Folkestone Pleasure Beach and the Rotunda - Image Heavy

Ok - so this one happened by complete accident. I went to Folkestone with the kids recently, expecting to have a nice day out at the Pleasure Beach (or Rotunda, as we use t'call it when I were a lad) , only to find out that most of it has been demolished! The rotunda was a huge funfair type park, owned by local bigshot Jimmy Godden, as evidenced by the fact that he had the bollards at the entrance monogrammed with his initials (see photo below). The only two bits of the park left are the substation building - presumably because it is still live, and the crazy golf course, which is now in a right old state, owing to vandalism and weather damage. The substation is quite important, because when I was a teenager (mid-eighties) the park had a huge Looping Star type rollercoaster and a load of arcade buildings all of which must have put a proper strain on the national grid. Anyway, a sad demise for a bit of British Seaside history, which alongside the happenings at Weston Supermare is all a bit depressing....


These are the bollards intialled JG after the parks owner


These next three are of the substation building






This is a wide view of the site - the round patch of rubble is the site of the rotunda building (basically a big amusement arcade) which was how the park got its name.


And these last few are all of the crazy Golf course. Crazy indeed....











If you want to know any more, let me know, or see more pics at
http://s336.photobucket.com/albums/n353/mechagodzilla73/Folkestone Pleasure Beach/


GDZ

Bilmy, they've demolished even more of it than when I last went there! The amusement park rides disappeared quite some time ago now, several years probably, but when I was last there (probably about a year ago) there were still some buildings left that were still used, but by the looks of things they've gone as well now!

Shame really as it used to be a very busy and popular seaside location, but as soon as the amusement park closed that was the end of it really. Every time I've been since, it's been a bit of a ghost beach, with hardly anyone using it.

Thanks for posting the pics

Mike.

godzilla73 said:

Anyway, a sad demise for a bit of British Seaside history, which alongside the happenings at Weston Supermare is all a bit depressing....

Click to expand...

It is all a bit depressing. When Warners Holiday Camp was being demolished in my town I got talking to one of the town councillors. He was saying that there's no call anymore for the traditional British holiday...I could almost see the pound signs in his eyes, he was that gleeful. It rather begs the question as to who does the calling...perhaps not the holiday-makers?
Thanks for sharing your pics.

Just seen these pics and nearly cried. When I lived in Kent we spent all our summers in Folkestone and nearly all of them at or around the Rotunda. My mum remembers the times when the Olympic size swimming pool used to be down there as well, before they went and filled it in.
But seeing these pics makes me more determined to capture images of these sites before they vanish forever. Many thanks.

This is typical of so many seaside resorts. Recently I drove through Whitley Bay, North Tyneside and the dereliction and neglect was unreal. Whitley bay was famous for it's pubs and nightclubs but now few are left. The venues which have closed down are simply left to rot and rust in those harsh North Sea winds we have.
I counted 5 boarded up pubs within a quarter mile of each other.

I do not know what Folkestone Pleasure Beach and Rotunda originally looked like so does anyone have any "before" pics they could put up?

I do not know what Folkestone Pleasure Beach and Rotunda originally looked like so does anyone have any "before" pics they could put up?[/QUOTE]


There are some pretty good ones at
http://www.joylandbooks.com/scenicrailway/images/gallery1b.htm

Its certainly a shame - though Folkestone seems to want to re-invent itself as a sort of Clapham-on-sea type resort (a la Margate) what with its fledgling Literary Festival and The Folkestone Triennial, with Roger de Haan (the owner of SAGA) putting in most of the money, so that the whole town seems to have become his personal fiefdom !


GDZ

At last pics of folkestone rotunda and the olympic size swimming pool.

for more pics
http://bbhilda.topcities.com/Folkestone/FolkestoneThen_Now.html
This is the pool


This is the rotunda


Enjoy

good report in a good and bad way
good to see the before and after pictures bad that a bit of seaside history is gone.
any idea what they will do with it now?