Why does the South West of England lack major or semi-major theme parks?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Despite us English people often acting like we have it badly in terms of major and semi-major theme parks, we actually have a fairly diverse selection spread quite nicely around the country. You have the cluster of major parks around London, you have Alton Towers and Drayton Manor in the West Midlands, you have Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the North West, you have Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, you have Fantasy Island in the East Midlands, you have Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and Pleasurewood Hills in East Anglia... quite a lot of England has a major or semi-major park nearby! But one key exception to that is the South West of England. South West England is the largest ONS statistical region in England in terms of area, encompassing the counties of Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, yet the most notable theme park the region has to offer would probably be either Brean Theme Park in Somerset or Crealy in Devon, which are definitely not major or semi-major parks on a nationwide scale. There are no parks in the South West that I would call semi-major; there are no parks that have any particularly notable draws beyond Pinfari and Reverchon +1 coasters, which is at odds with the rest of England. Most other regions of the country have at least one semi-major theme park, but the South West has nothing. With this in mind, I'd be interested to know; why does the South West of England lack major or semi-major theme parks? What are people's theories on this?

As someone who lives in the region (albeit at the very top of it, in Gloucestershire), I'll admit to being slightly stumped as to how the South West drew the short straw in terms of English theme parks. The region is awash with popular tourist and holiday destinations; Devon, Cornwall, Weston-super-Mare, Dorset and numerous other seaside resorts lying within the area are very popular and have hordes of tourists visiting them every summer. And even outside of the peak summer season, the region is not exactly short of major population centres to provide a captive audience. Bristol is one of the UK's most populous cities, and the likes of Swindon, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Exeter, Gloucester and Cheltenham, amongst others, also have considerable populations. The region has a prominent motorway, the M5, and parts of the region also have very favourable rail links with London through the GWR rail network. As far as I can see, the region has a lot going for it compared to some parts of England that manage to sustain major theme parks, yet there's nothing here in terms of notable theme parks. I can maybe understand why the furthest reaches of Cornwall don't really have anything, as there is very little captive population in that county, but surely somewhere like Somerset, Gloucestershire or Wiltshire has a good enough captive audience and good enough transport links to sustain a major or semi-major theme park? At very least, surely large parts of the South West could sustain a semi-major park on the scale of, say, Flamingo Land?

So I'd be intrigued to know; why do you think the South West of England lacks major or semi-major theme parks?

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Ahhh but for one week of the year, Somerset gets the best adult theme park on the planet!!!

Seriously though, I don’t know. You’d think there’d be a market for a good theme park, given the size of the tourism industry in Devon and Cornwall. And the fact places like Woodlands and Crealy still seem to be clinging on. But nobody seems to want to risk investing in taking any of these smaller parks to the next level.

 

[Gazza]

I think it could be because the geography isn't as advantageous.

Clearly anything in London will do well.

And Alton is in the middle of the country, and quite convenient to larger cities.

Blackpool is fairly well placed to for the major cities in the north.

But then the south west is sort of this dead end peninsular that averages about 50km wide so that naturally limits the number of people in the radius.
I think Nicky is correct in that if one of the parks went next level and decided to be the next Farup, it could do well, but there seems to be no willingness to do so.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I think it could be because the geography isn't as advantageous.

Clearly anything in London will do well.

And Alton is in the middle of the country, and quite convenient to larger cities.

Blackpool is fairly well placed to for the major cities in the north.

But then the south west is sort of this dead end peninsular that averages about 50km wide so that naturally limits the number of people in the radius.
I think Nicky is correct in that if one of the parks went next level and decided to be the next Farup, it could do well, but there seems to be no willingness to do so.

I just went and had a look at Crealy, I haven't been there since the late 90s, and I'm genuinely surprised it's come as far as it has from what I remember!!!

If anybody can do it you'd like to think they can. They have a 'city' on their doorstep, a major motorway nearby, Taunton just up that motorway, and obviously the massive summer tourism influx to Exmouth, Dawlish, Sidmouth, Teignmouth, Torquay, Painton and the wider Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset area. I can't believe that little adventure farm no longer has cows, and now has 3 creds I need instead!!!

Woodlands looks the same, seems to have all the same attractions I remember from my childhood... Same water slides, same bumper boats, same tobogan. Can't see what's new without checking wiki, and even wiki is wrong, says the bumper boats were a 20002 addition, which is nonsense as I have photos on them somewhere from the late 90s. (to be fair, it confusingly says "For under 7's" on the line below, so maybe this is some additional smaller bumper boats.) Looks like they've added a pirate ship, drop tower, some kids flats and updated some play equipment / areas.

I swear, the vertical death slide of friction burn torture better still be there, or I won't be happy

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Sorry for the double post.. But I'm on a journey down memory lane now... So pleased to see this place still going, I used to love it so much... The rare British outdoor water park!!!

