside, I slowly went back to the main theme park, snapping up more on the way out.

 I have no idea what this contraption is, but I think it's probably something for the birds that were also here at the petting zoo.

The grassy bank outside was a strange place to find Camelots food hygiene rating, but it's nice to see they got a 4. 

This area apparently had a cup and saucer feature. From here, a quick turn to the right and there was Knightmare, waiting for me.

 I guess it's pretty dangerous to climb a rusty old rollercoaster that could be in no end of bad condition, seeing as just about everything else in the theme park has been well and truly trashed, but I didn't come all the way here just to go home wondering what the view was like, and in terms of height, I think St Chads Church was taller. But that's not to belittle the amazing view.

From up here, one can see the shapes in the ground where attractions used to be.

It was very windy up there, but so awesome.

I didn't see this sign until I was leaving... Oops XD

So that was Camelot theme park, no doubt waiting for further explorations, probably a few between me exploring it and me writing about it, and most definitely many between now and its eventual destruction when the powers that be have their way and build houses here. It's definitely in such a state that reopening it as a theme park would cost too much in clean up costs alone.

But it was an amazing day out, and an amazing adventure. Even getting there was a fun adventure. Rather than get a train directly to the nearest station, it was far cheaper to travel from Shrewsbury to Chester, and then Chester to Warrington, and then Warrington to Wigan, and get a bus to a tiny village called Coppul Moor, and just walk out to Camelot. On the way back, I stopped at a lovely pub / restaurant in Coppul Moor called the Hinds Head which served a marvelous and much needed meal and drinks, and spectacular customer service. I encourage anyone to stop by here if you're ever passing through the Chorley area.

If anyone has any memories of Camelot Theme Park, when it was open to the public, and from later explorations, do get in touch. And you can add me on Facebook if you search the blog with every two words of the name linked- Shrewsburyfrom Whereyou Arenot.

Next time, we're back in Shrewsbury. Above or below ground? I haven't decided yet.