I went behind the scenes at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach Resort while it's closed - I couldn't believe how busy it was
This week I got the chance very few people get - a look around the world-famous Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool when nobody else was there.
The park will be reopening Nickolodean Land and it’s Wallace and Gromit ride this weekend for half term, but won’t fully reopen until March 1.
Like every year, the 42-acre site has been closed since the end of November, and if you think that the place goes to sleep over winter, you couldn’t be more wrong. When I turned up on a cold and damp Wednesday morning, I expected it to be eerie, but the staff car park was packed, and the place was humming with activity.
Road sweepers and jet washers were out, rides with empty carriages were rattling round tracks and engineers are busy putting rides back together after they’ve been stripped back and serviced.
Andy Hygate, operations director at Pleasure Beach Resort said: “What a lot of people don’t realise when they come to an amusement park is all the work that goes on over what we call the close season. We close at the end of November, and if you think nothing happens over winter, you’d be very, very wrong. Certainly for engineering, it is the busiest time of the year. They have to make sure they do all the maintenance work, all the preparation work, to hand the rides back to us.
“I work in operations, so when engineering have got everything in tip-top condition, we have to do indepth training with our staff to make sure that by the time the visitors come through the door, eveything’s ready to go as it should.”
Staff
During the closed season, 400 permanent members of staff are at work, with up to an extra 600 employed during open season. Some engineers like 18-year-old Laura Johnson jokingly refer to having two jobs - one for planned work, and one for responding to calls over the radio and setting up for guests.
As well as engineers, there’s also a whole team of cleaners using recycled water from Valhalla to wash the paths, artists sprucing up displays that have been battered by the coastal elements, specialists tuning the organ in the Derby Racer carousel, a wardrobe department creating new outfits for spooky figures in the Ghost Train ride, and a traditional signwriter keeping the heritage alive.
Andy Milner has worked at the Pleasure Beach since 2002, and is one of the last people to serve a traditional signwriting apprenticeship in the 1970s. He is tasked with hand-producing a range of signs for around the park and in the food areas, which reflect the history of the park which opened in 1896. He also produces a range of more modern vinyl signs that show how the park is successfully bridging the gap between eras.
And that’s what makes it so special for staff there - some who are second and third generation workers. Laura added: “Working on rides like Icon which is brand new, to the Big One which is 30 years old and the Big Dipper, which is 100, it’s just a once-in-a lifetime job and I can’t wait to spend my whole working career here.”
Opening information
The Nickelodeon Land area of the park, which is aimed at families and younger riders, is open now for February half term until Sunday February 23, with tickets priced at £25.00 when booked online.
Pleasure Beach opens in full on Saturday March 1. Guest can secure the best value tickets at www.pleasurebeachresort.com, where prices start at £34.00 for adults and £29.00 for children under 12.