Forgotten UK theme park reclaimed by nature eight years after closing its doorways
A former tourist attraction has been left abandoned and overgrown eight years after it closed its doors to funseekers.
Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire was one thriving with rollercoasters and thrill rides. But an eerie silence has since befell the site, hidden beneath shrubbery and weeds.
After the turnstyles ground to a halt, the chilling remnants of the long-lost theme park has been drawing only urban explorers, with plans to demolish the site yet to materialise.
READ MORE: ‘Time traveller’ returns from 2671 to warn us about 5 ‘danger’ events coming this year
Click for more of the latest news from the Daily Star.
Fascinating pictures unlock memories of happier times as well as evoking sadness over what has become of it.
(Image: Pleasure Island)
Speaking to GrimsbyLive, Alfie Lugsden who runs Pleasure Island Archive Facebook page said: “My dad, who has passed away, used to take me there quite a lot when I was younger. It was a cheap day out and he didn’t have a lot of money, so we used to collect the £10 off vouchers they put in the Grimsby Telegraph.
“I’ve always had an interest in theme parks, and when you’re younger you want to go to the biggest and scariest places, so when it closed I thought, ‘I wish I’d have gone more.'”
Pleasure Island opened in 1993 and was originally a subsidiary of Flamingo Land Ltd before being owned and operated by DewarSavile Enterprises Ltd until it closed in 2016 due to a decline in visitors.
Planning permission was put in in December 2022 to turn the park into a £65m resort including 250 eco-homes in a Centre Parcs-style destination featuring other leisure developments and a supermarket.
(Image: Pleasure Island)
Lots of the materials are understood to have been recycled with various parts of the park, like the 1904 carousel, being put up for auction.
However the old amusement ground still hasn’t been fully cleared with many of the structures still in place.
Natural England opposed the development due to “potential significant effects on the Humber Estuary Special Protection Area”.
The plan is listed as ‘pending consideration’ on the North East Lincolnshire Council planning portal.
For the latest news stories from Daily Star sign up for our newsletter.
