Welcome to Pleasure Beach DataBase.

There’s no denying that this industry is one of change. Amusement Parks are expected to change and evolve, providing the latest and greatest thrills alongside experiences that invoke the nostalgia of visits gone by. The Pleasure Beach of today is a product of 125 years of evolution … from a quirky bicycle ride on the beach to the construction of world beating rides. I’ve tried to capture as much of the story here as I can alongside the stories of the people who made it happen.

I did build a website about the park around the time that Valhalla opened – it wasn’t great. Twenty five years later, here is version two. Since then, social media and a huge shift towards video content perhaps makes a site like this feel like something of another age, but I’ve tried to put something together that fans can explore at their own pace and that can grow over time.

I’d very much like this project to be collaborative, if you have ideas, would like to contribute content or would simply like to share your memories for inclusion, please Get In Touch or join our Facebook Group.

Please Note: This site is 100% unofficial and is not endorsed by Pleasure Beach Resort

You contact us via the Pleasure Beach DataBase Contributors group on Facebook or via our contact page.

Rides – 204

• Former – 166
• Current – 37
• Future – 1

Features – 47

• Arkive – 10
• Articles – 2
• Book Club – 1
• On Screen – 2
• Press Cuttings – 13
• Quizzes – 9
• YouTube Picks – 10

News Stories – 233

People – 11

• Bean & Thompson Family – 5
• Company & Industry Associates – 6

Buildings – 7

• Current – 6
• Former – 1

Entertainment – 138

Images – 592

Timeline Pages – 146

Site Updates – 1

‘Did You Know?’ Facts – 122
(displayed randomly on the homepage and on Rides pages)

“It has been said” Quotes – 24
(displayed randomly on the homepage)

Find out what’s new and updated on our Site Updates page.

Site 
Rick W

Photos, Research & Special Thanks

Rick W, Jeff Putz at coasterbuzz.com, John Burke, Michael Welsing, Christian Solars at solars.de, Duane Marden at rcdb.com, Clark Photo Archive, David McCubbin, John Thurm, Bruce Stokes, Russell Davies, Gavin Seipelt, National Fairground and Circus Archive – University of Sheffield Library, Prof. Vanessa Toulmin, Arantza Barrutia, Fairground Heritage Trust, Michael Smith, Emily Donoghue, Steve Wilson, Blackpool Pleasure Beach Ltd, Michael Whitaker, Arrow Dynamics, Wikimedia Commons, James Towers, Jeremy Thompson, Autosport, Tim Graham, Nigel Thompson, John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive, Caroline Chadwick, Michael Pantenburg at Schwarzkopf Coaster Net, Showbiz Pizza Wiki, Peter Procter, Gary Radice, Tony Miles, National Portrait Gallery, David Stringer, Gambitek, Henry Brett, Peter C, daves_archive, monaj1015, Ian Dick

35mm Slide Digitisation

Film Scan

Video Digitisation

Emily Ruth Photography

A full list of individual sources for everything on this website would be impossible to compile. Aside from personal memories from 100s of visits we have used newspapers, books, photos, postcards, websites etc over a long period of time to pull together everything that you find here today.

These sources have been particularly invaluable when putting this website together :

Books

A Century of Fun
Peter Bennett
ISBN 9780951467725

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: More Than Just an Amusement Park
Professor Vanessa Toulmin
ISBN 9780956445216

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: A Hundred Years of Fun
Peter Bennett
ISBN 9780951467718

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: A Palette of Life
Julia Midgley
ISBN 0951467743

Blackpool Pleasure Beach – Through the Camera of Lichfield
Photos by Lord Lichfield
Text by Barbara Aird & Peter Stones
ISBN 0951467700

Emberton
Rosemary Ind
ISBN 9780859676755

Riding on Rainbows
John K. Walton
ISBN 9780954457365

The Architecture of Pleasure: British Amusement Parks 1900–1939
Josephine Kane
ISBN 9781409410744

The Blackpool Pleasure Beach Story
Steve Palmer
ISBN N/A

Tom Purvis: Art for the Sake of Money
Ruth Artmonsky and David Preston
ISBN 9780957387560

Unrivalled Excellence – Hot Ice
Peter Bennett
ISBN 9780951467732

Many of these are now out of print, but you may find a copy from our friends at Joyland Books.

Websites

British Newspaper Archive
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

Bits Of The Beach / themagiceye
https://www.joylandbooks.com/themagiceye/bitsofthebeach/

Coasterbuzz
https://www.coasterbuzz.com

Coasterpedia
https://www.coasterpedia.net

Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com

RideRater
https://www.riderater.co.uk

Roller Coaster Database
https://www.rcdb.com