Camelot Theme Park – October 2013

camelot 1 sm.jpgcamelot 10 sm.jpgcamelot 1 a sm.jpgcamelot 11 sm.jpgcamelot 17 sm.jpgcamelot me 222 sm.jpgcamelot 8 sm.jpgcamelot 12 sm.jpgcamelot 20 sm.jpgcamelot 13 sm.jpgc8-camelot 3 sm.jpgcamelot 15 sm.jpgcamelot 5 sm.jpgcamelot 6 sm.jpgcamelot 7 sm.jpgcamelot 16 sm.jpgcamelot 9 sm.jpgcamelot 18 sm.jpgcamelot 19 sm.jpgcamelot 4 sm.jpgcamelot 14 sm.jpgcamelot 3 sm.jpg

The park opened in 1983 and was operating seasonally until late 2012. The park is based on the story of ‘Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’. The local area was once covered by the largest lake in England Martin Mere, which was first drained in 1692 by Thomas Fleetwood of Bank Hall in Bretherton. (The story is that Sir Lancelot’s parents King Ban of Benwick and his queen Elaine escaped to Lancashire from their enemies in France. Elaine went to help King Ban who had fallen and put Lancelot down on the shore of the lake, by where he was abducted by nymph Vivian who vanished into the waters of the lake with him. Vivian brought up Lancelot and when he went to King Arthur’s court he was knighted as ‘Sir Lancelot of the Lake’.) Martin Mere has been locally known as the ‘Lost Lake of Sir Lancelot’ following the myth.

In 1986 it was taken over by The Granada Group and operated by them alongside its now defunct sister parks American Adventure and Granada Studios Tour. In June 1998 the park was subject to a management buyout in which the park went to Prime Resorts Ltd.

Camelot Theme Park was a resort and theme park located in Lancashire (the last operating season was in 2012, the park will not open for 2013). The park´s theme was based on the famous legend of Camelot. It was located on a 140-acre (0.57 km2; 0.22 sq mi) site  near the village of Charnock Richard, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Chorley. The site is owned by The Story Group, and was operated by Knights Leisure. The park featured many rides, taking a target audience of families and younger children, however the park also boasted numerous thrill rides and roller coasters, including Whirlwind (a Maurer Söhne spinning coaster), Knightmare and Excalibur. The park was featured in an episode of Sooty & Co., in which presenter Matthew Corbett takes SootySweep and Soo there.