Blackpool Pleasure Beach (BPB), Britain’s most popular attraction with over 6.5 million visitors annually, occupies a 42 acre site on the sea front 2km south of the centre of Blackpool, Lancashire. Established in 1896, over 130 rides and attractions compete for space on a congested and exposed site. These include three famous and historic traditional timber rollercoasters
‘Grand National’ (1935)
‘Big Dipper’ (1921)
‘Rollercoaster’ ( 1909, reconstructed 1993)
as well as a steel toboggan coaster (‘Avalanche’, 1988), a smaller timber coaster for young children (‘Zipper Dipper’, 1934), and several coaster derivatives such as Europe’s first modem looping coaster (‘Revolution’, 1979) and an indoor steel- racked ‘dark ride’ (‘Space Invader’, 1984).
J.M. Roberts