Nemesis Nick at Sandcastle Water Park Blackpool April 2013

Date: Friday 5 April 2013
Venue: Sandcastle Water Park (Blackpool)
Who Went: Just me

Rationale For Trip

As some of you may have gathered, I enjoy water parks, including Splashdown at Tower Park, Poole. Having travelled to Blackpool the afternoon of Thursday 4 April for the RCCGB Blackpool Bash 2013, Friday daytime was an ideal opportunity for me to visit Blackpool's Sandcastle Water Park.

Welcome to Sandcastle Water Park

Just like Pleasure Beach Resort the rest of the weekend, it was only a short walk from the hotel where I stayed to Sandcastle Water Park. When I reached the foyer at 10:53am I met Balula the monkey, and had my photo taken with her. At the reception I paid the extra £6 for a Hyperzone wristband, which covers the Master Blaster, Sidewinder, Montazooma and Aztec Falls.

In the Pool Area

Once past the foyer, bar and changing rooms, the water park itself is vast. Since I previously went there in April 2010, April 2011 and April 2012, I remembered the layout quite well. When I entered the pool area approximately 11:15, I began with the Sidewinder.

Sidewinder

One of the four Hyperzone slides, this requires use of a tyre. I faced a queue for the tyre, and another queue for the launch point at the top. When it was my turn I sat in my tyre on the launch platform, waiting to be pushed over the edge. There's a very steep drop (a long way down) into a ravine. Following the first drop, you go quite a long way up the other side, then down and back up the side you first came down, and so forth until you run out of momentum and grind to a halt at the bottom of the ravine, before exiting. Wow! Going back and forth made for a thrilling ride.

When I finally left the Sidewinder, the queue for tyres at the bottom wasn't too long, so I decided to have a second go. Obviously that meant queuing for a tyre at the bottom, and again at the top, but it was definitely worth the wait. At the end of my second go on Sidewinder I headed for Master Blaster.

Master Blaster

Another Hyperzone slide, also requiring use of a tyre. When I passed the landing point there was no queue for tyres, but there was a queue for the launch point, which tailed back almost to the bridge. Master Blaster is 250 metres in length and seems to go on for ever; there are several uphill sections. Part way along you go through a tube slide, which exits the building, spirals around and re-enters the building. That's the blue spiral tube you can see sticking out of the left front corner of the building. Towards the end there's a final climb and a very steep final drop into the landing tray. Altogether a thrilling ride, one of the best in the water park, and worth the wait.

When I landed I decided to have a second go. This time I faced a short queue for a tyre, and quite a lengthy queue for the launch point (tailing back on to the bridge). To make matters worse, as I neared the steps, someone got stuck which meant turning off the water supply for a bit, and consequently a substantial delay. Once everyone trapped in there was out the slide restarted, and soon afterwards I was at the launch point. At the end of my second go I left the Master Blaster to go on something else.

The launch point for Master Blaster has a label on its side with the following information:
Aqua Leisure International
Master Blaster Ride
Commissioned April 2006

One important question: the Master Blaster is described as a rollercoaster water slide, in fact it claims to be the world's longest indoor rollercoaster water slide, but does that mean it's a rollercoaster or not?

Montazooma

One of the two new Hyperzone slides which opened in February 2012. This slide requires a special mat with handles and a curved front. The queue for such mats was quite short. Having queued for a mat, I had to go up some steps, into a tunnel which had some special effect at the entrance, through the tunnel and up several flights of stairs to the top of a tower which was built when the Montazooma and Aztec Falls slides were installed. As I neared the top, there were two queues: one for Montazooma and one for Aztec Falls. The Montazooma queue was considerably shorter than the Aztec Falls queue, but still fairly long. When I reached the launch point I had to place the special mat, curved end facing forwards, on the slide top and lie on the mat head first on my belly, holding the handles at the curved end. Once launched I set off really quickly, and continued quite fast all the way to the end. A fun slide, but I had just one go for now.

Aztec Falls

The other new Hyperzone slide which opened in February 2012; this requires use of a tyre. There was quite a long wait for a tyre, I dread to think how long I queued for one. After that I had to go through the same tunnel and up the same stairs as I did for Montazooma, until I joined the back of the long Aztec Falls queue (which was considerably further down the stairs than the back of the Montazooma queue). After another lengthy wait, it was my turn to slide; I had to sit on my tyre (just like Master Blaster and Sidewinder). This was so amazing, I went down a dark closed tube slide. Halfway down I entered a giant bowl, and was whirled at speed once around the outer edge, followed by once around the inner edge into another dark tube slide which took me the rest of the way to the slide exit. Another exciting ride, definitely worth waiting for. Due to the long wait both for tyres at the bottom and the launch point at the top, I only had one go on Aztec Falls for now, but thankfully this wasn't my last.

After that, I tried some of the non-Hyperzone slides, starting with Thunder Falls.

Thunder Falls Waterslides

Two water slides, one is blue and one is yellow. These are mostly open top, however there's a short covered bit on the yellow slide midway. The queue extended most of the way down the spiral stairs, so for now I enjoyed the blue and yellow slides once each.

Sidewinder

Back to the Hyperzone slide Sidewinder for another two goes. On both goes I had to wait for a tyre, and faced an even longer queue at the top, but both goes were definitely worth the wait for the thrill of the steep drop, going up the opposite side followed by successive down-up-down cycles.

Treetops Water Chutes

A set of three wavy slides side by side, thus three sliders can race each other. Looking from the top, the left hand slide is blue, the centre one is yellow and the right hand one is red. These were made by Aqua Leisure International, commissioned 2004. Unlike the slides I'd been on so far, the Treetops Water Chutes were walk-on. I enjoyed these three wavy slides twice each in the following order: blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow, red.

Duelling Dragons

Two fast closed tube slides, which are classed as White Knuckle Slides, but they're not part of Hyperzone. The queuing time for these slides was shorter than most of what I'd already been on, I enjoyed the left and right slides (as viewed facing the entrances from the top) in sequence four times over. These two slides were really fast, and the duration of each slide was quite short.

Thunder Falls Waterslides

Back to the Thunder Falls Waterslides. Although the queue was shorter than earlier, it still extended about two thirds of the way down the spiral stairs. The Thunder Falls Waterslides are much slower and longer than the Duelling Dragons. Thus both Thunder Falls Waterslides give long, gentle, relaxing rides. I enjoyed the blue and yellow slides in sequence twice over.

