The Big Chicken at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

I did okay in my Malaysia Certificate of Education examination. Above average. With that, I managed get a scholarship to further my studies in the UK. I know, like many other parents, my Apak and Emak must have been proud of it.

After sending me off at the Subang Airport that night in September of 1979, although sad to see me fly off, I am sure they would have found some comfort in the thought that I would be going to a good college somewhere in England, where I would be instilled with self-discipline, and will study hard and diligently under the tutelage of some highly dedicated and no-nonsense English teachers.

But, as fate would have it, I was sent to a college in Blackpool, a seaside resort town and Britain’s biggest one at that, too.

If my Apak were to know about this beforehand, I was very sure he would not have approved of this. I smiled to myself at the thought of it.

Blackpool stands head and shoulders above the other resort towns in the UK. Aside from having the ubiquitous, fun-filled piers as most often found at British sea side resorts, it boasted eleven kilometres of sandy beach and had its own iconic, hugely famous illuminations display. But above all, it had the Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Britain had numerous popular theme parks back then such the Belle Vue in Manchester and the Alton Towers in Staffordshire. But Pleasure Beach was one of Britain’s biggest and most visited.

In the words of the business entrepreneur who built it, this was a park “that would make adults feel like children again”. And true it was.

So, seriously, how could anyone expect me to work hard and concentrate on my studies?

Having been around since 1896, the Blackpool Pleasure Beach was truly Britain’s grand old lady of theme parks. Situated on a 44-acre site along the South Promenade, it had over a hundred rides.  It also had the largest number of roller coasters of any park in the United Kingdom with ten, including the tallest and fastest roller coasters in Europe. No wonder the Pleasure Beach attracted well over 6 million visitors a year and ranked amongst the top 15 most popular theme parks in the world.

With such an attraction literally on my door step meant that I was thrust into the role of un-official tour guide during college holiday breaks. This were the time of year when I get lots of friends coming over from other parts of England, out to have some fun filled days, catch some thrills, and generally finish off their money. Some of those who made the trip were Zaim all the way from Bristol and Nayan from Nottingham. During the winter months of December till February the theme park would be closed. So, my moonlighting as a tour guide would usually be during the spring or Easter college break, in March or April when the weather was pleasant for travelling and outdoor funs. But sometimes my friends would also visit during the longer summer holidays.

The Pleasure Beach is located at the South Shore. I would usually shepherd my friends there by taking the tram from my house getting off either at the South Pier or the Pleasure Beach tram stop. From there, it was a leisurely stroll to the Pleasure Beach. The amusement park had many entry points and I remember during those days, there was no entrances fee. You only had to pay when you want to go on any one of the many rides. So, one could just walk into the theme park and start marveling at the many rides, attractions, and spectacular shows including magic shows, talent competitions, musicals, as well as stage shows. They had things for visitors of all ages and interests, children or adults.

Some of the popular family rides were the Dodgem Cars and the Monster, an octopus ride. Families with small children would make a beeline to these two rides, and there would almost always be a long queue there. As for the more serious visitors, older children and adults, the huge roller coasters would be the main draws. Two must-rides which I would always recommend to my friends were the Grand National and the Big Dipper which was guaranteed to get their adrenaline pumping.

And then of course there was the notorious Revolution.

Opened in 1979, which was the year I arrived in Blackpool, the Revolution was Europe’s first 360 degrees, fully looping roller coaster. The ride consisted of two raised platforms – which were the stations, located almost 60 feet above the ground – with a gigantic vertical loop in the centre. The train was launched by a catapult out of the first platform, down a drop and into the vertical loop, and then up onto the second platform. After a few seconds break, it was launched in reverse – read, backwards – to the first platform. It was said to reach up to speeds of 45 mph and a g force level of 4.0! Enough to make any rider queasy.

Certainly not one for the faint hearted, but for the Pleasure Beach, a definite crowd puller.

I must confess, though. Despite the fact that I’d been to the Pleasure Beach many times with my Blackpool friends and countless times more with friends from outstation, never once did I go up the Revolution. I am not that brave enough, okay. So, there you have it.

You can call me “chicken” all you like. I don’t mind the slightest. But before anyone does that, I would challenge him or her to take the ride themselves.

Everyone who succeeded the test would be rewarded for at the end of the ride you would be given a certificate to be framed for posterity as proof that you’d taken one of the most terrifying rides in the world.

But when I was doing the rounds taking my friends for their visit, of course I had bragged to them about how many times I’d been on the Revolution – and sounding very serious about it too – so that they’d excuse me for not taking it again with them this time around. Luckily, not once did they ever suspect that I was about to chicken out.

If you were not much into rides or shows then you can just enjoy watching other people enjoying themselves as the Pleasure Beach for – apart from the Revolution – it was truly a great place for a bit of harmless fun and enjoyable family outing. Kids with fistfuls of candy floss, or holding balloons of all shapes and colours meander around. Teenagers would be seen wearing T-shirts emblazoned with some catchy but sometimes crazy phrases, and caps or headgears in funny shapes and design.

So, visits to the Pleasure Beach, done once in a while, was not such a bad thing after all. Nothing much to harm, unless of course one gets seriously addicted to the rides which, for a poor student like me, could to throw my budget off balance.