title A Trip to Alton Towers, Staffordshire - 19th June 2004
intro Guv decided, on account of it being his birthday, to sort out a trip to Alton Towers. Cue a mini road-trip across to Staffordshire for a thrash around a few rollercoasters - luckily the queues were pretty short due to it probably not being school holidays and perhaps the slightly worrying-looking weather put a few people off. Also featured was a quick poke around the ruins of the house itself and a pint and some Indian food in Cambridge on the way back. This was perhaps Nosher's fifteenth visit to Alton Towers over the last thirty years. A few sites featuring the history of can be found here, on the modern theme-park and here, with some of the older history.
dcp_0134 A quick wee-stop on the way (and also a chance to escape from the stop/start queues around Kettering). Mikey-P scoffs one of his packed sandwiches
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dcp_0139 To add to the fun, part of the A14 was completely closed, necessetating an ad-hoc diversion through Kettering itself
dcp_0140 A completely empty A14 (if only...)
dcp_0142 DH and Guv in the queue for something
dcp_0145 Destination 1: Oblivion - a pretty scary vertical drop rollercoaster, but good fun (and completely terrifying on the way down)
dcp_0146 Mikey-P and Claire share a hug moment
dcp_0147 A close-up of Oblivion on the way down
dcp_0148 The gang pose for a pic outside Oblivion's drop-hole
dcp_0149 Strolling past the house
dcp_0150 It's probably ignored by most visitors, but Alton Towers' gardens are impressive in their own right...
dcp_0151 ...and used to be the only thing there and the sole reason people visited (which Nosher can remember in the 1970s!).
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dcp_0154 Luckily the gorgeous gardens are still well maintained
dcp_0156 Queueing for the Log Flume
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dcp_0160 Nosher sit behind Bill, who acts as a handy water shield
dcp_0162 Mikey-P shows off his very wet jeans
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dcp_0165 Next ride up: the Rapids. Fairly gentle, but good fun - another opportunity to get wet, and a way of building up Mikey-P to "the big one"
dcp_0166 DH and Phil, "The Water Magnet" or "The Sponge", prepare for more wetness
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dcp_0172 Running through the waterfalls
dcp_0173 Bill tries to dodge a splash
dcp_0174 Bill's suffers an acne outbreak. Oh wait... it's only a mask
dcp_0175 Another map consultation
dcp_0177 Guv and Mikey-P in the queue for "Air"
dcp_0179 "Air"'s pretty amazing, and the queueing crowd gets to be very close to the action. It's probably Nosher's favourite rollercoaster ever.
dcp_0181 Another check of the map
dcp_0183 Wandering back through the gardens
dcp_0185 Past the old Orangery, which has fallen into slight disrepair since Nosher can remember it as a child of eight or nine
dcp_0187 Mikey-P and Clare take the low road
dcp_0188 Looking back at the Orangery. It's quite sad to see so few people in the gardens now.
dcp_0189 Guv takes a break
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dcp_0197 Whilst the rest of the group do "The Black Hole", Nosher and DH have a poke around the house itself. This contemporary stained glass is in the restored chapel
dcp_0198 The roof of the chapel
dcp_0200 DH inspects a brief history of the freize above his head
dcp_0201 DH Peers into one of the ovens in the bakery...
dcp_0205 ...and then sticks his head up a chimney
dcp_0206 The ruins are wonderfully accessible: it's a huge rabbit-warren of rooms
dcp_0207 In the former Music Room
dcp_0210 We wander into a room that's not meant for public access and find a bizarre scene reminscent of Blade Runner
dcp_0212 The roofs of the Towers are readily accessible and afford great views over the park
dcp_0213 Looking over the roof. The top of Oblivion can be seen to the left of the tower
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dcp_0216 DH does a quick turn
dcp_0219 Back at the minibus
dcp_0220 In the Castle Inn in Cambridge for a swift beer before an Indian nosh-up
dcp_0221 Phil and Guv
dcp_0222 Clare gets a heap of red-pepper chutney in the Maharaja on Castle Hill...
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dcp_0225 ...and then eats a whole half-lime from the lime pickle pot
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dcp_0228 A moist Mikey-P and Phil dig in to some great nosh
dcp_0229 Aaah, bless...