GreenWood Forest Park

Coordinates: 53°10′50″N 4°11′45″W / 53.18056°N 4.19583°W / 53.18056; -4.19583 GreenWood Forest Park (formerly The GreenWood Centre) is a theme park at Y Felinheli in North Wales. The park was opened by Stephen and Andrea Bristow in 1993.

Rides and attractions

The park's entrance

The park, opened in 1993, contains adventure playgrounds, longbow shooting, slides, and a number of rides, among other attractions.[1][2] The Green Dragon ride at the park is the world's first "people-powered" roller coaster, powered only by the weight of the people on the ride.[3] In 2014 the park received 146,000 visitors.[4]

In May 2015 the park received £200,000 in funding from the Welsh Government for a new water ride and solar panels to generate 80% of the park's power requirements; the solar panels were unveiled in September 2015 and the ride is set to open in 2016.[4][5]

SwampFlyer ride

In April 2011 GreenWood opened a 145m zip wire ride called the SwampFlyer. Less than a week after the ride opened, an 11-year-old boy fell to his death after being wrongly attached to the rope.[6][7] In 2013 an inquest declared the death accidental.[8] In 2015 managing director Stephen Bristow appeared in court accused of not carrying out sufficient risk assessments for the ride.[9]

The boy's death sparked calls for more regulations and guidance regarding zip wire rides.[7]

Awards

The park has received a number of environmental awards for its efforts to reduce resource use, improve the local environment, and support local community projects.[10] It was also ranked 9th out of all theme parks in the United Kingdom on Trip Advisor.[11] Stephen Bristow, managing director of the park, received an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours for services to the tourist industry in North Wales.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Paul Whitfield, Catherine Le Nevez, Mike Parker (2012). The rough guide to Wales. (7th ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 363. ISBN 1405389818. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Awards and Recognitions". GreenWood Forest Park. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Weisenberger, Nick (2012). Coasters 101 : an engineering guide to roller coaster design (1st ed.). CreateSpace. ISBN 1468013556. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 Deans, David (21 May 2015). "New water ride powered by solar panels is on its way to GreenWood Forest Park". Wales Online. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Chris Kelsey (21 September 2015). "GreenWood Forest Park unveils solar array which it hopes will meet 80% of its energy needs and save £1m". Wales Online. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Greenwood Forest Park zip wire death inquiry begins". BBC News. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Zip wire: More regulation call after Bailey Sumner's accidental death". BBC News. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  8. ↑ Prichard, Lorna (9 May 2013). "Boy's zip wire death 'accidental'". ITV. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "GreenWood park bosses to enter plea in June over child's zip wire death". News North Wales. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Alan Fyall (2008). Managing visitor attractions. (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 242. ISBN 075068545X. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Sayid, Ruki (15 July 2014). "Blackpool Pleasure Beach voted Britain's best theme park". Mirror. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "New Year honours list: MBEs". The Guardian. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

External links

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