Hello, I have never written a blog post before and so first up, thank you to Emma for giving me a chance on her own fabulous platform.
Not many people would know but I set up my You Tube channel following the passing of my Mum, she always encouraged me to follow my dreams and when she bought me my first video camera I was just 14 years old but I assured her that one day I was going to make a film about the Alton Towers Resort. Around this time I had just visited the resort for the first time and had become obsessed, not just with the rides..but who made these rides and decided what they would be called?
It took over 20 years for me to begin that film making process and although more a fan boy documentary than an actual film it’s something people seem to have really enjoyed watching and I think a huge part of that was due to the involvement of John Wardley. John..or Mr Wardley as I like to call him, has been involved in all the major rides at Alton Towers over the years and it was him who scribbled down ‘SW1’ on one of his first ride designs for the park, ‘SW’ for those not aware with the history of these rides stands for ‘Secret Weapon’.
His eventual approved first coaster design for the Towers was in fact SW3 and became the iconic ride we now know as Nemesis. Oblivion, Air (Galactica), Th13teen & The Smiler were all developed under the SW codename and all feature heavily in my ‘film’ – A Tale of The Towers. It was therefore quite fitting I guess that as the first construction began on SW8, I went off to meet with Mr Wardley at his home, where he had agreed to speak with me on camera for a couple of hours.
We spoke at length about all the rides he had worked on at Alton Towers and a whole lot more besides, but we also spoke about SW8, where once again he had been asked to consult and support the project. He is one of a long list of ride designers who seem to retire..but just cannot let it go. Most interesting to me was the comparison between Pleasure Beach and Alton Towers and their major rides. Great Britain in the mid 90’s was for me (I am unfortunately old enough to tell you) a very special time and place to be a part of and in 1994 we were given Nemesis at Alton Towers and The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Come 2018 and this was about to happen again with the opening of Wicker Man at Towers and ICON and Pleasure Beach.
Once again the U.K. showed how these two parks can co-exist quite happily and deliver world class attractions that stood out from what was being offered at a lot of other theme parks across the country. I was very fortunate to attend the press launch of Wicker Man and I will never forget seeing Big Bob for the first time, the nickname the team at Alton Towers had given to the gigantic structure that stands proudly among the track layout. I thought immediately that the ride was worthy of it’s SW code name, this had been a secret weapon and it looked every single bit of one, but how would it ride?
I took several rides that night in every seat that I could and was blown away by the experience, for such a compact ride is actually packs a bit of a punch and seeing those flames rise from the shoulders of this massive structure as you pass through it, was all in all, a fantastic experience.
It was several months before I was able to take my first ride in the daytime, an equally enjoyable experience and one I got to share with my daughter, aged just 5 she just made the height restriction and although initially a little shell shocked by the experience, it remains her number 2 roller coaster so far..her number 1 is Vampire at Chessington World Of Adventures, a ride of course designed by John Wardley. See for me, all this stuff seems to interlink with each other and at times has run parallel with my own life and my love of theme parks and roller coasters.
I must point out that Mr Wardley did not design Wicker Man but he did have a hand in it and helped to re-profile the first drop. Even in retirement, he seems to see things that other’s don’t. So one year on from it opening I have to say how pleased I am Alton Towers have a wooden rollercoaster, many have been designed over the years but rides like Oblivion and Air (now Galactica) were built instead, safer options to market and designer to appeal to the public at large.
Roller Coaster enthusiasts in my experience are generally very happy we have Wicker Man and I am excited myself to take another ride on it this season, I have missed Big Bob but not as much as I miss my mum. but without her none of the videos I have made since would exist and when I see SW8 I also think of her and the journey I have been on.
Of course while Towers were busy building Wicker Man, Pleasure Beach were building ICON and history was to a degree about to repeat itself…
to be continued.
Adam
@themeparkwt
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