Aztec Falls

Back to the Hyperzone slide Aztec Falls. The queue at the bottom for tyres was shorter than earlier, so now seemed a good time to have my second go for today on this. Once I had a tyre, there was still quite a lengthy wait for the launch point at the top of the tower. When it was my turn I sat on my tyre, and enjoyed another go down the dark tube slide, into the giant bowl and on down the following closed dark tube slide to the end. This was my final go on Aztec Falls for today.

Montazooma

Having left Aztec Falls, I saw a load of Montazooma mats. No-one was waiting for one, so the lifeguard said I could just take one. There was a queue for the launch point at the top of the tower, albeit not as long as earlier. After my first go, I saw more unused Montazooma mats and nobody waiting for one, so I was allowed to keep my mat for a second go. Once again I had to queue for the Montazooma launch point, albeit not quite as long this time. There were even more vacant mats which no-one was waiting for after my second go, so I was allowed to keep my mat for a third go. The queue for the Montazooma launch point at the top of the stairs was even shorter this time. It seemed not many people wanted to slide Montazooma now. Anyway I thoroughly enjoyed these three goes on Montazooma, each one was a really fast ride start to finish. Having decided three goes was enough, I gave my mat up voluntarily after my third go (there were still plenty of vacant mats and no-one waiting for them).

Duelling Dragons

The time was now around 4:30pm, and for some mysterious reason the whole water park seemed considerably quieter than earlier. I returned to the Duelling Dragons for a few more goes, and ended up sliding the left and right slides (as viewed facing the slide entrances from the top) in sequence six times over. These were now very quiet, at worst just a few people in front at the top of the stairs and walk-on for some of my goes.

Ushi-Gushi River Creek

A flowing river running anticlockwise. I enjoyed four laps of this river run; I tried swimming breaststroke although the river run was a bit busy to swim properly.

Thunder Falls Waterslides

There was now just a very short queue at the top of stairs for these two slides. I enjoyed the blue and yellow slides once each (my final goes on these slides for today).

Sidewinder

My final four goes of the day on this Hyperzone slide. The wait for tyres was now very short; after two of my goes I was allowed to keep my tyre. Furthermore the queue at the top was now considerably shorter than earlier.

Master Blaster

The time was now just after 5:40pm, so I tried to have as many goes on Master Blaster as I could before the water park closed at 6pm. In that remaining time I was able to enjoy six goes on Master Blaster. Each time around there was no queue for tyres by the landing; therefore I was able to help myself to one for my first go and keep my tyre for all my remaining goes. The wait at the top varied each time; on two of my goes the slide was walk-on, at worst there were four in front of me. It was definitely worth staying until closing time to get six goes on this rollercoaster water slide at the end; a coaster crazy way to round off my day at Sandcastle Water Park.

After that it was closing time of 6pm, so I left the pool area. Just as I was walking back to the changing room I heard an announcement "The slides and pool are now closed". I finally left the water park at 6:13pm and returned to my hotel to prepare for the evening.

One other feature which I missed is the Caribbean Storm Treehouse. This is a play area with a number of features, including water jets you can aim at other bathers, and a giant coconut which gradually fills and tips to spill its contents over you. Although I walked near / through this area from time to time, I didn't actually stand under the coconut or aim the jets this time.

Summary of my day in order of activity

Sidewinder 2
Master Blaster 2
Montazooma 1
Aztec Falls 1
Thunder Falls Waterslides: blue 1, yellow 1
Sidewinder 2
Treetops Water Chutes: blue 1, yellow 1, red 1, blue 1, yellow 1, red 1
Duelling Dragons left 1, right 1 (as viewed from top) in sequence 4 times over
Thunder Falls Waterslides: blue 1, yellow 1, blue 1, yellow 1
Aztec Falls 1
Montazooma 3
Duelling Dragons left 1, right 1 (as viewed from top) in sequence 6 times over
Ushi-Gushi River Creek 4 laps
Thunder Falls Waterslides blue 1, yellow 1
Sidewinder 4
Master Blaster 6

Cumulative Summary of Slides

Slide	Total
Aztec Falls	2
Master Blaster	8
Montazooma	4
Sidewinder	8
Duelling Dragons: left slide entrance	10
Duelling Dragons: right slide entrance	10
Thunder Falls Waterslides: blue	4
Thunder Falls Waterslides: yellow	4
Treetops Water Chutes: blue	2
Treetops Water Chutes: yellow	2
Treetops Water Chutes: red	2
TOTAL	56

Total 56 slides, plus 4 laps of Ushi-Gushi River Creek

Outro

Highlights

High slide count, considering how busy the place was for most of the day.
Re-riding the thrilling Hyperzone slides Sidewinder, Master Blaster, Montazooma and Aztec Falls, plus other slides.
Six goes on Master Blaster at the end of the day.

Lowlights

The place was busier than I'd have liked for most of the day.

Summing Up

Wow, a mega fun visit to the UK's largest indoor water park. By staying in all day, I certainly got my money's worth. Once again I managed to stay in until 6pm without eating or drinking anything. My big breakfast around 9am set me up for the whole day. If you've not yet been there, and you enjoy water parks, I strongly suggest you pay it a visit. In order to get your money's worth, I recommend staying in all day. Going in after the ERS on Sunday of the Blackpool Bash (i.e. around midday) may not give you sufficient time to do Sandcastle Water Park justice. Once again for most of the day the place was a bit busy for my liking, partly due to it being the Easter school holiday, it seemed busier than my 2011 visit which was also in the Easter school holiday. The opening of Aztec Falls and Montazooma in February 2012 has clearly made the whole place more popular. Despite the large number of other visitors in the water park, I don't recall seeing anyone else from the RCCGB in there. Being as this was the Blackpool Bash weekend, I'd have thought a few other members who had arrived Thursday evening or Friday early morning for the Blackpool Bash would have taken the opportunity to spend Friday daytime at Sandcastle Water Park, especially riding the Master Blaster rollercoaster water slide.

Nemesis Nick's Inter-Coaster Season Fun 2012/2013

My solo visit to Funland, Hayling Island on Saturday 27 October 2012 was my send-off to the 2012 coaster season. Now it's almost time for the RCCGB Blackpool Bash 2013, which will be my first coaster trip of 2013. Between the 2012 and 2013 coaster seasons, I've not been hibernating. Here are the out-of-season trips I've had from November 2012 to March 2013 inclusive.

To jump to individual trips, please click the appropriate link below.
Bath On Ice - Saturday 15 December 2012
Oasis Leisure Centre Swindon - Sunday 16 December 2012
Bournemouth Slide 'N' Skate - Saturday 29 December 2012
Cardiff International Pool - Saturday 5 January 2013
Skating At The BIC - Saturday 23 February 2013
Poole Bowl 'N' Skate - Saturday 30 March 2013

Enjoy reading as many of the following six trip reports as you wish.

