Photo TR: Non-German Tom's South Coast Adventure!

Ok, so for the last two days I've been 300 miles from home visiting a few parks alog the South Coast of the UK. 6 coasters, some crazy flat rides and bad dieting on nothing but fast food and fry-ups.

On Monday August 8, I left my house at 06.30hrs to catch the 07.05 London Express. By 09.00 I had made it to London, and 2 hours after that I had made it to Brighton. Went straight for the Pier, saw Gregg - but forgot to photo him, and did a few of the attractions there before dropping my stuff off at the hotel.

Then it was back to Brighton Station to catch the train to Portsmouth to visit Clarence Pier and Funland at Hayling Island. A few coastal attractions later, and I headed back to Blackpool for the night. The train was delayed, so I got in a lot later than planned. I never seem to get in early anymore!

Next day I was up to go to Margate and visit Dreamland - probably the nicest of the 4 parks I visited. A classic Scenic Railway, a few crazy flat rides and more hot weather made for a good day. After a couple of hours there, I began to head for home, and I eventually got back to Manchester at 23.30hrs on Tuesday August 9.

Here's the photos of the last two days - First lot is getting down south, and at Brighton Pier.

Hmm...Scary! Time to head to Clarence Pier now!

And this thing looked awesome. Too bad I didn't end up riding it.

This mouse was ok, but you need more people sitting in with you to spin these things.

Copyright infrigement became a good theme this weekend!

These travelling flumes are everywhere!

...and this fat bird was marking out all the height limits to the rides.

The Pier was home to this fat bird...

OK, so it wasn't silky smooth, but it's better than all the other Pinfari Loopers I've done!

...but it turned out to be pretty damn good!

I get ready to go cruisin' for a brusin'...

It's a Pinfari, it has a loop, surely this equals pain!

Well I finally got to the rides! And the first new credit of the trip.

Don't look at the clock. What's that scary old dude looking at? I must have pulled a face or something...

The Dalek had a real person inside!! I didn't wanna get exterminated so I ran like hell.

Oh wait, there it is. I always get confused with those two piers. They're just so similar!

When I got to the seafront I saw this. Brighton Pier, burned down! All that travel for nothing? Nooooooooooo!!!

After 4 hours, I got to Brighton! But what's Mr.Six doing on the side of the bus?

Bah. I bet those trains are running on time.

I left my Where's Wally book at home, so here's a tribute: Where's Wembley Stadium?

In my half-awake state, I thought I could stop the train and run to G-Force. But I thought better of it...

On the way down I passed Drayton Manor which is about 5 miles behind this hedge - but no G-Force for me today!

What d'ya mean the Orgasmatron Massage parlour is closed? That sucks!

Still on Monday, here's the photos from Clarence Pier and Funland Amusement Park.

The drop was still dropping as we left the park.

It might be built on top of a shed, but at least it's different to the two other flumes from today!

So she's not just a queen of speed after all!

It looked pretty funky lit up at night time too.

This travelling Chance spin 'n' swing was awesome. Even if if did move about 3 ft each way on every swing!

...so much so, we got wood!

I liked it...

Dave liked it...

Dave and I whored ourselves out for this kiddy coaster, and it was great fun!

I wonder what ever happened to the second deck of this former double deck drop tower?

It's Scaffolding: The Ride! I think Intamin should build more of these for construction sites.

It was getting a bit on the rough side. But one guy thought it was really good!

It's a new old ride! And another Pinfari looper. This place rivals Loudoun castle as the Astroworld of the UK.

On to the 3rd and last park of the day now, Funland Amusement Park at Hayling Island.

Yeah!!! String Joint!!! However, the only stripping going on in there was paint stripping. Not a girl in sight.

And I thought my driving was bad - this old lady was teaching her grandchild how to kick some serious dodgem ass!

One of many carousels I saw on this trip.

This guy's kids had the right idea - stay to the right and don't get squashed!

This twist was run really fast - but not fast enough to make me wanna throw up my Wimpy Burger I ate 5 mins before getting on!

Spiralage!!!

From the top, you get a good view of the Victory tower - I think that's what it's called!

Time for another bottom of the barrel scraping mission...err, I mean credit!

The Disko was much more fun!

Empty seats galore, empty seats. Oh Lord, empty seats! (Sung to the tune of Kum-bay-yah)

But it wasn't. Shame on you, Moser Rides! The taller your towers go, the worse they get!

With a name like Power Tower, it's got to be good!

What a surprise. Another travelling flume (that I didn't go on)!

The old school entrance to Clarence Pier was looking good today.

That afterburner style ride is a KMG Frek Out .. smaller version of the Afterburner, Chance will prolly become the vendor of those here in the US like they did with the Afterburner .. if they want.

Woooo serious travelling with some great photos & captions. Did like the Rita one

As for Hayling (the Home to 2 Trocadero Rides) which I think better than Clarence Pier, The KMG freakout at Hayling is run on a mental setting runs for ages, and home to the slowest log flume I never been on.

I wonder what ever happened to the second deck of this former double deck drop tower?

It used to be the Pepsi Max Drop at Trocadero in London and had 2 decks. This year Hayling took the 2nd deck off as there was no way to get on theses.

I was so sad the day I visited the Trocadero in 2001. Pepsi Max Drop was closed for rehab or something silly. I'm not a drop ride fan, but I wanted to ride it because it was inside and had lots of stuff flying by. I had to settle for a ride on their Huss Breakdance. It looks very silly sitting there attatched to that tower.

"Orgasmatron"

Copyright infrigement became a good theme this weekend!

Hey, a hidden mickey! wow those are everywhere!

~Allison "wants a pastie" Y2K~

^You're telling me. This guide alone (which I have) is worth going to Disney for...

www.hiddenmickeysguide.com

OK folks, last update.

On Tuesday I made it out to Dreamland at Margate, and enjoyed myself a lot more than I thought I would. It was a fairground liek all the others, but it had a nice atmosphere and pretty friendly staff, which I wasn't expecting in the searing heat.

So here's the run-down of the day's events:

I got a whole carriage to myself. (And what a surprise. I look like a madman!) Thanks for reading!

Here's my super-dooper tilting train home!

...and a well deserved drink. Wally, this one's for you!

But first, I go via platform 1 to my own private function room...

That's my train home!

Look out!! Tube train coming far too fast.

The old Battersea Power Station looks imopsing against the skyline.

Say hello, but I'm waving goodbye now! Time to head back to Manchester.

You could see the drop tower from the rail station.

I was wiped out after a 5 minute cycle!

This was much better than Samurai at Thorpe Park.

The TopScan was running really fast today!

It was being taken apart for some maintenance work.

This ride wasn't going anywhere.

Even if he had to push the 4-ton train to the lift hill each time!

Our brakeman was having a good laugh around the course!

Here you can see one half the layout.

This was the main reason I came to the park.

Nice!!! Spot the odd sign out.

They were so polite, they didn't even bother enforcing this rule!

They never forget their Ps and Qs.

...I gotta say how polite everythign and everyone in this park is.

Here's a what you really wanna see! Some hot sign action...

As you can see, my journey was really exciting.

Rockin' out on the train to Margate.