Blackgang Chine

Location map
Isle of Wight
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caption=Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight

Blackgang Chine is the location of a now-destroyed chine (a coastal ravine) in the soft Cretaceous cliffs near Ventnor at the southern tip of the Isle of Wight, England. It is home to the Blackgang Chine amusement park.

History

, Blackgang Chine was, historically, a spectacular ravine (in 1800 a "steep gaunt ravine" descending 500 feet over about three-quarters of a mile) [ [http://www.blackgangchine.com/history.asp Blackgang Chine History] , official website (retrieved 5 July 2008).] .

The location is based on unstable terrain due to the underlying Gault Clay strata, resulting in a succession of huge landslips giving the area a very rugged appearance akin to the better known Jurassic Coast. [ [http://www.coastalwight.gov.uk/World%20Class%20Coast/wcc_study.htm World Heritage / Geopark Study] , Isle of Wight Centre for the Coastal Environment, www.coastalwight.gov.uk (retrieved 3 July 2008).]

On October 11 1836, the cargo ship "Clarendon" was wrecked at the foot of Blackgang Chine, with the loss of all aboard. ["Owen Gladdon's Wanderings in the Isle of Wight", "Old Humphrey", E.Stevenson & F.A.Owen, 1855 [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XyANAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR5&dq=%22blackgang+chine%22+clarendon&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a Google Books] retrieved 5 July 2008)]

The chine's scenic potential, along with the increasing popularity of the adjacent Sandrock Spring (a Chalybeate spring) led to the establishment of the Blackgang Chine amusement park in 1843 by Victorian entrepreneur Alexander Dabell, whose descendants have owned it ever since."A Walker's Guide to the Isle of Wight", Martin Collins, Norman Birch, Cicerone Press, 2000, ISBN:1852842210 ( [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m42zoXMzxn0C&pg=PA196&vq=Dabell&dq=blackgang+pathway&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U3yMn8zLzhREQ2cA6801t3DABE1rw#PPA143,M1 Google Books] , retrieved 9 July 2008)] [http://web.archive.org/web/20010123192600/http://www.postcard.co.uk/iow/may.htm May 2000 report] , Isle of Wight Postcard Club (retrieved from Internet Archive, 5 July 2008)] Allegedly the oldest theme park in the UK, it was originally a general-purpose scenic and curiosity park, featuring a whale skeleton (which is still a showpiece) and landscaped paths down the chine to a waterfall and the beach below.

Continuing landslides and coastal erosion swept away the paths in the early 1900s, and have since obliterated the chine itself and forced the owners to repeatedly move the clifftop facilities inland. The park's focus now is themed entertainment for families with young children, lifesize plastic dinosaurs being a noted feature. The same owners run a sister site, the Robin Hill countryside adventure park.

Blackgang is also the name of the nearby village. According to a May 2000 talk to the Isle of Wight Postcard Club by the present Director, Mr Simon Dabell, the etymology is simply "black pathway" (the original appearance of the chine), but the theme park understandably fosters the interpretation of a smuggling origin. Thus visitors to the park are greeted by a gigantic fibreglass smuggler between whose legs they could pass to enter.

coast.Blackgang is also notable for dinosaur fossils and the nudist Blackgang Beach.

The Blackgang Chine park is featured in the book "Bollocks to Alton Towers", a humorous book concerned with "uncommonly British days out". It was chosen for its apparent eccentricity.

Southern Vectis bus route 6 serves the amusement park on its way between Newport & Ventnor.cite web | year = 2008 | url = http://www.islandbuses.info/r6.shtml | title = Southern Vectis - bus route 6 | publisher = www.islandbuses.info | accessdate = 2008-04-28] In the summer, tourist route X40 also stops here.cite web | year = 2008 | url = http://www.islandbuses.info/rx40.shtml | title = Southern Vectis - Island Coaster | publisher = www.islandbuses.info | accessdate = 2008-04-28]

Park Guide

The park combines whimsical and unusual outdoor and walkthrough attractions with award-winning heritage exhibitions and a couple of significant rides.

*Rumpus Mansion: A walk-through attraction inside an old manor house, home to animated goblins, mischievous spirits and other fantasy creatures.
*FantasyLand: Features the walk-through Liquorice Factory, the angry dragon and the animated Weather Wizard show.
*NurseryLand: Various 'life-sized' nursery rhyme characters. Many are animated.
*Water Gardens & Maze
*Snakes and Ladders: A giant version of the board game, with large slides.
*Dinosaurland: Numerous fibreglass dinosaurs, most dating back to 1972.
*Buffalo Canyon: Full-scale Old West frontier town including a saloon, jail, covered wagons and more. Very popular.
*The Triassic Club: Comic animated walk-through attraction. Features Darwin the Allosaurus, dressed in a tuxedo, who invites guests 'to dinner' and sings a unique version of the 'Eton Boating Song'.
*The Musical Pet Shop: Animatronic animals sing a rewritten version of 'Up the Swannee River'.
*Crooked House: A small walk-through attraction of disorientating crooked corridors and humorous scenes.
*Butterfly Walk: Larger-than-life butterflies, with signs denoting their respective names.
*Smugglerland: Features the 'Jolly Smuggler' play ship, a play pub, and the Smugglers' Cave, which tells the story of a shipwreck.
*St Catherine's Quay: An award-winning maritime heritage attraction. Home to the famous whale bones and a 37 ft long RNLI lifeboat.
*Blackgang Sawmill: An exhibition 'telling the story of timber'. Features numerous working steam engines.
*Water Force: A 100 ft-long water slide with three chutes.
*Cliffhanger: A small roller coaster close to the cliff's edge.
*Pirate's Barrel Ride: A themed version of the traditional fairground teacups.
*The Wight Experience: Exciting film show featuring aerial views of the island by helicopter, made by 'Flying Pictures', who worked on many of the 'Bond' and 'Harry Potter' films.

There is also a new 'Chocolate Heaven' chocolate shop, selling island made sweets and chocolate, as well as dairy ice cream.

Former attractions include JungleLand, home to a number of fibreglass animals such as zebra and an elephant, which has been replaced by the Butterfly Walk.

References

External links

* [http://www.blackgangchine.com/ Blackgang Chine Amusement Park Official Website]
* [http://wightundercliff.mine.nu/ Old pictures of Blackgang]
* [http://www.jbonline.org.uk/blackgangchine/ Audio and Video Clips from the fantasy park]
* [http://www.bartiesworld.co.uk/postcards/southwight.htm Old pictures of Blackgang Chine]
* [http://www.back-of-the-wight.shalfleet.net/blackgang_chine.htm Blackgang Old Postcards]