Bath On Ice - Saturday 15 December 2012

Date: Saturday 15 December 2012
Venue: Temporary ice rink at Royal Victoria Park, Bath
Who Went: Just me

Rationale For Trip

A temporary outdoor ice rink was on at Royal Victoria Park, Bath during December 2012, and it proved quite popular. I was keen to give it a try and the afternoon of Saturday 15 December 2012 was a convenient time for me to go.

My Chosen Skating Session

This was my first ever time of going ice skating on an open-air ice rink. Whilst the action of skating on ice was just the same as on an indoor rink, the fact that it was outdoors gave a different feeling to skating indoors. I chose a late afternoon session which began whilst it was still daylight and the setting sun could be seen. During the hour that I was on the ice daylight turned to dusk. At dusk the rink was illuminated by lights that changed colour, and Christmas music was being played to add to the atmosphere. The rink was busy, which limited the amount of space available to anyone. Furthermore the rink was smaller than some indoor rinks I've been on in the past, but it was still great fun. I remained upright for the whole hour. An Ice Marshall tried taking photos of everyone on the ice. At the end of the session everyone was asked to leave the ice and return their skates. I chose not to buy the photo that I was in.

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Oasis Leisure Centre Swindon - Sunday 16 December 2012

Date: Sunday 16 December 2012
Venue: Oasis Leisure Centre Swindon
Who Went: Just me

Rationale For Trip

Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon has had water slides for several years. Considering I've lived in Bath since 1996, and Swindon is just half an hour away on a High Speed Train, one might have thought I'd have gone there several times by now. Not so! At the start of December 2012, I had still never been to the Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon, although for the last couple of years I've been meaning to go water sliding there. I was determined to go there some time in December 2012, and Sunday 16 December 2012 happened to be a convenient day for me to go.

Getting To Swindon

The outing began when I caught the 11:43 train from Bath Spa to Swindon. Having reached Swindon about half an hour later, the Oasis Leisure Centre was about 10 minutes' walk away.

Oasis Leisure Centre

The leisure pool, known as the Lagoon Pool, claims to be Swindon's premier fun pool. This pool includes a wave machine. In order to have as many slides as possible, I didn't go in the Lagoon Pool at all.

In addition to the Lagoon Pool itself there are also the following water slides.

Sidewinder

This blue slide is a closed tube all the way down. It is snake themed, and the easiest of the three but still great fun.

Great White

A wide white closed tube all the way down. This slide is shark themed, and more thrilling than Sidewinder.

Storm

This narrow tube slide is black all the way down. It starts with a pitch dark clockwise spiral. Mid way there's a straight bit with a strip lighting effect. The rest of the slide is another pitch dark clockwise spiral, before you finally exit into the landing pool. I found out that this slide was new; it replaced an old slide in the same spot which was called Screamer.

Sidewinder, Great White and Storm are known as the Domebuster Flumes. To access them you go up a staircase enclosed within a tall tower.

Lagoon Falls

This slide is located under the main dome and above the Lagoon Pool. Therefore you have to go up a separate staircase to access this slide. The slide is open-topped all the way down and gives a slow, gentle ride. Shortly after the start there is a bend to the left, followed by a bend to the right and another bend to the left. Finally there's a clockwise spiral (one circle) before you land in the catch tray.

I entered the pool area at 12:50. Knowing I would only get an hour in there, my initial concern was how many or few slides there would be time for in that hour, so I headed straight for the Domebuster Flumes. Thankfully Sidewinder, Great White and Storm were all surprisingly quiet throughout my session, presumably due to many people being preoccupied with Christmas shopping in the town centre.

My session began with two goes on Sidewinder. Next I had four goes on Great White followed by eight goes on Storm. After that I had another four goes on Sidewinder; although this was the mildest of the three tower flumes I wanted to increase my count on it. Next I had four more goes on Great White.

At this point I left the Domebuster Flumes to try the Lagoon Falls slide above the main pool. This open top slide was busier than the other three slides, so for now I limited myself to one go. I returned to the main tower for two goes on Great White, two goes on Sidewinder and yet another two goes on Great White. Finally there was just time for me to enjoy three goes on Lagoon Falls before my session officially ended at 2pm. Thus I actually had just over an hour in there.

Summary of my sliding in actual order:

Sidewinder 2
Great White 4
Storm 8
Sidewinder 4
Great White 4
Lagoon Falls 1
Great White 2
Sidewinder 2
Great White 2
Lagoon Falls 3

Cumulative Summary of Slides

Slide	Total
Great White	12
Lagoon Falls	4
Sidewinder	8
Storm	8
TOTAL	32

Oasis Café

Having left the pool area and dressed, I went to the Oasis Café for a much-needed latte coffee before I left the Oasis Leisure Centre.

Remaining Time In Swindon

Having left the Oasis Leisure Centre, I went for a walk around the town centre for about an hour or so. There happened to be a Christmas funfair on there, so whilst I was on my way back to the station I went into the funfair and decided to ride the Phantom Chaser.

Phantom Chaser

A ghost train. The train began by climbing a hill and working its way gradually downwards. Being as its track goes uphill and downhill, some may class this as a coaster. Anyway, being a ghost train it was spooky along the way. I limited myself to just one go.

Journey Home

When the ride ended I headed straight back to the station, whereupon I caught the 16:11 train from Swindon to Bath Spa. The train ran on time and took about half an hour to reach Bath.

Outro

Highlights

Sliding the water slides Sidewinder, Great White, Storm and Lagoon Falls for the first time ever.
Sidewinder, Great White and Storm really quiet, often walk-on and at worst two in front.
High slide count for the time I was in there.
Riding the ghost train Phantom Chaser at the Christmas Funfair.

Lowlights

Having just over an hour in the Lagoon Pool, it would have been nice if the session had been longer.

Summing Up

Altogether a fun afternoon out. It's always extra fun going to a water slide complex and trying out the slides for the first time ever. That said, it's a pity I didn't go there two or three years ago whilst the Screamer slide was still there, so that I could have gone down that slide as well as Sidewinder, Great White and Lagoon Falls. By waiting until December 2012 to go there for the first time ever, I had the satisfaction of sliding a new slide Storm, but now I'll never get the chance to slide Screamer. My one ride on Phantom Chaser was an unexpected additional treat to round off the trip.

