Great Yarmouth & Pleasure Beach

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ROYJESS
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I've not left Norfolk since the pandemic. I'm hoping to do so soon. In the mean time, I've been visiting one of our local seaside resorts.

Great Yarmouth has a lot to offer if you know where to look. I'm hoping to share a few of these with you over time.

Great Yarmouth has had a lot of publicity over the last few months. First appearing on chanel 4 "Susan Calman's Grand Week By the Sea"

Season 1 Episode 1. She also visited Southend, Brighton and Blackpool, all four out of five episodes containing some amusement rides. The only episode that didn't contain any was episode 3 which was the fishing town of St Ives.

https://www.my5.tv/susan-calman-s-grand ... 166b1ca046

Another reason why Great Yarmouth has been getting a lot of publicity, is because Banksy has been on a spraycation around Norfolk

He left two works of art in Yarmouth, one on Admiralty Road, this is near the Pleasure Beach end near the gas holders.

Admiralty Road

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The other piece of artwork was left at Merrivale model village. It was a couple of days after Banksy left the model before the owners and staff realised it was left there. The owner was telling me that customers were mentioning him what a great idea about the Banksy model, thinking that it was some form of publicity stunt by the model village themselves. The owner had no idea what they were going on about until a couple of days later when the staff spotted the model.

Jess and I are both pass holders to the Model village and have been for many years now. It's a nice place to visit. They also have the model village illuminated on certain nights through out the summer holidays. It's very pretty at night when lit up.

Both the model village is featured in the "Susan Calman's Grand Week By The Sea" and Banksy reveal video which is very quirky and cleverly done. The Banksy video can be found here

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/banksy-con ... lk-8236594

Here are a few photos that I personally took of the Bansky model. The model village had to get a locked box to put it in and security to watch over it as it is worth a fortune. The model is only on display for part of the day.

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The model village entry fee gets you unlimited access to the model village for 7 days from the date that you entered and crazy golf is included in the price. Here are some photos that I've taken over the years

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I will share more on Great Yarmouth soon
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RollerCoasterRachel
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Love these photos, looks like a really wonderful place to visit. Thanks for sharing :)
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ROYJESS
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Thank you for your kind comments.

Another attraction that I like to do in Yarmouth is the East Coast Pirates Car Club.

They meet every 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month outside Joyland from 10am onwards.

They are also there usually on a Wednesday during school holidays from 6pm onwards. Cars are usually still arriving around 6.30pm

It's free to view the cars, but you may only look at the cars, but you are not allowed to touch them.

They have all sorts of cars, mostly American classics cars. They also have some unusual cars too.

Over the years, I've taken far too many photos to put on here, but here is only a few selection of those photos that I've taken. I can't guarantee that you will get to actually see any of those in the photos on your next visit.

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Yes this next one actually drives

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This is Jonathan Ross's old car

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And last but not least, our old red sports car, this was taken before the pandemic, unfortunately the rust got the better of our car and sadly we had to give it up last winter after owning it for over 14 years

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There next meet is going to be tomorrow night Wednesday 25th Aug and they will be celebrating their anniversary of the club on Sunday the 5th September 2021 with a bigger event and live music. (this information is correct at the time of posting, but will become out of date past these dates posted. But you can check further information and dates/times/place of meets on the East Coast Pirates Facebook page).
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ROYJESS
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Before the pandemic, Great Yarmouth council used to provide a fireworks display on the seafront near the Sealife centre. This was free. The fireworks display was just a basic one and was not compare to the display that you get to see at one of Merlin's parks. The firework display only last for around 5 minutes, so they are not that long.

They usually take place on a Wednesday night around 10pm and also on some of the half term school holidays at an earlier time. Due to covid, the council hasn't provided a display over the last two seasons, but hopefully they will return next year.

However, the pleasure beach decided to provide some on a Thursday night by the pleasure beach. This wasn't widely advertised and they were on subject to good weather.

