Biography

Blackpool Pleasure Beach was founded in 1896 by A.W.G. Bean and John Outhwaite.

The original Pleasure Beach was a small entertainment venture, built on the sand dunes along the Blackpool promenade containing a few roundabouts, a Bicycle Railway and Gypsy stalls. The expansion of the site did not start until the acquisition of adjacent land in 1903, which set the wheels in motion for what will become one of the best and most successful theme parks in the world. The success of the park has been marked by constant development and the addition of some of the most innovative and exciting theme park machines ever built. In 1904 Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machine was built, which has become the oldest amusement park ride still operating in Europe. Other additions included The River Caves of the World in 1905 and The Scenic Railway in 1907.

Bean and Outhwaite worked in partnership until Outhwaite’s death in 1911, when most of the business ownership passed onto Bean. The development of the park continued gaining momentum until the outbreak of World War One when investment was brought to a halt. The park survived the war and nearly a decade of stalemate, which came to an end with the construction of the Virginia Reel, the Noah's Ark and the development of the Casino Building.

Bean died in 1929 when the business was inherited by his daughter Lillian-Doris and her husband Leonard Thompson, who took over the running of the park.

Over the next decade, Thompson worked to expand the business further, starting with the construction of The Ghost Train, the Fun House and The Grand National and hiring renowned architects Joseph Emberton and later Jack Ratcliffe to bring the site up to date. He also acquired the remnant of the business owned by the Outhwaite family, gaining complete ownership of the business.

Investment once again slowed down during the Second World War, however, the park continued operating during the conflict as part of the national effort to raise public morale. The years following WWII saw increased investment with the addition of rides such as The Wild Mouse, Derby Racer, The Goldmine and Alice in Wonderland.

Leonard died in 1976 leaving the business to his son, Geoffrey who continued bringing the Pleasure Beach to the forefront of global amusement parks through heavy investment and innovation. He opened the new generation of rides including the Steeplechase, Avalanche, Revolution and Ice Blast. In 1994 he opened The Big One, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time, followed by Valhalla in 2000, which is one of the largest and most expensive indoor dark rides in the world.

Geoffrey was also actively involved in promoting tourism in the North West of England and was part of the English Tourist Board and the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions and received, together with his mother, the Order of the British Empire status for their contribution to tourism. Geoffrey continued committed to his work until his death in 2004, when his oldest daughter Amanda took over the overall management of the business, while his son Nicholas became the Deputy Managing Director and his youngest daughter Fiona became a Senior Company Director. Continuing with the family business model Amanda Thompson’s leadership has been characterised by aggressive investment, vision, innovation and redevelopment.

In 2011, the Pleasure Beach opened Nickelodeon Land, a £10 million redevelopment project. In 2013, the park worked alongside Aardman Animations to create Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic and in 2015 they teamed up with the RAF to open the Red Arrows Skyforce. In 2018 the multimillion pound Icon roller coaster was created and in 2019 the Boulevard Hotel was built. Like her father and grandmother, Amanda was awarded an OBE for her contribution to tourism.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach holds the largest number of wooden roller coasters in the United Kingdom, it is the first theme park in Europe to have introduced a fully inverting steel coaster and is the last remaining park in the world to still operate a Steeplechase roller coaster. Blackpool Pleasure Beach is also one of selected number of parks, which became the basis for the first Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California.

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