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Bournemouth Slide 'N' Skate - Saturday 29 December 2012

Date: Saturday 29 December 2012
Venue: Littledown Centre, Lower Gardens Ice Rink
Who Went: Just me

Rationale For Trip

Back in July 2012 I was intending to go to the Littledown Centre, Bournemouth to enjoy its water slides. In fact that was my original plan for Saturday 21 July 2012, but due to my getting ready and setting off later than expected, I ended up going to Splashdown, Tower Park, Poole that day, which in hindsight was a better choice for that day. Nonetheless a visit to Littledown Centre Bournemouth remained on my list of things to do since July, but for various reasons still hadn't materialised by Christmas. Therefore I was determined to go there over Christmas 2012.

Furthermore the temporary ice rink which has been a popular attraction at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) over Christmas for several years now was back there for Christmas 2012. In addition there was an outdoor ice rink in the Lower Gardens, Bournemouth during Christmas 2012. Obviously that would give me a choice of rinks for once (I would skate on one or the other), but my initial preference before setting off was to skate at the BIC indoor rink. With an early start and good timekeeping I could easily go water sliding at the Littledown Centre and ice skating at one of the two temporary rinks in a single day.

Getting To Bournemouth

In some ways this was a bad day to go from Dorchester to Bournemouth by train as there was the added inconvenience of a rail replacement bus service between Poole and Bournemouth due to engineering. Never mind, that didn't put me off going. After an early rise I caught the 8:46 train from Dorchester South to Poole followed by the onward 9:25 rail replacement bus to Bournemouth.

Having reached Bournemouth railway station at 9:47, I walked to a nearby bus stop to catch a local bus to the Littledown Centre.

Littledown Centre

The Littledown Centre is a leisure centre on the outskirts of Bournemouth. Its facilities include a 25 metre rectangular swimming pool, learner pool and two water slides:

Yellow slide (slow)

This takes you around a clockwise u-bend, along a straight bit, around another clockwise u-bend and another, straight bit. Finally there's a clockwise spiral (dark towards the end), and you land in a small landing pool.

Green slide (fast)

This starts with a steep drop (not vertical), followed by a clockwise spiral (dark), bend to left, and you land in a small landing pool.

I arrived at the Littledown Centre around 10:30am. The receptionist pointed out to me that when the pool opened at 11am, it was going to be a Wet and Wacky session until 12:30. This session was clearly aimed more at families as inflatables were in the pool, making serious swimming difficult if not impossible. I stated that my plan was to have as many goes as possible on the two water slides.

Once admitted, time allowed for me to have a coffee at the Littledown Café before getting changed just before 11:00. From the café I could see the inflatables being put into the pool ready for the Wet and Wacky session.

I was in the pool area from 11:06 to 12:42, i.e. just over one and a half hours. In that time I enjoyed a total of 20 goes on the yellow slide and 24 goes on the green slide. By the time I was about to leave, the Wet and Wacky session was over and lanes were in place, which therefore allowed me to swim one length of the main pool deep to shallow before leaving the pool area.

Summary of my sliding in actual order:

Yellow Flume 4
Green Flume 4
Yellow Flume 4
Green Flume 8
Yellow Flume 4
Green Flume 8
Yellow Flume 8
Green Flume 4

Cumulative Summary of Slides

Slide	Total
Green Flume	24
Yellow Flume	20
TOTAL	44

Lunch at Littledown Café

After leaving the pool area I went to the Littledown Café for a light lunch.

Mid Afternoon Problems

Having left the Littledown Centre I didn't have long to wait for the next available bus to the sea front. Without further ado I headed straight for the BIC. Although realistically I was now hoping to get into the ice skating session that was due to start at 4pm, I wanted to see if there was any chance (however remote) of getting into the session that was imminent (due to start around 2:15pm). The first hiccup of the day arose at the BIC box office: due to a technical fault the 2:15pm skating session was cancelled due to a technical problem.

The staff were uncertain when, if at all, the Purbeck Hall rink would reopen; the earliest possibility was now the 5:30pm session. However that was currently very much a maybe and no guarantee could be given of it opening at that time, which is why they were unwilling to sell tickets for that session. I asked if it would be worth hanging on for that session, bearing in mind a) if it did go ahead, I would be leaving around 7pm and it would be quite late when I'd get back to Dorchester, and b) I'd have to kill three hours in the meantime. They suggested phoning around 5pm to enquire whether the 5:30pm session would be running or not; if it too had to be cancelled I'd then begin my journey back to Dorchester, with the feeling of having wasted the afternoon. Meanwhile they suggested looking at the outdoor rink in the Lower Gardens, which was just a short walk away.

When I got to the Lower Gardens ice rink, the 2:15pm skating session was sold out and underway. The 4pm session was currently hanging in the balance, an ice assessment at the end of the current session would determine whether or not the 4pm session could go ahead. If it did go ahead the number of skaters would be limited to 50, and due to some having already booked, there would only be 25 unreserved tickets available. Unwilling to sell me a ticket now, the lady suggested I come back at 3:30pm to a) find out if the 4pm session was on, and b) if so, be one of the first there and thus maximise my chance of getting a ticket. To fill time, I went to Subway in the town centre for a for a coffee.

Lower Gardens Ice Skating

At 3:30pm I returned to the outdoor ice rink in Lower Gardens. The 4pm session was now definitely going ahead, and there were currently plenty of unreserved tickets available for that session, so I decided to go to that. At least I now knew I'd be going ice skating at 4pm, which would be more convenient for me than 5:30; anyway there was still no guarantee the 5:30 session would take place at the BIC. An added bonus, the rain had now stopped and the setting sun was now out. Although skates were issued at 4pm, the actual time on the ice was 4:15 to 5:15, i.e. one hour.

At 4:15pm skaters were allowed on to the ice. Being as I was going ice skating, it seemed appropriate for me to wear my fluorescent yellow cagoule with Skatedrive on it. It's a wonder that didn't cause confusion with the Ice Marshalls who themselves were wearing fluorescent yellow jackets, but they said that was no problem. Skating in the open air as dusk turned to darkness was extra satisfying and a welcome change from skating at the BIC in previous years, despite the Lower Gardens rink being considerably smaller than the BIC ice rink has ever been. During the hour I was on the ice continuously and had no falls. Furthermore it stayed dry in that time. At 5:15pm there was an announcement that the session was over and everyone must leave the ice and return their skates. Probably just as well as far as I was concerned, my legs were beginning to ache a bit.

