Tucktonia
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Tucktonia was an early 1970s theme park located on Stour Road, in Christchurch, Dorset, England.
It originally occupied four acres of the twenty one acre Tuckton Park Leisure Complex.
The park was closed down in 1985, having become rather run-down and neglected, with the buildings and fixtures then being cleared and the land used for a public house; "Bar Max", and then later, retirement flats.
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[edit] General information
The park was best known for its large model village layout, which included a representation of London.
The 7ΒΌ inch narrow gauge ride-on steam train, plus some additional fixtures and fittings, was moved / sold to Moors Valley Railway, which is in the Moors Valley Country Park, near Ringwood, Hampshire.[1]
It is rumoured that the owners wanted to build a roller coaster at the rear of the park, but were refused permission by the local council. Not long after this, the park closed.
Bekonscot Model Village in Buckinghamshire provided much inspiration for the designers, one of whom had his office near to Bekonscot and was a frequent visitor. The bulk of the models were built by KLF Ltd, who later went on to design similar models at Brittania Park (known as "The American Adventure" theme park by the time of its demise in 2006). Tucktonia was the brainchild of former double British Formula 3 champion Harry Stiller, who in 2006 still lived in the area.
The entire model village was believed destroyed when the park closed. However, one model survives... that being Buckingham Palace, which was acquired in 2002, restored, and now on display at the Wimborne Model Town, Wimborne Minster.[2]
There are numerous unsubstantiated rumours that the models were not destroyed after the closure of the park; the main one being that they were instead placed into storage within a barn where they stayed until 2001, when the building subsequently burnt down.
BBC Television's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop show broadcast live from the park on one occasion.
The park's model London was used extensively in the obscure 1976 King Kong spoof Queen Kong.
[edit] Places and buildings featured in the model village
- Christchurch Priory
- Prospect of Whitby (London pub)
- High Street, Great Britain - a re-creation of a typical British High Street
- London's Tower Bridge, The Victoria Embankment, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, Cleopatra's Needle, HMS Discovery, The National Westminster Tower, Piccadilly Circus
[edit] Rides and attractions present whilst the park was operating
- Various small scale fairground rides
- A range of standard kiddie rides, including 20p a go mini bumper three wheeled Motorcycles
- Magic Castle themed giant six lane Fun Slide (May 1986)[3]
- Boating lake with Motorised Bumper Boats
- Amusement Arcade
- Ride on small scale Landrover cars
- Crazy Golf / Nine hole Golf course
- Seven and one quarter inch miniature narrow gauge scale ride on Steam Train - Later moved / sold to Moors Valley Railway (1980-1985)
- Model Village
- Two and a half inch gauge electric model railway, featuring half a mile of track, and seventy five items of rolling stock
- Cafeteria
- Golfers Arms Restaurant
- Roy of the Rovers bar for children
- Go-Kart track
- Mini-Cinema, showing cartoons
- Souvenir Shops
[edit] References
- ^ Moors Valley Railway - How it began. Retrieved on 2006-05-12.
- ^ Dunn, Tim. "TUCKTONIA again!" forum post on www.saxonsquare.com. (Historian for Bekonscot Model Village). Retrieved on 2006-05-12.
- ^ Slide at Tucktonia photograph, taken in May 1986 and publicly shared by Paul Curtis. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
