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I'm quite new to this, so if I'm doing anything wrong please tell me. Also sorry for the photos I'm waiting to get a professional camera for my new hobby!
History (short)
The park opened in 1983 and was operating seasonally until late 2012. The park was based on the story of 'Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'. The local area was once covered by the largest lake in England Martin mere which was first drained in 1692 by Thomas Fleetwood of Bank hall in breatherton . (The story is that Sir Lancelot's parents King Ban of Benwick and his queen Elaine escaped to Lancashire from their enemies in France. Elaine went to help King Ban who had fallen and put Lancelot down on the shore of the lake, by where he was abducted by Vivian brought up Lancelot and when he went to King Arthur's court he was knighted as 'Sir Lancelot of the Lake'.) Martin Mere has been locally known as the 'Lost Lake of Sir Lancelot' following the myth.
. In June 1998 the park was subject to a management buyout in which the park went to Prime Resorts Ltd.
Camelot had seen a downturn in attendance in later years, in 1995, Camelot's attendance was 500,000 visitors throughout the season. In 2005 Camelot's attendance was only 336,204 visitors.
In a 2006 survey of healthy food available at leading tourist attractions in the UK, Camelot came joint bottom scoring only one point.
In February 2009, Prime Resorts announced that the park was in receivership and would not reopen for the 2009 season. The hotel was bought by Lavender Hotels in March 2009, and in April 2009, it was announced that a buyer had been found for the park and that it would reopen in May 2009.
The theme park was purchased by Story Group, a construction company based in Carlisle and leased to Knight's Leisure who ran the park. The site's future remains uncertain as the new owner is planning to redevelop the site. Current indications are that this will be a housing development.
The closure of the park was announced by its operator, Knights Leisure, in November 2012, the managing director blaming poor summer weather and events such as London 2012 and the Queen's Jubilee for declining visitor numbers.Today, some rollercoasters were sold (for example Whirlwind bought by the German "Skyline Park"), others rust in the abandoned park.
An application to build 420 houses on the site by owners Story Group was unanimously rejected by Chorley Council in August 2014 as the development was not permissible within the Green belt
As of 2015 the park is still standing, albeit crumbling and having been attacked several times by arsonists. Rides that still stand on the site include the Knicghtmare rollercoaster.
Our review:
Well, where can I start. Access? Pretty much you can just walk into it, no ducking and diving!
However, once your in, security is tight. While we was there, 7 close calls!
On entry, a quote derelict theme park, the buzz starts running, and inimmidiatly want to get to knightmare, when all of a sudden a Mitsubishi Evo comes from no where.
We all pelted it through the park, and jumped into an old ice cream hit and led on the floor, (for about twenty minutes, very uncomfortable!) once he had left we carried on very cautiously.
We bumped into a few other people who had just had some altercations, who was also chased by dogs earlier that day.
Anyway long story short, we made it round all the park, but security was at its highest near knightmare, two cars parked up, and a rather large man patrolling with a dog that looked as if it had thrombosis!
A great venture out, and so much to see. It took us approx two hours to get round fully.
Enjoy, but if you do take a visit, keep your head down!
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