Danter's Funfair

Danter's Funfair was on at the Pier Approach during Christmas 2012, and the rides were still operating after dark. I treated myself to one go on Freak-Out, my final ride for 2012. The ride experience on this swinging, spinning ride was no different to when I rode it previous years. Although fun, one go was enough; no way could I have stuck two goes. I asked if this is the same Freak-Out as was here Christmas 2011, and previous years. It is as Danter's Funfair has only this one Freak-Out; they've had it since 2003.

Remaining Time In Bournemouth

Out of curiosity I called into the BIC box office to find out whether or not the 5:30pm Purbeck Hall ice skating session was running. Obviously if it was I would not now be skating there as I'd already gone skating on the Lower Gardens outdoor ice rink. The problem had been solved and the 5:30pm session was now running in the Purbeck Hall. In fact it was sorted out just before 4pm and thus they were able to run the 4pm session; however they could not start selling tickets for that until 3:55pm. I explained that, following their earlier advice, I checked out the Lower Gardens ice rink and turned up at 3:30pm for the 4pm session to ensure I got a ticket for that session; I didn't want to pop around to the BIC on the off-chance the Purbeck Hall rink might be back in action. The people in the BIC box office said I did the right thing going to the 4pm outdoor rink session rather than chancing my luck with the BIC Purbeck Hall rink.

Back in the town centre, I went to Subway for another cup of coffee before returning to the railway station by bus.

Journey Home

I got to Bournemouth railway station just in time for the 18:29 rail replacement bus to Poole, whereupon I caught the onward 19:02 train to Dorchester South.

Outro

Highlights

Sliding the yellow and green water slides at the Littledown Centre for over one and a half hours.
High slide count there in that time.
Ice skating on the Lower Gardens open-air ice rink.

Lowlights

Added inconvenience of the rail replacement buses between Poole and Bournemouth.
Getting to the BIC and discovering ice skating was cancelled until further notice due to a technical problem.
Uncertainty as to whether or not the 4pm session on the Lower Gardens outdoor ice rink would go ahead when I first got there

Summing Up

Altogether a great day out, my final time of going water sliding or ice skating anywhere for 2012. The yellow and green slides at the Littledown Centre may not be the best water slides I've been down during 2012, but they were better than some water slides I have ever experienced. The waiting time for them varied, but there were never more than about five people in front, and thus I achieved a high slide count on them in just over one and a half hours. It's a pity the 2:15pm ice skating session at the BIC Purbeck Hall had to be cancelled due to technical problems and they weren't able to guarantee it opening again in time for even the 5:30pm session at the time. Thankfully the 4pm skating session on the Lower Gardens open-air ice rink went ahead (despite that too hanging in the balance around 2:30pm) and I was thus able to enjoy ice skating after all. Although the Lower Gardens ice rink was smaller than the BIC Purbeck Hall rink has ever been, it was a new experience skating in the open air in Lower Gardens as dusk turned to darkness. That in itself added to the fun. My one go on Danter's Freak-Out, which turned out to be my final funfair ride anywhere for 2012, provided the finishing touch to a fun day.

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Cardiff International Pool - Saturday 5 January 2013

Date: Saturday 5 January 2013
Venue: Cardiff International Pool
Who Went: Just me

Rationale For Trip

Having begun 2011 and 2012 with a visit to Cardiff International Pool to enjoy the fun pool and water slides, I was equally keen to begin 2013 with another visit there. This was, in fact, my fourth visit to Cardiff International Pool to-date; my previous three visits there were 19 December 2009, 8 January 2011 and 7 January 2012.

Getting To Cardiff

I got up fairly early in order to catch the 08:30 train from Bath Spa to Cardiff Central. Having reached Cardiff, I caught a bus to the Sports Village.

Cardiff International Pool

Cardiff International Pool is located at the Sports Village. I finally got there around 10:30am and entered the pool area at 10:50. Being my fourth visit to-date, the place was already familiar to me.

The leisure pool area has the following features:

Red flume

Starts by taking sliders around a bend to the left, into a clockwise spiral. This is followed by an anticlockwise spiral, and you land in catch tray. Slow.

Orange flume

This begins with an anticlockwise spiral, followed by a clockwise u-bend, to land in a catch tray. Faster.

Yellow flume

Starts with a bend to the right, into an anticlockwise spiral, and finally a straight drop (fairly steep but not vertical), landing in catch tray. Faster still.

The above three flumes are closed tubes all the way down. They don't have names, unlike the flumes at Oasis Leisure Centre Swindon or Splashdown Poole.

Space Bowl (blue)

A short flume takes you round an anticlockwise loop into space bowl. After whirling around, you fall into a 2.5 metre deep landing pool, which you must swim out of as quickly as possible. For that reason you must be able to swim to be allowed on this.

Children's Play Structure

A multi-level play structure. This includes a short green water slide (closed tube), but that slide is for children only, just like the rest of the play structure.

Leisure Pool

This includes a river run.

There's no roller coaster water slide (as in the Master Blaster at certain other water parks I've visited), but then again, you can't have everything I suppose.

The slides were made by Aqua Leisure International, and commissioned in December 2007. Labels on the catch trays of the red, orange and yellow flumes show the following information:
Red flume: 850 Series Ride A
Orange flume: 850 Series Ride B
Yellow flume: 850 Series Ride C

I entered the leisure pool area at 10:50am and headed straight for the slides. Just like my January 2012 visit, the red, orange and yellow flumes, plus the space bowl, were all running right from the start. I was able to stay in as long as I wanted and remained in the pool area until 2:40pm. Initially the queues for the slides were really short, but as time went on they became longer, sometimes extending down the top flight of stairs.

As always, the lifeguard asked me if I can swim prior to my first go on the space bowl. I said I can swim, and had been on this space bowl on previous visits, as well as space bowls elsewhere. I suppose they have to ask everyone that question, no matter how many times they've used a space bowl anywhere before.

I'm still not sure which was my favourite of the red, orange and yellow slides, all were fun to slide. I found the space bowl particularly thrilling (just like other places where I've been on space bowls), but nonetheless didn't want to have more goes on it than any of the other slides. For ease of counting, I insisted on sliding them all round robin. During the time I was in there, I enjoyed the red flume, orange flume, yellow flume and space bowl in sequence ten times over. To finish off, I swam four laps of the river run before finally leaving the pool area around 2:40pm.

Cumulative Summary of Slides

Slide	Total
Red flume	10
Orange flume	10
Yellow flume	10
Space Bowl	10
TOTAL	40

Plus 4 laps of river run.

Mid Afternoon Snack

Having finally left Cardiff International Pool building just after 3pm, I went to Morrisons (which was just a short walk away) for a sandwich and coffee at their café.

