Dreamland Margate News

[peep]

In 2002 the Scenic Railway coaster was awarded Grade II listed status. This year (91 years after it was built) it has been given Grade II* status, meaning it's in the top 6% of the most important listed buildings in the UK.

This is clearly fantastic news for the coaster and makes it all the more special when it has been fully restored and re-opened to the public, hopefully within the next year or two (work starts very soon).


You can see the confirmation of this listing on the National Heritage website HERE

You can keep up to date on the progress of the site on the website- http://www.dreamlandmargate.com

 

[furie]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Alton Towers' Gardens at Grade II* listed too... Just saying, you know..?

Anyway, yes, this is great news in that the fine is probably a £100 more for destroying it and there's an extra 2% chance of making the company who own it sell it under a CPO. DMCS toothless and too interested in the Olympics? Who said that?

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Well its a step in the right direction (even if it's a very, very small step). Great find Peep

 

[Martyn B]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Its great to see so much effort being put into this project, I bet everyone at one point said 'yeah right' when the plans were first released, but this really is happening.

And the coaster being saved is even better, as 99% of the time, in this Country, it would not happen, and the flats would already be up, so its great to see all this effort being put in to keep it, and to get the new amusement park up and running.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

I keep getting excited...and then deflated again. It's been in the pipeline for SO LONG and never seems to be anywhere near finished. Wish I could be more positive.

 

[Jake]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Just a heads up... The article on the main site says from 2002 until now it was grade 1, which would actually mean it had been downgraded...

 

[Mark]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Yes, if it has gone from Grade I to Grade II it has indeed been downgraded... This is not a good thing!
Basically, Grade I is protected in absolutely everyway. You can not change a single thing about it etc. Grade II is a little bit more flexible in that aesthically, the exterior of it has to remain the same but some internal workings etc can be changed. (Of course, there is a little more to it than that, but in a very summarise sense...)

I can only imagine it has been altered in order to ensure that work can actually be done. If it was Grade I then absolutely everything about it must return as it was. This may not actually be possible to do in certain instances and therefore the downgrade would allow for that perhaps?

EDIT: On further investigation, it says on the Dreamland Margate website that it was awarded Grade II in 2002, if that is the case, it hasn't actually been changed so I am not sure what difference it makes...

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Don't think it's ever been Grade I listed as far as I'm aware

 

[peep]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

As I said in the first post, it was awarded Grade II in 2002 and it has just been awarded Grade II* <notice the star

Apparently it's just that little bit more protected than before, but as you've mentioned they can still work on the building.

It's been 5 years since the CF mini-Live there but at least within the next year or two we'll be able to ride the classic again. I think I read somewhere they expect the first phase to be ready for next year.

 

[Mark]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Yeah, they reckon 2014 at the moment, which seems sooooo long away but it really isn't!

 

[Jake]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

^^, ^^^ and ^^^^

I know it was never grade 1, I was just pointing out an error on the Coasterforce.com front page article which said it was grade 1 prior to this year.

It's been sneakily changed now anyway, so whatever.

 

[Mark]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Indeed, I didn't think it was Grade I either, but couldn't be sure, hence the going looking around to find out...

 

[Ian]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Going to bump this rather than start a new topic...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-15833833

An amusement park of historic rides is on course to open at Margate's Dreamland site in 2013 after being granted £3m lottery cash.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant is the final piece of a funding jigsaw needed to reopen the attraction as part of the Kent town's regeneration.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport has already pledged £3.7m, with Thanet District Council giving £4m.

It is estimated the amusement park could attract 350,000 visitors a year.

The council has applied for a compulsory purchase order to buy the site from landowner Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company. A public inquiry will start on 10 January 2012.

Vintage rides salvaged from Blackpool and Southport have been bought for the seafront amusement park, which will be centred on the Grade II* listed Scenic Railway.
'Huge potential'

The park, believed to be the first of its kind in the world, will be run by the Dreamland Trust, which will be given the site by the council for a peppercorn rent.

"This project has huge potential to entertain, intrigue, and delight," said Stuart McLeod, head of the HLF for the South East.

"As Margate's answer to an early Disneyland, the fund is delighted to award this substantial investment to Dreamland, and, once restored to its former glory, it will not only bring alive the historic rides of yesteryear but boost tourism too."

The funding now in place will pay for the first phase of the Dreamland project.

The restoration of the cinema building will form a second phase, for which funding has yet to be obtained.

"Dreamland is a key site for Margate's regeneration and that's why the council has been working with the Dreamland Trust to bring it back into use," said council leader Bob Bayford.

"Our next job is to get the compulsory purchase order confirmed, so that Margate can be home to a world first that will attract thousands more to the town."

Doesn't mention anything about new CREDS but it's nice to read that there is a target date of 2013 for reopening.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Excellent news for this tbh, it's being going on for so long without any results it's fantastic to see it finally getting those last few pieces together...

Hopefully they'll get it finalised and rubber-stamped then it can all begin!

 

[Martyn B]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

^^ From what I can remember, the Wooden Mouse from Southport is in the plans.

I remember seeing some very detailed plans a while back, propably like 3 years ago. The plans did show quite a lot, including a Tidal Wave type ride. Hopefully furie will remember that, and shed some light on whether that was genuine or not.

Still, great news!

 

[furie]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Plans were genuine, but "subject to change" :lol:

The Tidal Wave type ride was a rebuild of the side-friction water chute from Rhyl. The structure was destroyed, but the mechanisms, boats and other stuff all survived.

Similarly, they have the River Caves boats and workings, and ghost train cars and workings from Southport.

These rides, as they require "new build" will be appearing later on (last I heard).

Rebuild of the Scenic is top priority, with the old King Solomon's Mines going up at the same time, with the cable cars from Southport heading out to the sea front and back.

There are a number of smaller flat rides too due to be put in place. The cinema is also included in all of this, and it's getting a complete make-over too, with some kind of museum affair inside, along with trying to make it a usable building for shows, etc.

It'll be a "work in progress" over two or three years. So it'll start small and expand.

Anyway, brilliant news they've got the grant. Margate has a gorgeous beach and I can't wait to head back down there.

 

[Martyn B]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

And I suppose with Loudoun's closure they'll have a chance to get hold of some more classics, like the Milk Churn and that unusal waveswinger they had (didn't that used to be at Margate?).

 

[furie]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

The thing is, they are a trust, so a charity. They don't have money to actually buy rides in the same way a park does. Maybe down the line if they're profitable, but not right now. So it's doubtful we'll see anything other than the "salvage" and work that was already budgeted for initially.

You're right though, most of Loudon (and now LWV) was full of Ex-Dreamland rides.

 

[peep]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

Excellent news. I still get a bit confused about what's going on because we see these news articles appear every now and then but I get a monthly email from the trust detailing events surrounding the trust and what's going on construction-wise.

What's interesting is that in the last email I got they said all the lettering on the cinema building (you know, that famous signage on the side) has just been taken down to be completely revamped (and changed to more energy-effecient lighting) and will be put back on the building soon. They've also made it sound like in previous emails as if work inside the building has been going on for most of this year and at one point I could have sworn they claimed part of the project was due to finish for next summer. So why this latest article claims the cinema building is the second phase baffles me. Meh, I'm sure we'll soon find out.

 

[TP Rich]

Re: Scenic Railway in Margate news

It'll be fantastic to see Dreamland back in operation after all these years. Especially after Folkestone's Rotunda was destroyed in 2007. There isn't much in the way of leasure attractions in Thanet anymore.

Yes, I'm looking forward to this project!

Let's just hope the restored Scenic Railway doesn't fly off of the track every time it rains...