Post by Dave on Aug 26, 2012 16:26:25 GMT
I had heard on the news that a 60 metres high big wheel that is taller than Nelson's Column, was coming to Torquay. The wheel has come to the resort from London where it was at the centre of the olympic celebrations in Victoria Park next to the olympic village. The wheel which has will be in Torquay until the end of October.
So as it was a rare day where the sun had decided to come out and there was no sign of any rain in sight, Lyn and I went and spent the afternoon in Torquay. The reason the big wheel has come to the Bay is to try and boost our tourism industry that has suffered this year and the Olympics have been a part of the reason. Add to that what must be the wettest summer on record; it’s not hard to understand why the Bay has been suffering this year.
I was so much against that ugly balloon and one of the main reasons was because Nick Bye just over rid the covenants that were in place on the seafront and there was then always the danger he would do the same anywhere else in the Bay he wanted too.
Not only that it just was in my view a complete blot on the seafront and one reason it may well have failed to make any money was the price being charged to go up in it. I believe it was £15 per a person and that is a lot of money and certainly not anything a whole family on holiday here could afford.
The big wheel costs just £5 per a person and a family ticket costs just £15. That is a very fair price and even at that price, having 40 gondolas on it, on days like today it will take a great deal of money. While we were there it was very busy with big queues of people waiting to have a go on it.
I know it’s a bank holiday weekend, but as we drove from our home in Paignton, I was so pleased to see the Zoo overflow car park packed to the rafters. I’m a big supporter of Paignton Zoo and I’m sure its visitors numbers are well down this year.
We drove through Preston and as always there was Moses waving to all the passing motorists. He was always further along at Livermead, but these days he seems to prefer to be at the top of Preston. He always makes you feel happy and long may he continue to do that.
When we got to Torquay the fair was set up again on Torre Abbey Meadow, it seems to spend more and more time here in Torbay than it ever did, but once again it looked half empty and I think these days the operators must find it so much harder to make a half decent living.
It was at this point I looked across to the harbour area and caught my first sight of the big wheel. I have to say it was much larger than I was expecting and as I drove along under Rock Walk, due to the angles etc, I could not at first work out just where the big wheel had been put.
When we got up close to it the size of it really comes home and one thing you do notice is just how quit it is. Me and heights just do not go together and Lyn has the same problem, so there was no chance in the world we were going to even consider taking a ride on it. But it was so good to see so many people waiting to go on it and I’m sure it is going to attract plenty of people to the Bay.
Lyn asked my views on it knowing my thoughts about that ugly balloon. I think she was expecting me to say I thought the big wheel was ugly as well and should not even be here. I actually thought it looked very impressive and would welcome its return next year if that was at all possible.
Plenty of people who do not live here like to slag of the Bay, but I have been very happy to see real progress being made to put right when of the things that had been left to rack and ruin.
Was Nick Bye really conning us? The Banjo and other parts of the promenade had been fenced off for years and it made the whole area look run down and just neglected. We were told the Banjo had to be removed and the only way repairs could be done was if two large blocks of flats that were going to be taller than Rock Walk were built in Princess Gardens.
Well Bye has gone and thankfully those blocks of flats did not happen and yet now the Banjo has been repaired and is usable again and all the fences have been taken down as those repairs to the promenade walkways have all been completed.
Work has started to clear what was left of the Palm Court Hotel and its going to be so good when the new hotel is built and that area of the seafront is looking wonderful again. The Bay is trying and things that are happening now would never have been considered in the past. I never thought I would see the day when a touring circus was set up on Paignton Green, but you what? It makes perfect sense.
Driving back home drove along Paignton seafront and it was good to see it so alive. At the Preston end of the seafront green, the circus is set up, in the middle of the green was that mini roller coaster ride that is here every year now along with that wonderful old fairground ride the one that was once steam and has the horse’s that go up and down as it goes around and around.
Then the donkeys and finally that wonderful new play park that so many objected about even being built there, but I think it was something so badly needed and it sure is getting plenty of good use. Thankfully to date it has not as far as I know been subjected to any forms of vandalism.
I feel good about the Bay, yes there are empty shops, to many charity shops but that is the same where ever you go these days. There is still so much more that could be done, but we do seem to be slowly moving in the right direction and realizing that tourism is all we have got left here and we need to work harder to get it back to the glory days it once enjoyed.
Here is a good clip of the big wheel in action.
www.itv.com/news/westcountry/story/2012-08-19/big-wheel-comes-to-torquay/
Plenty of people enjoying an afternoon drink
The Banjo is open again
The fences are down and the walkways repaired at last.