Remaining Time In Cardiff

After leaving Morrisons I caught the bus back to Cardiff city centre. Whilst there I explored St David's Centre and Queen Street for an hour or so. Unlike my January 2012 visit to Cardiff International Pool, I resisted the temptation to end my day in Cardiff with an evening meal at Pizza Hut, in order to save money. However I did go to Krispy Kreme in St Davids Centre around 4:45pm for a doughnut and coffee.

Journey Home

At 5:22pm I was back at Cardiff Central station. From there I caught the 17:30 Portsmouth Harbour train, which arrived Bath Spa just over an hour later. A pleasant and relaxing journey to end the day out.

Outro

Highlights

Enjoying the red flume, orange flume, yellow flume and space bowl at Cardiff International Pool again.
Good slide count considering how long the queues were.
Doughnut and coffee at Krispy Kreme, St David's Centre, Cardiff.

Lowlights

Slide queues longer than I would have liked for a substantial part of my visit.

Summing Up

Altogether a fun day out, my first outing for 2013, and also my first time of going water sliding anywhere for 2013. It's a pity the place was busier than I than I'd have liked once again. Although my slide count was higher than my previous visit in January 2012, it was still considerably lower than my first ever visit there in December 2009. The coffee and doughnut at Krispy Kreme at St David's Centre was a delightful treat before catching my train home.

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Skating At The BIC - Saturday 23 February 2013

Date: Saturday 23 February 2013
Venue: Bournemouth International Centre
Who Went: Just me

Rationale For Trip

The temporary ice rink which was on at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) Purbeck Hall during Christmas 2012 remained open there throughout January right up to the February 2013 half term holiday. The weekend of the 23 and 24 February 2013 was its final weekend of being open to the public there. Being as this was the last Saturday I could skate there I really wanted to go.

Getting To Bournemouth

Travelling from Dorchester to Bournemouth was quicker and easier than my previous visit to Bournemouth on Saturday 29 December 2012 as trains were running normally this time. I caught the 9:13 train from Dorchester South to Bournemouth. Having reached Bournemouth at 9:54 I walked to the seafront

BIC Ice Skating

I got to the BIC box office (by the main entrance) around 10:30, and managed to get a ticket for the first session of the day starting at 11am. There was ample time for me to enjoy a regular Americano at The Terrace café at the BIC before walking around the outside of the building to a separate entrance for the Purbeck Hall where the temporary ice rink was located.

There were a few more minutes to wait in the lobby before going into the Purbeck Hall for skate issue. Although the session was billed as being one and a half hours long, that included fifteen minutes at the start and end for getting skates on and off. Thus the actual time on the ice was one hour from 11:15 to 12:15. I fearlessly stepped on the ice and went straight into open space. My time on the ice was continuous, and I had no falls in that time. At 12:15 it was time for everyone to leave the ice and return their skates.

Lunch at The Chippy

Having left the BIC, I walked into the town centre to have lunch at The Chippy. There I had medium cod and chips plus a coffee in the café area at the back. I chose to eat in on this occasion because it was way too cold to have a takeaway to eat outside.

Saturday Afternoon

After lunch I walked along the seafront from Bournemouth Pier to Toft Zig Zag. Although I mostly walked on the promenade, at one point I briefly walked along part of the beach. Next I walked up Toft Zig Zag path to the cliff top. Once there I walked along the cliff top back to Bournemouth Pier. Back in the town centre late afternoon I had a coffee at Debenhams Restaurant.

Journey Home

Having walked back to the Travel Interchange, I caught the 16:24 train to Dorchester South and arrived back just after 5pm.

Outro

Highlights

Ice skating on the BIC Purbeck Hall ice rink.
Fish and chip lunch at The Chippy

Lowlights

It was a bit cold for walking along the seafront and cliff top

Summing Up

Another great day out. My morning session of ice skating at the BIC was my first time of going ice skating anywhere for 2013. Although it was cold outside, it was dry all day with sunny spells. Walking along the seafront and back along the cliff top was pleasurable despite the cold. I must admit it did seem odd to be walking along the seafront on such a cold day, and thus having to wear a thick winter coat over other layers. Next time I fancy walking along Bournemouth seafront, I'd like to go on a sunny day in the summer on which it's hot enough for just a T-shirt and shorts, the way it should be.

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Poole Bowl 'N' Skate - Saturday 30 March 2013

Date: Saturday 30 March 2013
Venue: Bowlplex at Tower Park Poole, Central Park Ice Rink at Poole Park
Who Went: Me and Ann (my aunt)

Rationale For Trip

It must be said this was really a last minute replacement for what I really wanted to do. My original plan for the day was to catch an early morning train from Dorchester South to Basingstoke, and go water sliding at the Aquadrome Lagoon followed by ice skating at Planet Ice there, before returning to Dorchester by train in the evening. Unfortunately I was still recovering from a cold and chest infection which made water sliding anywhere inadvisable; in any case I didn't really feel like getting up around 6am to get ready and catch a train departing Dorchester South around 7:30am.

I suggested to Ann that we both go ten pin bowling at Bowlplex, Tower Park, Poole in the morning, then have some lunch and afterwards go to Poole Park for me to have a session of ice skating at Central Park Ice Rink. That way I would still go ice skating somewhere, and do ten-pin bowling instead of water sliding. We both agreed to this alternative plan. We set off around 10:30am and got to Tower Park just after 11am.

Bowlplex Tower Park, Poole

Bowlplex is a ten-pin bowling centre at Tower Park leisure complex on the outskirts of Poole. Other amenities at Tower Park include Gala Bingo, Splashdown water park, Lemur Landings Soft Play Centre (a kids' indoor play area formerly called Monkey-Bizness) and Empire multi-screen cinema, along with fast food restaurants KFC and Burger King.

Game 1

We turned up at Bowlplex having not pre-booked. Fortunately there was no delay in allocating us to a vacant lane, and we were allocated to lane 14. Having put our names in the game began. The game consisted of ten frames. Soon after the game began I noticed that the gutter guards were down, which is why we both had several balls go into the gutters thereby scoring no points. I tried my hardest best to aim towards the pins and avoid the gutters, nonetheless I ended up getting 10 out of 20 balls in the gutters. Ann did worse still, 13 out of 20 balls in the gutters. Consequently our final scores were both disappointingly low. Ann did manage a spare on frame 9, but being as she knocked nothing down on frame 10, still only got 10 points for frame 9. I scored no strikes or spares at all. My best score on an individual frame was 9 (8+1) on frame 5, though that was immediately followed by nothing on frame 6. Our final scores were Ann 40, me 50, thus I won this game.

