The leisure complex that sees visits from hundreds of thousands of children and ‘adults’ every year belies its humble beginnings. Now owned by Tussauds, the park is intended to rival Alton Towers and Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach.
Thorpe Park started life as flood land and between 1940 and 1970 was owned by the Ready Mix Concrete Group (RMC). It was used as a ‘wet working’ Gravel Pit, the excavation of which left behind numerous lakes.
In 1970, RMC was granted planning permission to fill in the lakes. However, a year later the permission was amended to allow the lakes to remain. This was cheaper and easier and landscaping work was started. Between 1972 and 1978 a water park with over 10,000 plants and trees was built on site. It was intended to be half amusement park, half exhibition, with the theme of ‘The History of the British People as a Maritime Nation’.
The transformation of the area from a wasteland to a commercially viable enterprise earned Thorpe Park a Premier award this year.
Thorpe Park was bought by The Tussauds Group in 1998 and has adopted its environmental policy. This involves waste recycling, reduction of energy use, water conservation schemes and noise reduction programmes. Thorpe Park also supports local initiatives. It was the initial sponsor of Runnymede Borough Council’s ‘Yellow Bus’ initiative. The scheme used an American Style school bus to transport pupils to and from school. This reduced the amount of traffic on the roads and the associated pollution.