Pictured above: Drayton Manor Park

 

The award winning attraction Drayton Manor Park will be starting its 60th Anniversary celebrations with a spectacular firework and laser display.

The theme park will be lit up with a jaw-dropping array of colours as thrill seekers ride into the night on many of the roller coasters and attractions at Drayton Manor Theme Park.

A monumental scale audio visual feast will take visitors on an exhilarating journey though the history of Drayton Manor Park and its main attractions. The lake will play host to fan-shaped water fountains acting as projection screens and the skies will provide a unique canvas for fireworks, aerial writing lasers, flame and fire effects and search lights revealing the park's biggest, most exciting and successful rides. Many of these rides will also be the launch platforms for much of the displays whilst fireworks also float across the lake.

The 60th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee display promises to be the biggest and most spectacular ever held at the theme park. The display will be held on 31st October and 1st November starting at 7.00pm, last admission to the park is 6.00pm with selected rides open until 9.00pm.

Historical Drayton and the Bryan Family Legacy

Today, more than one million visitors pass through the gates of Drayton Manor Park, whether it's for the thrill of the white-knuckle rides, the family experience of Europe's first Thomas Land or to see all the many animal species in the park's impressive zoo. However, 60 years ago, Drayton Manor Park looked very different - there was no Shockwave, G-Force or Pandemonium, to tackle the site which was the then derelict Peel Estate, once belonging to Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the Metropolitan Police Force. 

George Bryan, now an OBE, and his wife Vera, with help from their parents, purchased the 80 acre site with the ambition of turning it into a pleasure park akin to California-in-England, Berkshire which Vera's father owned. With them they brought, their 15 month old son, Colin, who is now the Managing Director of the theme park.

When the park was purchased on October 16, 1949 and subsequently opened on 1st April 1950 the facilities for the public to enjoy consisted of a makeshift small restaurant, a party tea room for around 150 people, three hand operated rides, half a dozen row boats and a number of pedal cars a far cry from the multi-million pound roller-coasters and entertainment found there today.

Drayton Manor offered an escape for the legions of working men from surrounding collieries in Tamworth and Staffordshire and the factories in north Birmingham and of course, their families at weekends. It wasn't long before the park became a hugely popular destination in the area and even made a profit in its first year.

Animal Antics

In 1957 George and Vera added a zoo farm which housed a leopard, bears, llamas, exotic birds, monkeys and a small reptile house. The zoo now hosts over 100 species including tigers, penguins, meerkats and the largest collection of reptiles and owls in the Midlands and continues to provide educational services to the many school groups and even more families that descend upon Drayton Manor each year.

Drayton Manor Zoo is now striving to conserve rare and endangered species from all over the world , whilst providing a living classroom for conservation, recreation, research and education.

A baby boom at Drayton Manor Zoo means there are even more animals for families to see. Among the new arrivals to the zoo are baby rhesus monkeys, marmosets, tamarins, Cameroon lambs, ring tailed lemurs and red squirrels. Animal lovers can watch as the babies explore and play in their new surroundings under the watchful eye of their mothers.

More than just tea & cakes…

In the 1960s Drayton Manor Park ventured into new territory with the opening of the Tower Ballroom providing the facilities for thousands to enjoy dinner dances to a soundtrack provided by some of the most popular big band names of the day including leading stars of their era, Victor Sylvester, Edmundo Ross and later on Acker Bilk, Joe Loss and many more big bands of the time.

Today Drayton Manor has three function suites and an army of catering and events staff who provide services for private functions, anniversaries, birthday parties, wedding receptions, corporate dinners, conferences, exhibitions and product launches. Such events have experienced rapid growth in recent years to the extent that non-leisure park activities count for a significant percentage of the park's turn-over.  For more details, contact - banqueting@draytonmanor.co.uk

Today - The Era of The Big Rides

Since October 16th 1949, Drayton Manor Park has come an extremely long way and, although isn't completely unrecognisable from what it looked like 60 years ago, the huge breath taking rides have certainly changed the landscape of the Staffordshire based theme park.

Rides such as Shockwave - Europe's only stand up rollercoaster, Apocalypse and G-Force are all major feats in rollercoaster technology and ensure that Drayton Manor Park continues to impress the millions of visitors it welcomes through the gates.

 

Pictured above: G-Force at Drayton Manor Park.

 

Some of the exhilarating rides include:

G-Force

A white-knuckle journey through 385 meters of rolls, tight camelbacks, high backed curves and loops at over 70 kph.

