One of the beloved household locations, an iconic theme park shut its gates for good – and its former rides have now fully vanished.
Roughly 250,000 folks visited the theme park in 1997 (Picture: Gary McNair/Flickr Inventive Commons)
A as soon as cherished theme park that delighted households for greater than a decade now enjoys a significantly extra tranquil existence following its everlasting closure. Loudoun Citadel Theme Park – situated close to Galston, Ayrshire – opened to the general public in 1995 after a £2.5million funding within the historic property surrounding Loudoun Citadel, and rapidly established itself as one in all Scotland’s most recognisable household points of interest.
For 15 years, the venue drew hundreds of holiday makers every season with rollercoasters, water rides and household leisure, together with a petting farm, set towards the dramatic backdrop of the Nineteenth-century fortress and its expansive grounds. Nonetheless, regardless of its reputation, the park closed its doorways in 2010 and is now privately owned land which accommodates residents. Throughout its prime, the park boasted over 20 rides and points of interest, together with the Twist ‘n’ Shout coaster, The Rat, and the formidable Nemesis trip, alongside log flumes, youngsters’s rides and themed play areas.
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This theme park entertained households for greater than a decade (Picture: Loudoun Citadel Vaults/Wikimedia Commons)
Loudoun Citadel Theme Park additionally housed a petting farm referred to as McDougall’s Farm and the park’s mascot was Rory the Lion.
Households from throughout Scotland and northern England would journey to the positioning in the course of the summer season season, making it a preferred day journey vacation spot for 15 years.
It drew round 170,000 to 200,000 guests yearly throughout its peak years, with roughly 250,000 in 1997 alone.
Customer numbers started to say no within the late 2000s as competitors from bigger UK theme parks intensified.
The park’s house owners additionally confronted mounting operational prices and struggled to safe long-term funding to modernise the attraction.
After the 2010 season drew to a detailed, the park shut its gates completely, with these working it declaring the enterprise was now not financially viable.
The location is now off-limits to the general public, because the grounds function a personal residence.
Loudoun Citadel was destroyed by fireplace in 1941 (Picture: Tom Morrison/Wikimedia Commons)
Images beforehand shared on-line had revealed rusting rollercoaster tracks, overgrown pathways and deserted constructions slowly being swallowed up by nature. Now, nonetheless, the rides and points of interest have disappeared from the positioning completely.
The encircling property itself boasts an extended and turbulent historical past. The Loudoun property was traditionally the seat of the highly effective Campbell household, the Earls of Loudoun.
Through the Second World Struggle, the fortress was used to deal with evacuated youngsters and army personnel. The present fortress – constructed within the early 1800s by architect Archibald Elliot – was devastated by a hearth in 1942, and its ruins nonetheless stand close by, solely including to the eerie environment of the derelict park.
These ruins, that are fenced off and deemed unsafe for public entry, stay a Class A listed construction, putting important restrictions on any current redevelopment plans. Plans for a £450million vacation and leisure complicated on the Loudoun Citadel website had been put ahead in 2014, in accordance with IrvineTimes, although the proposals had been in the end turned down.
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