i’ve thought about posting this on and off for a while, is it interesting enough or not, couldn’t decide but now i’ve decided why not.
So along the back of Thorpe Park is a public footpath known as Monks Walk, during off season when the park is getting ready to open for the year we take a stroll down here and watch the testing going on with the rides etc. On our first visit we came across a bobsleigh the other side of the fence that separates monks walk from the lake, thought it was a bit of an odd find in a wooded area and it remained a mystery how it got there. I assumed perhaps it was MOD land as the bobsleigh has British Army on the side of it.
Earlier this year we went for our annual stroll and saw it again, found a way through and investigated, I asked on a thorpe park group if anyone had any ideas why it was there and discovered there was a training track there so we went back and found the track buried under leaves etc.
whilst it’s not the most exciting find it caused quite a stir on the group and it was nice to solve the mystery of the random bobsleigh in the woods.
there is a long collapsed shed nearby that may have been something to do with it, perhaps the old starting station.
history -
So discovered there was once a dry slope for the british bobsleigh team on the outskirts of Thorpe Park. It wasn’t open to the public and appears on a Thorpe Park map from the early 80s. You can see some of the old track but to clear it all you’d need a shovel or something, the area is very overgrown in places.
theres a couple of videos of it on youtube from years back, one a news report and one of some lads riding it. I believe it was built in the winter of 1980. it marked as 56 on the map
other than that there is no other history that i can find.
So along the back of Thorpe Park is a public footpath known as Monks Walk, during off season when the park is getting ready to open for the year we take a stroll down here and watch the testing going on with the rides etc. On our first visit we came across a bobsleigh the other side of the fence that separates monks walk from the lake, thought it was a bit of an odd find in a wooded area and it remained a mystery how it got there. I assumed perhaps it was MOD land as the bobsleigh has British Army on the side of it.
Earlier this year we went for our annual stroll and saw it again, found a way through and investigated, I asked on a thorpe park group if anyone had any ideas why it was there and discovered there was a training track there so we went back and found the track buried under leaves etc.
whilst it’s not the most exciting find it caused quite a stir on the group and it was nice to solve the mystery of the random bobsleigh in the woods.
there is a long collapsed shed nearby that may have been something to do with it, perhaps the old starting station.
history -
So discovered there was once a dry slope for the british bobsleigh team on the outskirts of Thorpe Park. It wasn’t open to the public and appears on a Thorpe Park map from the early 80s. You can see some of the old track but to clear it all you’d need a shovel or something, the area is very overgrown in places.
theres a couple of videos of it on youtube from years back, one a news report and one of some lads riding it. I believe it was built in the winter of 1980. it marked as 56 on the map
other than that there is no other history that i can find.
