![Terrific Tucktonia](https://cdn.magzter.com/1658490768/1720184610/articles/UyZcNFL1O1720591819037/TERRIFIC-TUCKTONIA.jpg)
Nowadays, theme parks such as Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Legoland are visited by thousands each year. They differ slightly from amusement parks, which mainly concentrate on rides and other events. Theme parks are a variation which will have rides but also tend to be based around various subjects. Arguably the earliest theme park is situated near Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight, and is called Blackgang Chine. It first opened in 1843 and is still going strong.
Although not originally intended as such, Tucktonia, at Christchurch, Dorset, was the mainland's first theme park. Harry Stiller, a former British Formula Three motor racing champion, owned a site originally housing a golf school, which he converted into a pub and a golf and leisure park. He planned to include a rollercoaster, but permission wasn't granted and, after being inspired by the Madurodam, a miniature tourist attraction in the Netherlands, decided to build the "greatest little Britain in the world".
Model villages have long been popular in Britain, so there were already several, especially in seaside resorts. However, Tucktonia was something else. Here you could see not just houses, but also iconic British features such as Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Hadrian's Wall, Buckingham Palace and the Cenotaph, all built to a much larger scale, 1:24, than that frequently used. St Paul's Cathedral, for example, was 16ft high. Then there were motorways, a floating oil rig, a railway, an airport and a modern dockland complex. There were more traditional forms of dockland shipping too.
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Best of British.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Forties Post – Plastic Fantastic – Andrew Wilson shines the spotlight on a pioneering plastic surgeon
A hero in many people's books and even a war hero to others - John was recognised in his lifetime by his contemporaries, his patients and in letters that made their way into the local newspaper, the Staffordshire Sentinel. Over time that gradually fell away, to the point where, if asked, few people would ever have heard of John Grocott - apart from his former patients, for whom the universal question appears to have been: "How do you say thank you to someone who has made my life worth living?"
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POSTCARD FROM HERTFORDSHIRE
Bob Barton makes plenty of connections to the film world as he returns to the county of his birth but still finds time for a vintage bus ride
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Still Walking the Streets of London
Peter Robertson chats to Ralph McTell 50 years after his classic single became a hit
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The Tears of a Clown
Chris Hallam remembers Bob Grant, a troubled star of On the Buses
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David Wilkie
Peter Robertson pays tribute to one of Britain's most successful athletes
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A Century of Smiles, Ceremonies and Celebrations
Claire Saul visits a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace's King's Gallery that reveals life on both sides of the lens of royal photography
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A HARD DAY NIGHT
Greg Morse celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' first film
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Terrific Tucktonia
Susan Brewer remembers the UK mainland's first theme park
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A Chip Off the Old Block
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The Bucolic Frolic
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