A theme park loved by British families that opened 50 years ago in 1976 is now a shell of its old self after it was forced to shut following several incidents of anti-social behaviour
A theme park that first opened exactly 50 years ago is now completely abandoned — despite once being a favourite for British families.
The Children’s Pleasure Park in Southampton was the brainchild of grandparents Donald and Betty Slater, who launched it way back in 1976.
However, they both died in 2014, and the park, which was given to their two sons, later suffered arson attacks and became a hub for anti-social behaviour.
It now stands eerily empty having closed in 2017. While many of the beloved 20 attractions remain in place, a lot of the infrastructure is rotting, and much of the space on Golf Course Road in Bassett, Southampton, is completely overgrown with plants.
One urban explorer, Colin Smith, who is known online as The Bearded Explorer, took a trip to the once bustling theme park late last year, before documenting what he found.
Sharing his thoughts, he said: “It’s quite sad actually. I should imagine there’s many happy memories that have been made in here when this place was active. But sadly, now it’s completely abandoned.”
He soon added: “This is almost a bit like Chernobyl, you know the fairground that was in Chernobyl? Just how derelict it was. I mean, this is exactly the kind of feeling I’m getting in this place.”
Despite this, he said the theme park was still incredible to see, and said some of the rides were exactly the same as he remembered from when he was a youngster.
The theme park had a reputation for being more affordable than the bigger named ones. There was no entry fee, and kids were free to turn up to have fun. Families were also encouraged to bring picnics where they could eat on tables and benches.
Colin took a visit with his daughter and he highlighted all that remained including the huge bumpy slide, swing boats, a helter-skelter, a colourful merry-go-round, a mini-train, a Formula One track and a tuck shed.
He noted that it was quite a small space and that it must have felt quite claustrophobic for visitors.
And taking it all in, he said: “This brings back so many memories. All this sort of stuff, you know, when I was a kid, it was all obviously quite new and well used. You pretty much saw this everywhere.
“Any theme park you went to, any funfair at the seaside or anything like that, this was the kind of stuff that you would have seen.”
He also popped into the token shed where things like ice creams used to be sold and there were still newspaper clippings stuck up on the walls, as a reminder to the history of the theme park.
And again speaking about the downfall, Chris said: “Oh, it is a real shame this. Like I said before, there must have been so many happy memories made in here.
“And this place now, it’s just going to be demolished. It is one of those things, you know, life moves one. People build places all over the place and little businesses like this sadly just can’t sustain now.”
He later added: “It does make me sad that places like this have to one day disappear and that’s exactly what’s going to happen to this place — it is only a matter of time now.”
Founder Donald was a grandad-of-six when he and his wife Betty opened the Children’s Pleasure Park half-a-century ago.
He was an experienced trampoline instructor and hand-built many of the rides himself.
Donald and Betty ran it for almost four decades before they handed the reins over to their sons.
However, in 2014, Betty passed away, before Donald died just days later, and despite their good run, the theme park they built from scratch now lies in ruins.
An arson attack took place in December 2021, one of several incidents of vandalism and destruction. Donald’s sons, Gary and Andrew, told the Daily Echo at the time: “This park is my life’s work and I’ll be very upset if it has to close down.”
A GoFundMe was launched to try and save it, and Andrew, who worked there for nearly 47 years, added: “It is such a special and wonderful place for the Southampton community. Anyone you speak to in Southampton, they’ve all been there.”
Sadly, the park closed for good in recent times, and one comment on The Bearded Explorer’s video, which you can watch in full here, revealed what may happen to it in the future.
It read: “The Southampton City Council are now, at long last, spending millions getting the whole site modernised. No houses but new sports pavilions.”
However, a spokesperson for Southampton City Council told us: “Work is underway to consider future plans for the site, and updates will be shared if and when further information is available. At present, there are no details to confirm or comment on.”
