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Revision as of 18:53, 7 September 2004
Now Alton Towers is perhaps Britain's best known theme park. It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire, on the site of an old mansion by the same name.
History of gardens
As an example of the Mixed Style of Humphrey Repton's gardens, Alton Towers' garden was begun, ca. 1814 by the eccentric 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, of whom J. C. Loudon (who was consulted on design features of which there were many) relates that he consulted every artist, only to avoid 'whatever an artist might recommend'. Loudon's published criticism remains history's wittiest pan of preposterous garden design since Alexander Pope.
Alton Towers grew into a collection of gardens: a Swiss Cottage, a Stonehenge, a Dutch garden, a Pagoda Fountain, said to be based on the To Ho pagoda in Canton, Lysicrates' Choragic Monument from Athens (a feature in English gardens since the 1760s), domed glasshouses (originally gilded), even a fairly large Matterhorn as a backing to one of England's earliest Alpine gardens.
The first garden gnomes were introuduced at Alton Towers, in punishment for which the rides and slides of the modern Theme Park add to the eccentricity of a nobleman's fancy whose parkland, 'the work of a morbid imagination, joined to the command of unlimited resourses' (according to Loudon) is now also occupied by a hundred acres of 'sensational rides and attractions'.
Modern theme park
Alton Towers was purchased by The Tussauds Group in 1990. Today it is notable for its extreme rides, including Nemesis, a rollercoaster in which people hang with their legs dangling down (or up as the case may be), Oblivion, the world's first vertical drop rollercoaster and The Black Hole, a rather conventional rollercoaster if it wasn't for the twist of being in complete darkness. The oldest rollercoaster at the site is Corkscrew, a ride with two inversions which many riders find uncomfortable due to it's rough track. Billed as the first of it's kind, Air is a rollercoaster, unusual in that finders find themselves suspended horizontally facing down, as though flying. This is known as a flying roller coaster. Inside the towers is the ride Hex, a surreal attraction which is based on a myth surrounding the towers and their history. The latest attraction is a spinning rollercoaster named Spinball Whizzer, aimed more towards families than thrillseekers.
Guests can stay at one of two hotels on the site. Doing this also gives them access to a newly built water park.
Template:Noteworthy Amusement Parks