Jess and I usually visit Great Yarmouth as a day trip, and all the three attractions mentioned in the above post, made a great evening out on a Wednesday night.

6pm East Coast Pirates
8pm-9.30 Model village illuminations, (we usually arrive before last gate entry 8.45pm play a round of golf. After a round of golf we then walk around the model village illuminations around 9pm where the village is at its darkest for maximum effect)
10pm Finish with the Fireworks display

This year we missed the Fireworks as they were on a Thursday and we had to choose between visiting on a Wednesday and seeing the cars or visiting on a Thursday and seeing the fireworks. Hopefully next year they will return to a Wednesday night. Best to search the internet each season for the times and dates of the fireworks as the time and location do vary thought-out the season

Here is a video of the fireworks which I filmed before the pandemic back in 2019

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ROYJESS
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On Wednesday, I tired one of Great Yarmouth latest attractions. The upside down house

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The upside down house can be found in the pleasure beach gardens (just before you get to the Pleasure Beach, unlike the Pleasure Beach itself, there is no charge to enter the pleasure beach gardens). There is a small charge of £4 per person (price is correct at time of post) to enter the upside down house.

If you are expecting a fun house type attraction, then you will be very disappointed. If you want to take some fun crazy cool images of you doing handstands to post on social media, then this is for you.

Inside is basically two rooms, one down stairs and one upstairs with everything inside hanging from the ceiling upside down. Take a photo of you posing, then flip the photo upside down to get a crazy effect.

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Chris
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Instagram photo heaven! Looks fun.
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ROYJESS
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The Windmill theatre is now home to an indoor crazy golf course.

Previously it was home to Ripley's Believe it or not. There are a few remnants from the Ripley's museum. You still have the two way mirror and the room where the disappearing woman was housed with the secret mirror still in place.

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There is movie memorabilia and themed areas. There is so much to see and take in along side playing a round of crazy golf.

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In the next photo, you can still see the old theatre stage which a themed crazy golf course is also situated upon.

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Me having fun with the vanishing girl mirror illusion from the previous Ripley's attraction



Apart from the very first photo showing the outside of the Windmill theatre, the rest of the above photos and videos showing inside the Windmill golf attraction were taken back in 2019 Season.
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ROYJESS
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Before the summer holidays, Jess and I tried out another new attraction, we say this one being constructed at the start of the season.

Great Yarmouth big wheel, which is situated just outside the Sealife centre.

You purchase your boarding tickets from a ticket machine just before you enter the queue line. They have a wheelchair carriage and ramp for wheelchair users. You get to go around it 3 times with a temporary stop at the top to see the sights as well as to allow other passengers to board in the other carriages. The time went very quick.

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The roof of the Sealife centre as well as the derelict winter gardens (glass greenhouse type building) which have been awarded a grant to get it restored.

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Can see Joyland from here

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Here you can see from top to bottom of the photo, the Pleasure Beach, the upside down house and the model village

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Here again you can see the roof of the Sealife centre as well as the derelict winter gardens (glass greenhouse type building) which have been awarded a grant to get it restored.

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Facing towards the residential buildings

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Looking down onto a crazy golf course, you can also see a building site behind it where they have demolish the old indoor swimming pool and are rebuilding a new modern one complete with a water flume

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Chris
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Looks like a hive of activity there!
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ROYJESS
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Thanks Chris,

I often say that Yarmouth is a mini version of Blackpool :lol:

The views from the big wheel were taken before the summer hols as was fairly quiet, however Great Yarmouth is currently heaving.

There are quiet places in Yarmouth where you can retreat to if the seaside resort is busy. I like to take a walk up at the north end and around the waterways.

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You will often see seagulls, ducks and if you are lucky you may even see a heron inside the waterways

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Just north of the waterways is the boating lake where you can hire a boat

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I remember visiting the waterways as a kid, then they did boat trips, the boats back then were themed with animal heads on the bow of the boats. (next photo taken from the EDP website https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/waterways- ... to-1096636). It appears that these boats are currently being restored and we might see them once again carrying passengers around the waterways sometime in the future.