At the end I suddenly found out we'd only paid for one game. I thought we'd paid for two. Anyway I returned to the pay desk to collect the score sheet.

Lunch

We decided to have lunch in the café at Bowlplex. Ann had a filled jacket potato, whereas I had a half pounder burger meal (which included chips and a fizzy drink).

Game 2

After lunch we both agreed to have a second game. This time I asked for the gutter guards to be raised at the time of payment. This time we were allocated to lane 6. When we got there, the gutter guards were still down. I thought an attendant would have to raise and lock them with a tool (just like when I went alone to AMF Bowling, Torquay last September). Anyway I put our names in on the terminal and the gutter guards raised themselves automatically. Once again the game consisted of ten frames. Alleviated of the problem of balls going into the gutters, we both did considerably better this time, we both scored points on every frame. Ann scored a spare on frame 7, followed by 6 on the first shot of frame 8, thus her total score for frame 7 ended up being 16 points. She didn't score any strikes though. Despite my efforts I scored no strikes or spares, my best scores this time were 9 (8+1) on frame 5 and 9 (3+6) on frame 9. The final scores were Ann 81, me 69; thus Ann won this game.

When this game ended, I collected the score sheet and we left Bowlplex. After that we moved on to Poole Park.

Central Park Ice Rink

Central Park is the name of a building in Poole Park. There are two parts to the building, one half (accessed through one entrance) is a children's soft play area. The other half (accessed via a separate entrance) contains a café and a small indoor ice rink. The small size of the rink makes it ideal for introducing young children to ice skating, especially as penguins are available for children to hold on to whilst learning to skate.

Coffee Time

I was booked in for the 2:30pm ice skating session. When we arrived there was about an hour to wait for that session. To fill time we both decided to have a coffee in the café, I also had a cake to go with my large filter coffee. Afterwards Ann decided to sit in the car during my skating session rather than watch me skate. There was still time for me to have one more small filter coffee before going on the ice.

My Skating Session

Around 2:20pm skaters booked on the 2:30pm were allowed into the room where the rink is located in order to be issued skates. Being as I was going ice skating, I also decided to wear my fluorescent yellow cagoule with Skatedrive on it. Fortunately that was no problem of confusion with the Ice Marshalls as they didn't wear fluorescent yellow here.

At 2:30 skaters were allowed on to the ice. There were quite a few others on the ice besides me. I quickly picked up speed and skated around and around. As time went on I tried a few brief moments of one-legged skating, but didn't have the confidence to skate on one leg for long. Obviously the small size of this rink made it seem like a goldfish bowl compared to the large ice rinks I've skated on at Bristol and Basingstoke in the past, but nonetheless I still enjoyed having the chance to skate. At 3:15 the session ended, and everyone was asked to leave the ice and return their skates. Thus the total time on the ice was 45 minutes, and I remained upright for that entire time, even my short spells of one-legged skating.

After Skating

Having returned to the café, I stayed little longer to enjoy a cappuccino coffee before returning to the car to begin the journey back to Dorchester.

Outro

Highlights

Two games of ten-pin bowling at Bowlplex, Tower Park.
Lunch at Bowlplex, Tower Park.
Ice skating at Central Park Ice Rink, Poole Park.

Lowlights

Disappointingly low scores and getting many balls in the gutters on the first game.

Summing Up

Altogether a fun day out to fill up Easter Saturday. Although it wasn't what I originally wanted to do that day, I still enjoyed what did happen. The ten-pin bowling was great fun, although our scores were disappointingly low on the first game due to the gutter guards being down, and hence many balls going into the gutters. Thankfully our performance on the second game after lunch was much better due to my request to have the guards raised. It's a pity we didn't pay for two games right at the start. Not only would it have worked out a couple of pounds cheaper than paying for them separately, but I've since noticed each score sheet has a statistics table, which includes high game and low game, along with a difference. Obviously this was 0 for both tables as we played two separate sessions of one game. By playing one session of two games, the statistics for two games would most likely have been combined and some interesting data such as the difference between the highest and lowest game would have emerged. My afternoon session of ice skating was also great fun. Although it was only 45 minutes long, whereas I would perhaps have spent about two hours on the ice had I gone to Planet Ice Basingstoke as originally intended, I think 45 minutes of skating was enough for me considering my state of health that day.

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And Finally

As you can see, I've had a few fun trips between November 2012 and March 2013. The good thing about indoor water parks like the Lagoon Pool at Oasis Leisure Centre Swindon and Cardiff International Pool is that you can go there to enjoy water sliding in the winter months when theme parks such as Thorpe Park and Alton Towers are closed for the winter.

As for going to Basingstoke for water sliding at the Aquadrome Lagoon and ice skating at Planet Ice, I hope to be able to do that during the first few weeks after the Blackpool Bash, and post a full report here afterwards.

In the meantime, see you at the Blackpool Bash Friday evening.

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Red Nose Day 2003 to 2011

RED NOSE DAY 2003 - Friday 14 March 2003

Features

Various fund-raising events nationwide
Evening variety entertainment show on BBC1

Comments

"The Big Hair Do" was this year's slogan, with people being encouraged to do weird and wacky things to their hair as a fund-raising effort. Chose not to do anything silly with my hair. This year's red noses which featured a tuft of hair and a face were extremely uncomfortable to wear, so mine just stayed in its box! However did join in by donning this year's "RND 03" T-shirt. As for television coverage during the evening, not that brilliant really. What a shambles right at the start of the first half, they had a load of kids on the stage, and the presenter cancelled their performance following some sort of blunder. Several times a gospel choir sang a rather tacky "Thank you whoever" song when the amounts raised by firms such as Mr. Kipling and Littlewoods were announced. Whilst viewing the really late coverage on video two days later, couldn't even see a clear cut end. Perhaps the best bits were just before the beginnings of the two programmes when BBC1 showed one of their current idents followed by a spoof BBC1 ident. Congratulations though to all the fundraisers involved in raising the multi-million pound end-of-night total. A bottom-of-the bunch nul points contender here.

