Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach

The first amusement ride to be built in Great Yarmouth arrived in 1887. It was a classic American LaMarcus Thompson Switchback Railway and was erected on the sands adjacent to Euston Road. The ride was so successful that the operators received the entire annual ground rent on the August Bank Holiday weekend of 1887. This ride was dismantled toward the end of the nineteenth century and relocated to Honley Pleasure Beach in Huddersfield.

In 1909 Charles B. Cochran persuaded the local council to lease him an area of sand dunes so that he could develop an amusement site. The council agreed to this, and leased him an area of sand dunes on the south denes beach of just 600 feet long and 120 feet wide. The entire rent for the year was £650.

The first ride constructed there was a scenic railway designed by William Napier. This ride was typical of scenic railways in that it was largely clad in plaster styled as mountainous terrain. The ride featured two lift hill sections. The only other ride constructed at the site was a haunted attraction called the Katzen Jammer Castle. The River Caves were added the following year. And in 1911, the Katzen Jammer Castle was replaced by the Joy Wheel. The park kept operating at this modest level until the outbreak of World War I.

When the park opened again in April 1919, a fire destroyed the scenic railway; leaving the park without a major attraction. The scenic was quickly rebuilt though by its operators and the ride was re-opened in August of the same year. During the 20s the park was steadily expanded and in 1925 a huge water-chute by Messrs. Morgan & Company was erected at the site. This water-chute was at the park until 1928 when it was dismantled. Also in 1928, the scenic railway came to the end of its lease and was removed. It was purchased by Aberdeen Beach Amusement Park and re-sited there in 1929. Other rides of the 20s included a Creasta Run (a slide ride), Jack and Jill (a toboggan-style slide ride) and Noah's Ark.[1]

In 1928 the famous Pat Collins, of the historic British fairground family, took control of the park after his offer to the local council of £3,500 per-year for the site was accepted. He and son John Collins' first acquisition for the park was a replacement for the Napier Scenic Railway. This took the form of a Figure 8 roller coaster which was present at the Pleasure Beach from 1929 to 1931.

In 1929 Pat Collins attended the Paris Colonial Exposition, where the largest attraction was the Scenic Railway. It had been designed by German Herr Erich Heidrich of Hamburg especially for the Exposition, and was operated by showman Hugo Hans. At the close of the Exposition, Pat Collins bought the ride and had the components shipped to England. They arrived in February 1932 and a team of German workmen began constructing the ride on the sands of the Pleasure Beach site. The ride opened to visitors in April 1932.

Like other scenic railways of the time, the Scenic was clad in mountainous-styled plaster which hung from the sides of the wooden structure. Other scenic features like castles were constructed around parts of the ride. The ride came with five trains. Each of which had three cars with five bench seats per car. These cars were made entirely of wood, and each train had a 'brakeman' riding aboard to control the speed of the train. New trains were built in the early 1960s and these are still in operation today. A brakeman still rides the train as there are no brakes on the track.

The ride was completely re-clad in the late 1960s with steel sheet replacing the old plaster. The ride was painted in a mountainous landscape with rolling hills and valleys.

The ride continues to be the most popular attraction at the Pleasure Beach, with its popularity largely due to its uniqueness. It is the only operational scenic railway roller coaster in the UK, and one of only less than ten roller coasters in the world to feature a brakeman travelling on the train. The continued dedicated maintenance work by the Pleasure Beach has ensured that the ride remains in good condition, with work carried out every winter to renew timber. Re-cladding has taken place again since 2002, and the ride celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2007.

Roller Coaster has been voted an ACE Coaster Classic.[2]

Pat Collins' lease of the site ran out in 1952 and was renewed by his son John Collins. However, due to John Collins' commitments to Battersea Fun Fair the operation of the park was taken over by the Botton Brothers in 1954.

Brothers Albert and Jim Botton had had an amusement park upbringing thanks to their father's company J. Botton & Sons. They had operated travelling fairs and static rides around the south-east of England since 1923. The Botton Bros started to improve the Pleasure Beach immediately and new rides and attractions were added annually.

Some of the rides that were at the Pleasure Beach during this time included Dodgems, Go-Kart Track, SDC Showboat, Cakewalk, Skywheel, Lakin Swirl, Superloop, Rock-O-Plane and the massive Water Chute. Also, in 1982 the structure that now sits inside the Roller Coaster was built as a walk-through attraction.

Albert Botton died in 1975 and the park was passed on to Jimmy Jones who had married Albert and Lottie's daughter Jane Botton. Jimmy Jones was Managing Director throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1982, the pop group Madness recorded much of the video for their song "House of Fun" at the amusement park.[3]