In the 1980s the park began to expand in size, building on the former grass car parks. Take an aerial look at Towers Street under construction and the area prior to any development.

Prior to development

This amazing aerial photo from the 1950s shows the entire North side of the park just after it opened to the public. The same picture today would show Forbidden Valley and the Resort accommodation in the distance with Mutiny Bay, Towers Street and CBeebies Land where the nearer open fields lie. Notable features include:

  • Looking towards the lakes you can see some of the early park attractions – the Sea Lion Pool and Lakeside Bandstand (today behind fences opposite Spinball).
  • Note the cars parked on the fields where Towers Street now exists.
  • The courtyard buildings which are still in the park today.
  • The curved road in the middle of the photo is the approximate location of Towers Street, with the trees either side of the road being where the entrance gates now stand.
  • In the bottom left of the image is the entrance road to the park that still exists today – looking closely you can see the gates in the same location.

During construction

A rare look at Towers Street under construction from above in 1986. Whilst the main attraction here is the construction itself, the picture also gives us several other interesting insights into the park of the late 1980s:

  • In the top left can be seen the freshly installed Grand Canyon Rapids at the end of their first season in the park.
  • Off to the right of the Rapids is The Flume – notice the white framework station with no roof.
  • Below the Rapids and The Flume is Aqualand (now Mutiny Bay) featuring:
    • Octopus and Cine360 (which would become the 3D Cinema) on the site now occupied by Sharkbait Reef.
    • The coloured canopy of the Crown Carousel and the white Cable Car station – both of these would be removed at the end of the 1986 season to make way for the Tea Cups.
    • The Mississippi Showboat just below The Flume on the right hand-side.
    • In the courtyard you can see the outdoor tables of the Pizza Place restaurant and below the courtyard are the buildings which housed the Aquarium and Shell Shop.
  • The grey circle below Aqualand marks the spot where the Big Top once resided before it was moved to the site of the Ice Arena – it looks to have been removed for winter maintenance. Today this is a backstage area, housing the maintenance and Skyride storage facilities.
  • Alongside the Towers Street construction can be seen the park’s entrance gates and tower, which were built the previous season – note the space already in place for the Monorail to run along the entry gates.
  • At the foot of Towers Street sits the Sea Lion Pool.
  • Finally, below Towers Street is the site which would just three years late become the Farmyard (now CBeebies Land).