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If you lucky, you might see the model boat club (members only) sailing their radio controlled boats, on the waterways

Here are a couple of pics that I took this season, but there are more boats and ships of all sorts being sailed on the waters

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The canoe boat is only propelled by the action of the dolls rowing, no propellers or rudders is fitted. If you recognise the guy operating it, he is the same guy that owns the Jeep like vehicle and red Ford GT-40 in my earlier post on this thread regarding the East Coat Pirates Car club

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ROYJESS
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Another place Jess and I like to visit that is quiet and away from the hustle and bustle, that is the unlikely place that you would like to visit, that is the Great Yarmouth Old Cemetery.

We don't go their to look at the graves, but if you are lucky, you might see a squirrel or two. Some of the squirrels are very shy, but there are some that are quiet brave and will come and take food out of your hands (we take a bag of monkey nuts with us to feed them). We don't always get to see or feed the squirrels, it is very much pot luck on the day.

There is a path that runs through the cemetery that the local residents use to walk from their homes to the town. Jess and I normally visit there after a walk around the waterways, we take the road after we exit the waterways at the south entrance and cross the road go up Sandown Road and across to Kitchener Road. About three quarters down Kitchener Road, you will find the main entrance to the cemetery. If you go south, this route will take you to behind Sainsburys

The first photo was taken before the pandemic, the rest was taken a few weeks ago

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ROYJESS
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Following on from my last post, if you leave the Cemetery via the Minister church of St Nicholas, you will exit via Church plain. On your left, you will find Kirsty's Cafe Cakery.

I'm not here to endorse the café, as I've personally never eaten or purchased anything from there. However the building has a bit of history to it

The following paragraph is a copy and paste from this website https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/rec ... 833914a5c2

The building is the birthplace of the author Anna Sewell, and where she wrote Black Beauty. Now a restaurant, this was originally a 16th or 17th century timber framed house, later plastered, part bricked, and then restored in 1932. Restored again in 1976, nothing of the exterior is now original, including a wooden date plaque of 1641, which was in fact, like the gable, made from Czech packing cases in the 1930s.

Here are a couple of photos which I took a few weeks ago

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....and a little bit of an updated from a previous post of mine regarding the Waterways boat restoration
ROYJESS wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:09 pm It appears that these boats are currently being restored and we might see them once again carrying passengers around the waterways sometime in the future.
I spoke to one of the volunteer gardeners yesterday and he say's that only the animal heads have been restored and not the boats. The boats are beyond repair and the council have yet to decide how they are going to display the old heads, bearing in mind that they may need to be place somewhere to protect them against the weather and vandalism.
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ROYJESS
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One of the main attractions at Great Yarmouth is JoyLand

Despite being a Children's Fun Park, parents and grandparents bring their children and grandchildren along to enjoy the old classic tub and snail rides.

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You have Spook Express rollercoaster, which previously was the space shuttle attraction and I remember it from my child hood as a Noah Arc rocking fun house type attraction

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You pay per ride using tokens which cost £1.50 per token (correct at time of posting). Each ride is one token per rider. You can purchase a bag of tokens which works out better value as the cost per token then reduces the more you purchase.

The park contains a small selections of rides aimed at children

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Joyland has what I believe the last of it's kind, the tubs ride

Here are some photos of one of the tubs off the track

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Here is what it looks like inside the tub with the seating cushions removed

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You can't visit Joyland without having a go of the snails, they go fast down and over the little hills

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And currently if you visit Great Yarmouth, they have a snail trail. Snails made from the moulds of Joyland snail ride decorated and dotted around Great Yarmouth. There are 6 to find and you can find a list of clues from Joyland or you can visit this page for the clues

https://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/ ... ed-8267532

The snail trail started on the 26th Aug and I don't know how long they will be on displayed for. Some of the snails have already been damage with their tentacles damage or missing

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I would certainly love one of these snails to sit in our garden
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ROYJESS
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Sitting next to the Big Wheel near the Sealife Centre, there is the Sling shot (AKNA Ejector ball).

