The Grand National is a

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also b ...

located at

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was designed and constructed by American engineer Charles Paige in 1935 and is now one of two surviving wooden

Möbius Loop roller coaster A dual-tracked roller coaster is a roller coaster that consists of two tracks. They can be configured as racing, dueling, or Möbius loop roller coasters. Some dual-track coasters operate only one track side at a time, including Rolling Thunder ...

s in the world (the other being the Racer at

Kennywood Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in 1 ...

). Grand National is the only surviving twin-track roller coaster in Britain in which two cars race against one another. This ride has an individual lap bar and seatbelts as the restraints.

History

Grand National opened in 1935 and was built by Charles Paige and Henry G. Traver, whose Cyclone Coaster at

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

inspired the new ride. It was a part of the program of new rides being built at the Pleasure Beach and was the main new ride for the beach that year. British architect Joseph Emberton designed the original concrete and glass station. After major private sector investments at the Pleasure Beach funded Grand National £1 million in 1990, the station was completely rebuilt to address previous alterations and repair needs. The ride was designated as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 19 April 2017.

Ride experience

The roller coaster's theme and name come from the famous

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

horse race, with elements of the ride signposted to mimic features of the Aintree course, including

Becher's Brook Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four other occasions du ...

and

Canal Turn The Canal Turn is a fence on Aintree Racecourse's National Course and thus is jumped during the Grand National Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase which is held annually at the racecourse, located near Liverpool, England. Named for the Leeds ...

. The trains climb the lift-hill and pass under the 'They're Off' sign and race through '

', 'Valentine's' and 'Canal Turn' before returning to the 'Winning Post'. The ride stands at high and has a track length of (''i.e.'' in total). The current trains for this ride were manufactured by

Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia T ...

Special events

Andy Hine, the chairman of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain, was married on the ride in the early 1990s. A plaque with his name is installed on one of the trains. On 2 March 2019, the world record for "most naked riders on a theme park ride" was broken on the ride by 195 people.

Incidents

On 20 May 2004, an electrical fault in the lighting system of the roof of the station caused a fire which destroyed the station and parts of two adjacent rides as well as the trains of the ride. Firefighters used water from the nearby ride

Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...

, to put out the flames. The station was rebuilt and new trains installed and the ride re-opened on 28 October 2004 after repairs were completed. In 2014, 58-year-old Robert Sycamore broke his neck whilst riding. He had an underlying back condition. On 1 June 2021, staff had to escort about 30 passengers down the track when Grand National broke down while approaching its peak height. The ride was checked and reopened later that day. The Grand National is consistently breaking down. It requires maintaining more than any other ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It has been on the theme park’s maintenance list everyday since 2018.

References

Art Deco architecture in England Blackpool Pleasure Beach Roller coasters in the United Kingdom {{Amusement-ride-stub

History

Ride experience

Special events

Incidents

See also

References