From 1981,
guests could step back in time to the world of the Victorians by
taking a stroll down Talbot Street, the park's very own Dickensian
Boulevard. Floating out over the area, the atmosphere was enhanced
by a repertoire of traditional organ music piped from a fairground
organ installed beneath the ruins of the Towers alongside the Space
1999 exhibition.
Talbot Street
was built on the former site of the Towers' fairground, which had
closed the previous year. The Street was built between the Penny
Arcade and the former Funhouse, which was transformed for the new
area into a theatre housing the Fantastic Fountains. Between these
were built Maison Talbot, The Dolls House exhibition and the
Talbot Tea Shoppe.
Opposite this
row of buildings, on the far side of the street, a slightly less
traditional addition of a giant vertical Snakes & Ladders board sat
in the midst of a small open air arena. This was mainly used for the
filming of Hold Tight, a children's TV gameshow that was set at the
Towers between 1982 and 1987.
Neighbouring
the Talbot Restaurant, which had been converted into a fastfood
outlet, a new plaza was created by building opposite another block,
which housed two new dark rides, Around the World in 80 Days and
Doom and Sons, as well as an Ice Cream Bakery, a Sepia Photo Studio
and the 80s Days store. Nearby a separate structure housed Talbot
Street Toyland.
In 1982 the
area at the end of Talbot Street between the Theatre and Around the
World became home to Adventureland 4-11, full of new rides for the
youngest members of the family. The area's expansion continued in 1985,
when the 4 Man Bob was added starting the expansion towards
the historic Flag Tower at the end of the street.
There was another significant
expansion in 1987 at the other end of the area, when the Hold Tight
arena disappeared under a brand new building housing the Motor Museum
and Raven's Den shop. These additions completed the street scene of
the area by adding a row of buildings to mirror the existing shop
fronts.
The expansion towards the Flag Towers
continued in 1988 with the arrival of the Alton Beast and Alton
Mouse, which operated alongside the 4 Man Bob, cementing the area's
nickname of Coaster Corner. With these additions Talbot Street
reached its greatest extent and certainly its busiest, offering
attractions for all generations of the family.
1991 saw the Tri-Star arrive in place
of the 4 Man Bob, which was by now a very old coaster, which even still used manual brakes. And
as The Gallopers arrived at one end of the street, near Doom and
Sons at the far end the Space 1999 exhibition closed. But these
changes were just a preamble for the changes that would soon follow
for the area.
Talbot Street opened for its final
season in 1992 with a much changed line up. Coaster Corner had now
been abandoned to relieve noise issues that the attractions in this area
were causing to local residents. The Beast had moved to Thunder
Valley and the Tri-Star to Festival Park, whilst the Mouse has been
removed all together.
Adventureland 4-11 had also been
disbanded with the closure of some of its rides, but the remainder
became part of Talbot Street before mostly being removed at the end
of 1992. Elsewhere on the street Bertie Bassett moved into his
corner shop alongside the Motor Museum and the Octopus arrived from
Aqualand.
This was to be the final season for
Talbot Street, or the land of abandoned rides as it had seemingly
become. The end of the area also meant the closure of an impressive
number of its attractions, including Doom and Sons, the Fantastic
Fountains, Octopus, Motor Museum, Wildlife Museum, Astroglide, Fun
Centre and Adventure Railway.
The remaining attractions would
become part of the Land of Make Believe for the following season.