Apocalypse

Apocalypse is the world's first stand-up drop tower, which takes people 54 metres into the sky before dropping at over 4Gs and  is recognised as the most terrifying ride in the UK by The Gadget Show. Visitors can choose to ride either sitting, standing, or with no footrest at all - so real thrill-seekers hang with nothing to hold them in but their shoulder restraints

Maelstrom

A stomach-churning gyro-swing that makes riders face outwards, through 27 metre high swings. 

Pandemonium

64 riders on two massive gondolas swing through 360 degree at a height of nearly 25 metres and a force of 3.8 Gs.

Shockwave

Europe's only stand-up Rollercoaster voted "The Best Stand-Up Rollercoaster in the World" by the Rollercoaster Club of Great Britain.

Splash Canyon

Over half a mile of fast-flowing white water rapids, churning and swirling at over a thousand litres per second.

Stormforce 10

The UK's first reverse chute water coaster. With a 180 degree platform that sends boats backwards down an amazing nine metre drop.

Thomas Land 

For the first time in Europe, Thomas The Tank Engine and his friends have their very own home at Thomas Land at Drayton Manor Park. Families can experience the magic of Sodor and interact with their favourite characters as never before. The popular children's character Thomas the Tank Engine™ arrived at his new home within Thomas Land™ Staffordshire in March 2008.

The first Thomas Land™ was launched in 1998 in Japan in the Fujikyu Park, which attracts over 1.7 million visitors each year. 

Thomas Land™ at Drayton Manor is the first in Europe and features 12 themed rides based on the popular Thomas & Friends™ series and books. Aimed at pre-school children and their parents, a special Thomas train ride takes fans of all ages on an enchanting journey through the attraction, which has been carefully created in partnership with HIT Entertainment, the producers and rights owners of Thomas & Friends™. No detail has been overlooked in the effort to authentically replicate Sodor at Drayton Manor Theme Park.

Other rides within Thomas Land™ are based on loveable and well-known characters, including Harold the Helicopter, Cranky the Crane, Bertie the Bus, as well as the rascals of the railway, The Troublesome Trucks. For a true family experience, parents will be able to go on most of the rides with their children. But that's not all. Thomas Land™, a £7.5m attraction, also includes indoor and outdoor play areas, two café's and a huge toy shop - which is the largest in Europe - where fans can choose from a massive range of Thomas & Friends™ goodies.

Thomas the Tank Engine Exhibition 

Following on from the successful launch of Thomas Land in 2008, a never-seen-before exhibition is currently wowing visitors and Thomas-enthusiasts alike. Used to film 11 series of Thomas & Friends over 24 years at Shepperton Studios, the exhibition features real live sets from the Island of Sodor and includes favourite engines from Thomas & Friends, including Edward and Percy and of course, 'really useful' Thomas. 

The exhibition also includes live action sets where visitors will be able to watch engines puff around one of the most famous locations from the Thomas & Friends series inside a purposefully built big barn at Farmer McCall's Farm. Original illustrations from the first Thomas & Friends books written by the Rev. W Awdry will also be on display.

4D Cinema

A brand new 152-seat 4D cinema opened with great success in 2009, offering a wide choice of films. The state-of-the-art theatre, developed by simulation specialist Simworx UK, allows the audience to watch a movie in 3D while seated in specially-designed chairs which move, slide and rumble in sync, with action on the big screen. Additional features include water sprays, blasts of air, leg ticklers, smoke, bubbles and even potent smells that are released at key moments during the show. For Halloween 2009, frightening spectacular, 'The Haunted House' will be shown in 4D glory - adding that extra dimension to the spooky season. With the Curse of Skull Rock operational alternately during the day.

The Future

Drayton Manor is developing a 150-bedroom hotel on the site, offering even more to its visitors.

The hotel will be located in the surrounding parkland and has been designed to blend in with the woodland setting. Once built, it will provide overnight family and business accommodation for visitors to the theme park, including Thomas The Tank Engine themed family rooms to compliment the hugely popular Thomas Land™. 

Other facilities will include two restaurants, a coffee shop and a Thomas Land Playroom!   

Up to 30 full-time and 30 part-time job opportunities will be created when the hotel opens with conferencing and banqueting facilities complementing those already at the theme park and will see the hotel in use all year round, generating new business for local suppliers and other attractions in the area.

Still to this day, Drayton Manor Park is owned and run by the Bryan family with Colin at the helm with his sons William and George, nephew Edward Pawley and niece Helen Pawley-Tuft, which makes for an impressive story of a successful independent British business in an age of chain attractions.

Here's to the next 60 years!