R.I.P Corkscrew 4/4/80 - 9/11/08

Image from Alton Tower's official website.




This was my first ever roller coaster and started my life-long obsession.
I will miss this beautiful yellow beast(The red track going across is part of Rita:Queen of Speed).
Hopefully her identical cousin will keep going for a long time at Flamingo Land.

Theme Park - Alton Towers
First Installed - 1980
Opening Date - 4th April 1980
Location - Ug Land
Cost - £1.25 million
Manufacturer - Vekoma
Designer - Arrow Dynamics
Weight - 350 tonnes
Track Length - 728 metres
Height Of Drop - 23 metres
Maximum Speed - 44 mph (70 km/h)
Maximum G Force - 3.1 G
Ride Duration - Approx. 1 minute, 45 seconds
Capacity - 24 per train
Throughput - 43,449,840 people
Total Cycles - 1,810,410
Distance Travelled - 1,317,978.48 Kilometres/ 818,953.31 Miles
Seating Arrangement - 2 trains, 6 cars per train, 2 row per car, 2 seats per row
Restraint Type - Shoulder restraints
Height Restriction - 1.2 metres



We had our last go on her, on Saturday the 8th of November 2008.
And, as a parting gift, she whacked our jaws with her restraints...
She was getting a bit rough in her old age!



References. ukrides.info
towers times
Alton Tower's official site.

London 22nd August 08

Darren and I went around London for the day, doing the tourist thing for a change.
We started off visiting Camden Market for some new clothes, and to look around.

The first image is the shop Sai Sai, the lady in the shop helped me to choose the coolest outfit. Then advised me on how to succesfully hide my money from baddies, I'm extremely grateful to her.
Next is the shop where I bought tons of the net and lacy gloves that I go cuckoo over!
The other picture is a stall where a man was selling the most beautiful fairies, he sold me a fairy sitting on a Dragon's back from the Nemesis Now range. He let me take a photo after I spent ages admiring his stall.


Here is the Horse Tunnel Market, the little shops all look like horse stalls, I was entranced in here for some time.

Then we went to the London Dungeons to learn all about the plague and Jack the Ripper.. And, to be beheaded by Darren, it was very relaxing.


After that, we had a lovely dinner, and resumed walking along Tower Bridge.


Some lovely images from and on Tower Bridge, I love the gargoyle thing.


The London eye, in the distance, the view of the pod above us when we went on the London eye. And, a lovely night shot of Post Office Tower.

More views from the eye...
Including the best mime that I've ever seen, apart from the invisible man.
He's a Policeman in a tutu, sporting a Charlie Chaplin moustache, Fabulous!

Then we went to Ripley's Believe it or not at Piccadilly Circus, but that's for another blog entry!

Legoland (Heaven)

Darren and I went to Legoland Windsor, it's an amazing place. I will let the pictures do the talking.


How cool!! A lego dog stealing a sausage, tower bridge and a portrait of her majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second.


I really loved the dragon...

That last one is a ride that goes around on a little track..

The next series are from LEGO city and can easily be mistaken for the real buildings (well, by me anyway!)


The information panel says, "The vehicle assembly building (VAB)is one of the largest buildings in the world, it is almost twice the height of Big Ben. The real VAB is so vast that it has a complex ventilation system to prevent the formation of clouds and even rain inside the building. Legoland's model is built at 1:80 scale."


Sacre Coeur, Paris.
The panel says, "This majestic cathedral, which translates as the 'Sacred Heart'. is located high up on the Montmartre hill. While the actual cathedral in Paris is 80 metres tall at it;s highest point, the LEGO version is just 2 metres tall!"
And, here is Mr Brick waving at his adoring fans.

Canary Wharf and a lego tube station. A LEGO construction site!and Leeds Castle that is actually in Kent.

The panel by the palace asks "can you find the gold topped bottle left by the milkman?" well, yes I can!!


(I will write more soon, about the London trip, the ten pence ran out on the keyboard.)

Drayton Manor Saturday 9th August 2008

Estella went away with Auntie Carol this week.
So we decided to take the babies to Drayton Manor for a day out. Drayton Manor has an area called Thomas World, and as the babies both love Thomas the Tank engine, they were made up!
Thy went on Jeremy's flying school first with Daddy in the rain, they were soggy; but extremely happy.

Cranky the crane was a mini drop tower, and both babies loved it. They looked very little in the big chair.

Daisy had her first try on a driving school, she loved it.
She seems to have mastered road rage at a young age! She was very cross when a little boy bumped into her car.
They went on Bertie's Bus, which is a bus that you get in, then it spins round in circles.

We went on the troublesome trucks rollercoaster, the kids cackled like loons.

They also enjoyed Diesel's locomotion mayhem and the spinning barrels.

The babies were delighted to see the Fat Controller, we're supposed to call him Sir Topham Hatt or something. He was the fat controller when I was a kid, so my kids call him that!



There was also plenty for the adults to do. We went on Maelstrom, which is a spinning gyro swing, it was nice and relaxing.

We went on Apocalypse, which is a huge drop tower with the option of standing up as you drop, unfortunately the floorless section of the tower, where you can drop with no foot rest wasn't open.

We also went on one of my favourite rides, the only stand up roller coaster in Europe, Shockwave. I still get huge adrenaline thrills on this ride.



References. http://www.ukrides.info/