Splashdown Quaywest - the UK's largest all outdoor waterpark

Splashdown Quaywest waterpark, an exciting trip out for the family on the beautiful English Riviera, in sunny Devon and right by the sea at Goodrington Sands.

www.splashdownwaterparks.co.uk

 

[Ollie]

Sorry for the double post.. But I'm on a journey down memory lane now... So pleased to see this place still going, I used to love it so much... The rare British outdoor water park!!!

Splashdown Quaywest - the UK's largest all outdoor waterpark

Splashdown Quaywest waterpark, an exciting trip out for the family on the beautiful English Riviera, in sunny Devon and right by the sea at Goodrington Sands.

www.splashdownwaterparks.co.uk

Literally read this then saw my Facebook memories and it came up that I was here 13 years ago today. Remember it looking great visually but it being very cold and the slides being a bit brutal. Cut my elbow on the drop slide.

As for the question in this thread. I echo what others have said. Yes, it may have a motorway and rail links. But in terms of catchment area and population, a large park wouldn't have the same pull as other major parks that are closer to major cities, airports and trainlines. It may be a great place for tourists to visit but tourism from people going on caravan/camping holidays as well as locals would struggle to support a large year round park financially as the overheads would be higher than it's income. It's great to see parks like Crealy slowly getting larger but there's going to a limit that they hit.

 

[JoshC.]

Same argument as the Balkan theme park thread, isn't it?

Is there a big enough local base for a big theme park to survive?
The tourism effect is something that would be overestimated. It's at the butt end of nowhere.

And money.
Huge business risk to get the return on investment.


That said, I could see Crealy turn more into a Paultons like park over the next decade or so, if they choose to. But it'd be a big, big risk.

 

[Swat]

No one is brave enough to compete with Brean.

 

[roomraider]

The death of the rides at Flambards (and the fact those rides are the same rides I rode as a kid) suggests that even a small park down that end of the country just doesn't pull enough guests and make enough revenue to expand.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Devon 795,000
Cornwall 566,000
Dorset 426,000
Somerset 560,000
Gloucestershire 633,000

3 Million ish…

That’s just the ‘winter / permanent’ population. With the summer population said to be 11 million for Devon and Cornwall combined (according to the local police force.)

The population across the two counties is believed to have peaked in excess of 11 million at times over the summer, a population growth of more than 600 per cent.

Devon and Cornwall Police cash plea after record summer of incidents

Police in the two counties had to deal with nearly 5,000 calls a day

www.cornwalllive.com

Honestly I find the population argument here baffling. Either some of you are completely unaware of the struggles these two counties have faced for years now with the summer population boom, or you think the Midlands, which sustains 3 major parks and countless small ones, is more populous than it is. (East and West combined population 10.7m)

 

[Nicky Borrill]

The death of the rides at Flambards (and the fact those rides are the same rides I rode as a kid) suggests that even a small park down that end of the country just doesn't pull enough guests and make enough revenue to expand.

Flambards is in very much the wrong location to serve all 5 counties… Exeter, or somewhere closer to the Somerset border would be perfect.

 

[roomraider]

Devon 795,000
Cornwall 566,000
Dorset 426,000
Somerset 560,000
Gloucestershire 633,000

3 Million ish…

That’s just the ‘winter / permanent’ population. With the summer population said to be 11 million for Devon and Cornwall combined (according to the local police force.)

Devon and Cornwall Police cash plea after record summer of incidents

Police in the two counties had to deal with nearly 5,000 calls a day

www.cornwalllive.com

Honestly I find the population argument here baffling. Either some of you are completely unaware of the struggles these two counties have faced for years now with the summer population boom, or you think the Midlands, which sustains 3 major parks and countless small ones, is more populous than it is. (East and West combined population 10.7m)

I guess it depends to a large extent on the demographic of that population in the summer. For a successful park if guess you need a decent proportion of that influx to be families and not say rich business people with 2nd homes or the retired. (Neither of which probably have much of an interest in a park)

I have no stats on the demographic of the summer population boom so for all I know it could be millions of families

I know when we visited Cornwall and Devon as kids we'd always visit Flambards or Paignton Zoo when we were down there.

 

[JoshC.]

Devon 795,000
Cornwall 566,000
Dorset 426,000
Somerset 560,000
Gloucestershire 633,000

3 Million ish…


Honestly I find the population argument here baffling. Either some of you are completely unaware of the struggles these two counties have faced for years now with the summer population boom, or you think the Midlands, which sustains 3 major parks and countless small ones, is more populous than it is. (East and West combined population 10.7m)

3 million people for 20,244km2 area vs 10.7 million people for 16,529km2.

One area you've listed is separated by a 5 hour drive end to end, the other a 2.5 hour drive (ish).

