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Report - - Alton Towers Resort, Staffordshire - December 2016 | Leisure Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Alton Towers Resort, Staffordshire - December 2016

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GRONK

Useful Idiot
Regular User
December 2016

The Visit
I've been a lover of the towers for as long as I can remember, having visited many times growing up, so having a crack at this one was high on my list of priorities and over the course of four trips and managed to cover virtually everything. I did two of these trips on my own armed with just my 70D, two other trips with @Choo Choo m8ty and the other with @Shimmy5305. Considering it was December and Staffordshire we scored lucky on the weather with beautiful clear days, I managed to cover virtually everything I could find.


History
Alton Towers is a former country estate located near the village of Alton in Staffordshire, England. It was the former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury. It is now a major theme park in the United Kingdom. The area around Alton Towers has been occupied for more than a thousand years. Beginning in the Dark Ages, the site has been redeveloped several times from fortified encampment to castle and then country house. Construction on the current building was begun in the early 1800's by Charles Talbot the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury later moving into the house with his wife in 1814. The estate passed through many generations of the family until in 1924, around this time the grounds were purchased by a group of local businessmen who opened the tower ruins and the gardens up to the public (for a small fee). It was at this time that Alton Towers Limited was formed, this company still operates today under the current owners Merlin Entertainments.

During the inter-war period the many of the original plaster and wooden features of the building were sold off by the owners, including most of the lead roofing causing the building to decay. At the beginning of World War 2 the towers were requisitioned by the War Office who used the site as an officer training unit, after the war the Towers and Gardens remained closed until 1951. This was until in the 1950's part of the grounds opened with a small family fair ground with typical traveling rides, over the coming decades the site was developed as a visitor attraction with the addition of more permanent rides. Then in 1980 the attraction opened the 'Corkscrew' rollercoaster rebranding itself as a Theme Park. Since then it has passed through several owners including the Tussauds Group and Merlin Entertainments, Merlin being the 2nd biggest attraction operator in the world (after Disney).
Anyway, on with the photos....


Towers Street & Mutiny Bay

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[1]

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[2]
The Flume (The Wicker Man)

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[3]

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[4] - That is a big duck.​

Gloomy Wood

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[5] - 'Duel'

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[6] - Main building for 'Duel'

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[7]

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[8]​

Forbidden Valley

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[9]

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[10] - 'The Blade' Control Room​

The Dark Forest

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[11]

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[12]

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[13]

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[14] - Th13teen Underground Section​

X-Sector

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[15]

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[16]

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[17]

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[18]

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[19]
The Towers

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[20] - '5POOKY 1' a Halloween Promotional Hearse

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[21]

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[22] - The 'Vault' building for Hex​

It's all in the magic of Alton Towers
 

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pale1

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
hey buddy could you please inbox me, im hoping to head out here tomorrow, but just need to confirm a few things. Cheers buddy (ps) awesome pics
 

Mr. Quinn

28DL Member
28DL Member
To be fair though, that's like comparing apples to oranges. AllyLaw doesn't exactly plan out much of anything he decides to hit up, he is constantly moving and doing these things almost daily. You took the time to planned this and tried to analyze the best possible method of getting in.
 

GRONK

Useful Idiot
Regular User
To be fair though, that's like comparing apples to oranges. AllyLaw doesn't exactly plan out much of anything he decides to hit up, he is constantly moving and doing these things almost daily. You took the time to planned this and tried to analyze the best possible method of getting in.

Exactly my point. ;)
 

mathmosman

28DL Member
28DL Member
Amazing trip report. Fantastic photos!

It would be interesting to see inside some of the rides that are now standing but not operating, such as Sub-Terra and Charlie...
 
Last edited:

Luke vaughan

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Are live sites fair game?
Anyone wanting to visit can pay a few quid and freely walk around and take as many pics as you want, no planning needed ;)
I don't see the point going after hours unless you are snapping derelict rides the public can't access.
Only my personal opinion though.
I gotta say I agree with you on that one mate because of people pay few quid they won’t have any trouble or hassle
 

Scoobysrt

Teim scoobs
28DL Full Member
I don't do rides so when I got dragged there for a mates birthday a couple years ago I went exploring while they were on the rides. A lot had changed in the 35 years since I had last been there lol.
It really is a factory that place, it reminded me of those SIM games lol.
I had a look around a bit of the big house but it seemed to be a fake shell on the original building from what I remember.
The gardens were my favourite bit lol.
I want to clarify that im not having a go or doing this down, it's still interesting to see some pics.
 

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