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OCEAN BEACH MEMOIRS: PAGE 3 by Paul Beesley Gallery: Added August 2007 |
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
I decided to take the risk of been shouted at by security
and take a walk up the steps into the fun fair. It was at this point the kids wanted to follow me but, mums being mums, she decided they were best kept out of the way. |
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
Walking into an empty Amusement Park is an eerie feeling. Any coaster club members or groups associated with parks will also recognise this feeling. |
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
I spent a few minutes walking around, being careful not to touch anything, and took a few pictures of the rides that were in the immediate vicinity and walked back down the steps onto the car park. |
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
We walked further along the back of the fair towards the Water Chute and up to the next
entrance to another gap in the fence.
This time the gap
allowed access to The Water Chute - it was something I couldn’t
really resist - and walked into the fair again, heading over
towards it.
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
Both cars of The Water Chute were sat in the station and the immediate area
around the ride was very clean as if it had been swept earlier.
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
If I had had the guts I would have taken a walk up the lift hill but the risk of been spotted from outside the park soon put me off. |
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
Instead I opted for a good look
around the mechanics of the ride and a look at the brake
hut. I always wondered as a child what they did in this hut when you came down the hill towards the water. I remember seeing someone in the hut operating a couple of levers. All was finally revealed! A lever operates a bar which in turn operates the brakes just before you
enter the ride entrance.
Apart from a stool and a heater there was nothing much else inside
this hut.
For some crazy reason, as a child I expected the bridge of the Starship Enterprise
to be concealed inside here!
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
Even as a child - and more likely to have been into Cowboys and Indians than
roller coasters at the time - I thought that the bit of theming around this ride was pretty good.
It gave the impression of a western town, and the wooden/steel look of the structure added to this. |
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 Image: Paul Beesley |
Having spent what seemed like an eternity taking pictures of The Water
Chute, I finally decided to go back out of the fair and join the family.
The trip inside the park had been something of a bonus for me.
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| More on Ocean Beach | |
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Jet Stream Roller
Coaster - featured on The History of the Belle Vue Zoological
Gardens Vol 3 DVD Ocean Beach and Marine Lake Photo Gallery Ocean Beach Demolition Photo Gallery |
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| About the Author | |
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Paul Beesley
is a 37 year old IT consultant
whose interests include theme/amusement parks, photography and IT.
As a Liverpool FC fan he attends most of
the home games.
Paul has two children (although his wife
Karen thinks she has three) and they spend their spare time visiting
amusement parks.
Paul counts Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Alton
Towers and Oakwood amongst his favourite parks and dark
rides/ghost trains amongst his favourite attractions.
More recently Paul is getting into
coasters after joining the European Coaster Club and - at the time of writing this - is looking forward to a forthcoming
trip to Cedar Point, Ohio, USA
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