The History
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 marten mere, which was first drained in 1692 by Thomas Fleetwood of Bank hall in Bretherton. (The story is that Sir lancelots 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 nymph Vivian who vanished into the waters of the lake with him. 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 1986 it was taken over by The Granada Group and operated by them alongside its now defunct sister parks American Adventure and Granada studios tour. In June 1998 the park was subject to a management buyout in which the park went to Prime Resorts Ltd.
In a 2006 survey of healthy food available at leading tourist attractions in the UK, Camelot came joint bottom scoring only one point.
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 roller coasters were sold (for example Whirlwind bought by the German "Skyline Park"), others rust in the abandoned park.
The Explore
Heard around the Camelot was going and was going very quickly. Had to go with @Lancashire lad & @godgp78 to see if what we heard was right.. Turns out it was..
After getting in (which was harder than last time) we got to work photographing everything we could, we were in for about an hour before we got collared of the security and was escorted out..
Say a final goodbye to the most hated place on 28DL..
Enjoy..
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 marten mere, which was first drained in 1692 by Thomas Fleetwood of Bank hall in Bretherton. (The story is that Sir lancelots 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 nymph Vivian who vanished into the waters of the lake with him. 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 1986 it was taken over by The Granada Group and operated by them alongside its now defunct sister parks American Adventure and Granada studios tour. In June 1998 the park was subject to a management buyout in which the park went to Prime Resorts Ltd.
In a 2006 survey of healthy food available at leading tourist attractions in the UK, Camelot came joint bottom scoring only one point.
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 roller coasters were sold (for example Whirlwind bought by the German "Skyline Park"), others rust in the abandoned park.
The Explore
Heard around the Camelot was going and was going very quickly. Had to go with @Lancashire lad & @godgp78 to see if what we heard was right.. Turns out it was..
After getting in (which was harder than last time) we got to work photographing everything we could, we were in for about an hour before we got collared of the security and was escorted out..
Say a final goodbye to the most hated place on 28DL..
Enjoy..