So many people were waiting to use the Brixham to Torquay Ferry
So as it was a rare day where the sun had decided to come out and there was no sign of any rain in sight, Lyn and I went and spent the afternoon in Torquay. The reason the big wheel has come to the Bay is to try and boost our tourism industry that has suffered this year and the Olympics have been a part of the reason. Add to that what must be the wettest summer on record; it’s not hard to understand why the Bay has been suffering this year.
I was so much against that ugly balloon and one of the main reasons was because Nick Bye just over rid the covenants that were in place on the seafront and there was then always the danger he would do the same anywhere else in the Bay he wanted too.
Not only that it just was in my view a complete blot on the seafront and one reason it may well have failed to make any money was the price being charged to go up in it. I believe it was £15 per a person and that is a lot of money and certainly not anything a whole family on holiday here could afford.
The big wheel costs just £5 per a person and a family ticket costs just £15. That is a very fair price and even at that price, having 40 gondolas on it, on days like today it will take a great deal of money. While we were there it was very busy with big queues of people waiting to have a go on it.
I know it’s a bank holiday weekend, but as we drove from our home in Paignton, I was so pleased to see the Zoo overflow car park packed to the rafters. I’m a big supporter of Paignton Zoo and I’m sure its visitors numbers are well down this year.
We drove through Preston and as always there was Moses waving to all the passing motorists. He was always further along at Livermead, but these days he seems to prefer to be at the top of Preston. He always makes you feel happy and long may he continue to do that.
When we got to Torquay the fair was set up again on Torre Abbey Meadow, it seems to spend more and more time here in Torbay than it ever did, but once again it looked half empty and I think these days the operators must find it so much harder to make a half decent living.
It was at this point I looked across to the harbour area and caught my first sight of the big wheel. I have to say it was much larger than I was expecting and as I drove along under Rock Walk, due to the angles etc, I could not at first work out just where the big wheel had been put.
When we got up close to it the size of it really comes home and one thing you do notice is just how quit it is. Me and heights just do not go together and Lyn has the same problem, so there was no chance in the world we were going to even consider taking a ride on it. But it was so good to see so many people waiting to go on it and I’m sure it is going to attract plenty of people to the Bay.
Lyn asked my views on it knowing my thoughts about that ugly balloon. I think she was expecting me to say I thought the big wheel was ugly as well and should not even be here. I actually thought it looked very impressive and would welcome its return next year if that was at all possible.
Plenty of people who do not live here like to slag of the Bay, but I have been very happy to see real progress being made to put right when of the things that had been left to rack and ruin.
Was Nick Bye really conning us? The Banjo and other parts of the promenade had been fenced off for years and it made the whole area look run down and just neglected. We were told the Banjo had to be removed and the only way repairs could be done was if two large blocks of flats that were going to be taller than Rock Walk were built in Princess Gardens.
Well Bye has gone and thankfully those blocks of flats did not happen and yet now the Banjo has been repaired and is usable again and all the fences have been taken down as those repairs to the promenade walkways have all been completed.
Work has started to clear what was left of the Palm Court Hotel and its going to be so good when the new hotel is built and that area of the seafront is looking wonderful again. The Bay is trying and things that are happening now would never have been considered in the past. I never thought I would see the day when a touring circus was set up on Paignton Green, but you what? It makes perfect sense.
Driving back home drove along Paignton seafront and it was good to see it so alive. At the Preston end of the seafront green, the circus is set up, in the middle of the green was that mini roller coaster ride that is here every year now along with that wonderful old fairground ride the one that was once steam and has the horse’s that go up and down as it goes around and around.
Then the donkeys and finally that wonderful new play park that so many objected about even being built there, but I think it was something so badly needed and it sure is getting plenty of good use. Thankfully to date it has not as far as I know been subjected to any forms of vandalism.
I feel good about the Bay, yes there are empty shops, to many charity shops but that is the same where ever you go these days. There is still so much more that could be done, but we do seem to be slowly moving in the right direction and realizing that tourism is all we have got left here and we need to work harder to get it back to the glory days it once enjoyed.
Here is a good clip of the big wheel in action.
www.itv.com/news/westcountry/story/2012-08-19/big-wheel-comes-to-torquay/
Plenty of people enjoying an afternoon drink
The Banjo is open again
The fences are down and the walkways repaired at last.
So many people were waiting to use the Brixham to Torquay Ferry