A tourism boom in summer would help, of course, but doesn't necessarily convert to people visiting. I think Gavin explained that much more eloquently in the Balkans thread than I ever could

 

[Graeme]

A mix of geography and demographics, in my opinion. Devon and Cornwall are too remote to have a major park and, I'm trying to find a diplomatic way to say this, but to be honest are too nice. They never had seaside parks like the Pleasure Beaches or Kursaal, which tended to serve the holidaymakers from big cities. One or two of the parks veer that way, but they don't have the history - none of them ever had a wooden "Cyclone" or a scenic railway, for instance.

Even inland a bit, you have the Cotswolds and the Mendips. Cheddar Gorge is one of the most spectacular things I've seen in this country, and it only hints at the surrounding geography. Meanwhile, Witney was David Cameron's constituency - imagine how pleased he'd be with a massive RMC near his house!

For what it's worth I think there's room for a semi-major park at Swindon, which would be in the middle of Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford and Reading. However, the time for that may have been the 1980s. The UK theme park scene seems to be evolving, with bigger companies scouting out genuinely better, more central locations. Universal are spot-on if they go ahead in Bedford, and so are Puy du Fou with Oxford. We only need Disney to build a resort in Milton Keynes, and then we really are into a new era.

 

[Matt N]

@Nicky Borrill The interesting thing is that you’ve even excluded the counties of Wiltshire and Bristol from that statistic. Wiltshire has 515,885, and Bristol has 472,500, so you’ve practically got an extra million right there for the South West region!

But as @roomraider says, it is worth noting the demographics of that population. The permanent populations of places like Devon and Cornwall lean older; the seaside is a popular place to retire, and there’s not a lot of jobs or opportunity in either county for younger people. The median age in the South West, as per the ONS, is the oldest of any region in the UK, coming in at 4 years higher than for England as a whole and 3 years higher than for the UK as a whole (44 in the South West versus 40 in England overall and 41 in the UK overall), and this includes the younger cities of the South West like Bristol. If you look at some of the more rural parts of Devon and Cornwall, the median age starts to trend closer to 50.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

3 million people for 20,244km2 area vs 10.7 million people for 16,529km2.

One area you've listed is separated by a 5 hour drive end to end, the other a 2.5 hour drive (ish).

A tourism boom in summer would help, of course, but doesn't necessarily convert to people visiting. I think Gavin explained that much more eloquently in the Balkans thread than I ever could

3 million in winter… 13 million when the park would actually be open!!!

And it’s 3 hours from Derby to WMSP every time I’ve tried the drive

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I guess it depends to a large extent on the demographic of that population in the summer. For a successful park if guess you need a decent proportion of that influx to be families and not say rich business people with 2nd homes or the retired. (Neither of which probably have much of an interest in a park)

I have no stats on the demographic of the summer population boom so for all I know it could be millions of families

I know when we visited Cornwall and Devon as kids we'd always visit Flambards or Paignton Zoo when we were down there.

I think it’s a mix to be honest, definitely a ‘lot’ of second homes. But lots and lots of families too, and surfers… Surfers everywhere

 

[Nicky Borrill]

@Nicky Borrill The interesting thing is that you’ve even excluded the counties of Wiltshire and Bristol from that statistic. Wiltshire has 515,885, and Bristol has 472,500, so you’ve practically got an extra million right there for the South West region!

But as @roomraider says, it is worth noting the demographics of that population. The permanent populations of places like Devon and Cornwall lean older; the seaside is a popular place to retire, and there’s not a lot of jobs or opportunity in either county for younger people. The median age in the South West, as per the ONS, is the oldest of any region in the UK, coming in at 4 years higher than for England as a whole and 3 years higher than for the UK as a whole (44 in the South West versus 40 in England overall and 41 in the UK overall), and this includes the younger cities of the South West like Bristol. If you look at some of the more rural parts of Devon and Cornwall, the median age starts to trend closer to 50.

I had no idea Bristol wasn’t included in the somerset figure!!! I always thought it was Somerset… You learn something every day.

Sorry for the multiple replies btw, on phone struggling with multi quoting today for some reason.

But a couple of caveats regarding my opinion, I don’t for one minute think deep Cornwall or even Devon for that matter is a good location, Exeter is probably good, hence the growth of Crealy already. But border areas between somerset and Devon would be perfect, so long as the connections to the motorway are there.

Secondly, when I say major, I’m talking Paulton’s / Drayton size. Not Towers, BPB or Thorpe.

If the Midlands can sustain Towers, Drayton, WMSP, Gulivers, Twin Lakes, Wheelgate and other smaller places, I have absolutely no doubt that the SW could sustain Crealy growing to become the size of Paultons, or even better, a park on the Border with Somerset.

 

[Crazycoaster]

While not a specific “Theme Park”, the south west has the Eden Project, which is arguably a sizeable attraction that fits into the same “day out attraction” bracket that theme parks do.

 

[Ollie]

Disney to build a resort in Milton Keynes, and then we really are into a new era.

'Disney' and 'Milton Keynes' are two words I never thought would be used in the same sentence and hopefully never will be again