Park Name: Shemlock Hills Group Name: The Spidermen Description:
Shemlock Hills opened in 1959 as a small shopping centre along the Pennines Mountains, catering to the inhabitants of Derbyshire. Mothers could run their necessary errands, while they left their children to ride the Grand Carousel and play in the adjoining gardens. Many years after business began to pick up at the shops, a neighboring family of 1.2 miles decided to purchase the land from the previous independent shop owners in hopes to expand the area with new attractions to bring in more customers.
Their first improvement action was taken in 1971, when they converted the beautiful gardens into the thrilling and challenging, "The GREAT GARDEN MAZE". Very little has changed with this attraction since its first renovation, and it still stands today as one of the park’s most popular attractions. In 1978, the Hillier family decided to turn the establishment into a newer concept of a full-fledged 'theme park' when they constructed the Wilderness area behind the shopping centre that featured a Bradley & Kaye roller coaster. The grand opening of this new land coincided with the shopping centre's name change to "Drury Lane", the introduction of the "pay-to-enter" policy, and the announcement of the park's new name- Shemlock Hills. From that point business boomed, bringing in thousands of guests each year.
News of the hot spot reached the ears of the Tussaud's Group who quickly approached the Hillier family with an offer to buy the park for $3.3 million dollars. A good deal, thought Grandma and Granddad Hillier, who signed the contract handing the park over to Tussaud's just months before both of their deaths. The new owner's quickly installed new rides and attractions including the launched shuttle looping coaster "Zipp-o". With this boom in the park and new attractions elsewhere the town and surrounding areas kept growing greatly. Noticing this, the town decided to install a new airport since there wasn’t one around for 100 miles, they had a great parcel of land situated for it and could help bring more tourists and revenue in which was needed in the area.
The transaction was set with everyone including the government and construction started. After several months and working through the heavy down pours of rain the airport was finally finished. This new airport was built only ¾ mile away from the park which caused several problems between the park and the airport. The owners of Shemlock Hills and the town met to solve them and came out with an agreement that was finally settled upon, stating that no building or attraction could exceed the height 65 feet. The removal of "Zipp-o" was regretfully a necessity, as it reached a staggering height of 75 feet above the ground. This bump in the road did not stop Shemlock Hills managers with coming up with thrilling rides that still stayed beneath the 65 foot height limit. In the past years the Tussaud's group has looked to roller coaster designing firms Intamin AG, Maurer Sohne, and Bolliger and Mabillard to help create some of the most wild and innovative coasters in the world including Obyss, Spinball Inferno, Turbo MAX, and the new flying coaster, The Battle. Shemlock Hills is now considered among many the coaster capitol of central England.
NOTES:
-Watch out for error trappers zooming in and out and rotating positions near the front gates.
-We wanted to take the best of the Tussaud's Group's (Now Merlin's Entertainment) works and add our own personal touches and ideas to create a well-rounded theme park for guests of all ages.
-Yes, all rides stay at or below the 65 foot height barrier.
Judges Scores:
Steve K: 17/20 Points
Geewhzz: 18/20 Points
Ryan Sickles: 17.5/20 Points
Ride6: 18/20 Points
Overall Points: 70.5 Points + 10 Points For Winning