I've seen these before at Blackpool on the south pier. I've done both the SCAD dive and Sky dive adrenaline attractions when they were on the south pier at Blackpool, but I never did the ejector ball. I just couldn't feel the justification of paying the money (which is not cheap) to ride it.

I always wanted to try the ejector ball, so in 2019 I decided to try the sling shot at Great Yarmouth.

Personally after riding it, which confirmed my thoughts, it was nothing special to ride. To me I felt that you get a similar experience by riding the Ice Blast at Blackpool but without the inversions. I must say that I was underwhelmed with riding it.

The photos were taken a couple of days ago, and the video was taken back in 2019 before the pandemic. I rode it with my daughter. Single riders were not allowed to balance out the ball.

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Chris
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Yes not a fan. Much prefer a Sky Coaster.
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ROYJESS
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Chris wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 5:31 pm Yes not a fan. Much prefer a Sky Coaster.
Fully agreed. Sky Coaster is a real adrenaline pumping attraction. I always come off that shaking due to the adrenaline pumping around my body. I'm hoping to do the Velocity 2 zip wire in Wales next year at some point. I would also love to do a sky dive and a bungee jump at some point in my life
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ROYJESS
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Great Yarmouth has a Sealife owned by Merlin. This is one of two Sealife's that are our local Merlin attraction (The other is the Sealife at Hunstanton)

I've been a regular Sealife visitor at Great Yarmouth for many years and have seen it change over the years. It's nicely themed.

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The submarine is static unlike those that you find at Legoland Windsor.

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These are Archer fish, the care team places food on the target which is above the water. The archer fish then quirt jets of water at the food to displace the food so that it falls into the water for them to eat

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I love the Picasso trigger fish

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The new rockpool area

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ROYJESS
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Great Yarmouth is full of arcades along the sea front and on the piers. I'm personally don't play on the arcade machines, they are designed to take your money and any winnings pay-out from the gambling type machines are only short lived and the law of averages will mean that you will end up worse off over time. So if you do wish to spend some money in an arcade, then set a limit to the amount that you are prepared to lose

At the exit of the Model Village, situated before you get to the Pleasure Beach Gardens, there are the Model Village Tea rooms and arcade. Inside there is also the Williamson's Old Penny Arcade. You don't need to visit the Model Village to access the Old Penny arcade, you can enter via the Model Village Tea Rooms. You will need to exchange the current money for some old fashion pennies/tokens at the kiosk. There are some old fashions arcade games from the bygone era. Those of a certain age will enjoy playing these for nostalgia.

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I myself am quiet happy to walk all around Yarmouth. For those that prefer to enjoy a more leisurely way to get from Joyland to the Pleasure Beach, there are the horse drawn hackney carriages.

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Alternative, you can hop on one of the road trains. I've personally never rode the one at Great Yarmouth, so I personally couldn't tell you where it takes you. I'm on the understanding that the road train runs from the Haven Seashore holiday park and stops at various stops along the seafront all the way to wellington pier and back, but I'm not 100% on that

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Great Yarmouth has sandy beaches that stretch almost continuously for over 15 miles and have been awarded both the coveted Blue Flag and Marine Conservation Society awards.

With regards to the central beach, the tide never really comes in past the ends of the piers. Dogs are not allowed on the centre beach which is located in-between the piers during certain months from spring throughout the summer season to autumn (check restrictions if bringing a dog). However dogs are still allowed on the north and south beach through out the year located on the outsides of the piers

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Next to the north pier (Britannia pier) behind Joyland they have donkey rides for kids (no adults allowed to ride)

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There are also various inflatable play area zones along the beach for the children. There areas are fenced off and they charge a fee for a timed session.

There are ramps down to the beach are available at several locations which also allows for easy disabled access.

I also believe that deck chairs are available for hire, but don't hold be to that.

Both north and south beaches have sand dunes.
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