Lightwater Valley
Lightwater Valley is a modern
amusement park set in 175 acres (708,000 m²) of parkland, located on the edge of the village of
North Stainley, near
Ripon,
North Yorkshire.
Adjoining the theme park is
Lightwater Valley Country Shopping Village, a development of factory outlet shops, with additional
Classic Car Collection and
Birds of Prey Centre attractions.
The complex is operated by
Lightwater Valley Attractions Limited, a division of the holding company
Heritage Great Britain PLC, who also operated attractions based at popular British landmarks such as
Lands End and
John O'Groats.
Lightwater Valley was founded by
Robert Staveley and initially evolved from a small farm attraction.
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The boating lake at Lightwater Valley theme park |
In May 2006 the park opened its latest attraction, a disco themed ride similar to a
Topspin Named
Skyrider. This ride has a height restriction of 1.2 metres.
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The Ultimate station and first incline |
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Ultimate |
Lightwater Valley's signature attraction,
The Ultimate, is a unique terrain
roller coaster which was recognised by the
Guinness Book of Records for been the world's longest roller coaster, for ten consecutive years from
1991 to
2001.
Set within 44 acres (178,000 m²) of woodland,
The Ultimate takes passengers on a 5minute 50second ride along 7542 ft (2.3 km) of tubular steel track, with two lift hills of 107 and 157 ft (33 and 48 m) respectively, which rest on Canadian redwood trestles.
While
The Ultimate was designed by
Big Country Motioneering, they were not involved with the completion of the project.
Lightwater Valley's owner got engineers from
British Rail to oversee the construction. A few sections of track on the second half of the ride were redesigned to change their banking. The track was made by
"Tubular Engineering".
The Ultimate represented an investment of £5.2million and was designed by the park's original owner, Robert Staveley. Construction work began in early
1990 and took eighteen months to complete before the opening to the public on
17 July 1991.
History
The park was originally a strawberry farm, which due to a drought had a lake added. This proved popular, and gradually minor rides were added, and the theme park grew up from there.
Amusement rides
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Guests splashing down the Toad Hole water ride |
Lightwater Valley is currently home to a varied collection of
amusement rides specially chosen to suit all age ranges and tastes, from white knuckle thrill rides, like
The Ultimate and
The Eagles Claw, to gentler rides for all the family, like the
Spinning Teacups and the
Caterpillar Coaster. New for 2006 is the
Skyrider ride (see above)
Mascots
The Valligators, are three friendly green alliagator costumed entertainers who currently act as the park's mascots and entertain the younger visitors to Lightwater Valley. Recently the three mascots took part in the annual Yorkshire Young Farmers Rural Recycling Mascot Steeplechase to raise money for charity.
Unique Areas
The park is home to some unusual amusement rides, which have been specially built into the park's terrain, including the
Toad Hole a splash boat ride and the
Rat Ride still the country's only subterranean roller coaster, which is set in a mock sewer.
*A total retheme of the park to a water park
*The Ultimate (lightwater valley's flagship attraction) is due to be decommissioned in early 2009 and disasembled later that year. If rumours from staff at the park are to be believed the ride will be replaced by an inverted coaster of longer length but using much of the current path.
*Another rumour also indicates that 'The Ultimate' may be taken out of action for a length of time while it is refurbished with new parts and new trains. At the same time having the track extended immediately after the second drop so it travels up the hill immediately after the second drop and back down over the now disused golf course, and winning back the worlds longest roller coaster.
Twenty year old Gemma Savage died on
21 June 2001 following an accident the previous day when two carriages collided on the
Treetop Twister, a spinning
Wild Mouse roller coaster, which had opened in May that year. Police decided not to prosecute a maintenance worker, who claimed that he had only received an hour's training on that ride and had not seen its manual. Faulty wiring had also caused a malfunction on the ride. [
1]. In October
2004 Deputy Coroner John Sleightholme at
Skipton Magistrates' Court ruled death by misadventure.
*
Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo a similar theme park around twice the size of Lightwater Valley.
*
List of theme parks in the United Kingdom*
Lightwater Valley Home Page*
Review*
Valley Mania Forums The First and Only Forum For LWV!
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Valley Mania LWV Fan Site - Opening Soon
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Heritage GB Home Page*
BBC News: Student dies after fairground crash*
BBC News: 'Worker error' before ride death*
BBC News: Worker cleared over ride death*
Theme Park Extreme