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RED NOSE DAY 2005 - Friday 11 March 2005

Features

Fundraising events around the UK
Harry Hill, Dick and Dom, Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, Little Little Britain
The Vicar of Dibley, Blind Date, Alan Partridge, Smith & Jones, Drunken Fame Academy
Comic Relief singles "It's All About You" (McFly ) and "Is This The Way To Amarillo?" (Peter Kay)

Comments

This year marked the tenth Red Nose Day. The first one took place way back in 1988, and since 1989 this has become a two-yearly event. Donned this year's RND 05 T-shirt, but didn't bother with a red nose, nor did I do anything silly with my hair as some did. As usual, BBC1 covered the event from 19:00 onwards that evening into the small hours of Saturday 12 March. Saw the show off-air until around midnight, and watched the remainder Saturday afternoon on video. The show opened with Jools Holland and R&B Orchestra. Jonathan Ross then appeared to present the show for the first three hours. What followed can best be described as mainly trash. Harry Hill's "TV Burp" and Dick and Dom 's "Pro-Celebrity Bogies", involving gunge throwing, were both a load of rubbish, in my opinion. A talent show "Comic Relief Does Fame Academy" took place piecemeal during the first three hours, though it failed to impress me. The first decent bit was this year's "original" Comic Relief Single "It's All About You" by McFly. Better still though was Peter Kay's "Is This The Way To Amarillo?". An impressive video, though all was revealed how it was filmed, with a green background! Definitely the best bit so far. After that came the first part of "Little Little Britain", and The Vicar of Dibley, both of which were rubbish. Things didn't get any better when Graham Norton took over presenting after the 10 o'Clock News. This phase of the show included another performance from McFly, the second instalment of "Little Little Britain", a one-off edition of Blind Date, and an appearance of the duo Smith & Jones. Alan Partridge appeared a couple of times, one of which was with the Milky Bar Kid. From quarter to one Chris Evans took hosted of the rest of the show. This phase began with a repeat showing of Peter Kay's "Is This The Way To Amarillo?" video, followed by the announcement that this would become "the other" Comic Relief single. Things got worse still after that. Endured a few rounds of Drunken Fame Academy, in which the performers totally ruined good songs. Saw a final helping of Little Little Britain. By 2:25 Saturday morning the grand total was £37,809,564. Well done to all the fundraisers who chipped in to that colossal sum. The show ended with Peter Kay performing "Is This The Way To Amarillo?" in the studio. This included on-screen lyrics for viewers at home to join in, and I for one sang along, to me this was the highlight of the whole evening! As if all this was not enough, a separate programme "When Johnny Met Keira" followed on at 2:27, but I didn't bother with that having had enough already! On the whole, a somewhat disappointing evening's viewing. Charity fundraising or not, fun need not be yuck. The first event for the Hall of Shame.

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RED NOSE DAY 2007 - Friday 16 March 2007

Features

Comic Relief single "Walk This Way" (Girls Aloud and Sugababes), other pop performances
Harry Hill, Little Britain, Beat The Boss, Fame Academy, The Vicar of Dibley, Pro-Celebrity Karaoke
Top Gear, The Apprentice, Deal or No Deal, The Mighty Boosh, Celebrity Number Wang

Comments

"The Big One". That was the theme behind this year's Red Nose Day. As always the BBC covered the show from 19:00 until the small hours of Saturday morning. Once again, I saw the show off-air from 19:00 to midnight, and the rest next day on video. This time I had two RND 07 T-shirts, a white one for Friday and red one for Saturday. Didn't bother wearing a red nose or doing silly things with my hair though. The BBC1 "Hippos" ident at the start of the show got the Red Nose Day treatment, with the hippos donning red noses. Girls Aloud and Sugababes kicked off the action with their performance of the Comic Relief single "Walk This Way", before Lenny Henry and Fearne Cotton appeared. Thereafter entertainment was none too brilliant. It included "Mr. Bean's Wedding", "Harry Hill's TV Burp", "Little Britain" and "Comic Relief Does Beat The Boss", none of which were to my taste. One of the best items was the grand final of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy. The two finalists were Trisha singing "If I Ain't Got You", and Tara singing "These Boots Are Made For Walking". Tara won. A little later there was a short episode of "The Vicar of Dibley", said to be the final ever edition. Next up was "Pro-Celebrity Karaoke", in which Phoenix Night's Brian Potter and Little Britain's Andy Pipkin sang "5,000 Miles". They were joined by several other celebrities including David Bellamy, Tony Blackburn, Jasper Carrott and Krankies, plus Bob the Builder, Basil Brush, Dusty Bin, and Postman Pat. By far this was the best piece of entertainment all evening. As expected, the entertainment was interspersed with appeal films, Ant and Dec reported on Kenya, and there were also films relating to UK projects benefiting from Comic Relief. Finally Take That performed "Patience" before BBC1 broke for the 10 o'Clock News at 22:00. The fun continued on BBC2 with a half hour special of Top Gear. This included songs from pop groups Trellis and Supergrass. Finally McFly performed the song they had written in half an hour, "Sofa, Hyundai, Administration". Back on BBC1, Jonathan Ross appeared to present the show until midnight. First up was "When the Prime Minister Met Katherine Tate", followed by a Comic Relief special of "The Apprentice", featuring Alan Sugar. Later Chris Moyles did "Red Nose Rallyoke", and The Killers sang "Read My Mind". Around midnight Graham Norton began hosting the show. His reign began with a repeat of Pro-Celebrity Karaoke "5,000 Miles" from earlier. This was followed by sketches from Catherine Tate and Little Britain. The best bit of what remained of the show came next: the Comic Relief Rat Pack Chris Moyles, Patrick Kielty, Jimmy Carr performed "My Way", with karaoke lyrics on screen. After that Noel Edmonds hosted a special edition of "Deal or No Deal". Another presenter took over after around 1:30 for the final hour or so. This part of the show included Carol Vorderman and Johnny Ball participating in a game show "Celebrity Number Wang". Towards the end The Greatest Worst Bits of Comic Relief featured clips from past years, followed by highlights of the 2007 show. The end of evening grand total was £40,236,142. Well done to all who contributed to that colossal sum. On the whole, a disappointing evening really. I'd sooner have had more pop performances. It may have been The Big One, but it won't attract a big score here.

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RED NOSE DAY 2009 - Friday 13 March 2009

Features

Comic Relief single "Just Can't Get Enough" (The Saturdays), other pop performances
Harry Hill's TV Burp, Celebrity Mastermind, Outnumbered, Smithy Vs. The England Team
Top of the Pops special, Victorian Dragons' Den, The Apprentice

Comments

"Do something funny for money" Another odd-numbered year, and that meant Red Nose Day one Friday in March, with people doing all sorts of funny things around the country to raise money. Two special T-shirts were on sale at T.K.Maxx, one featuring The Beatles donning red noses, the other with Morecambe and Wise donning red noses. Gave both a miss as neither design was to my taste. Why couldn't they have had T-shirts featuring a large Red Nose Day 2009 logo in addition to those two? Didn't bother donning a red nose either. The main attraction was the night of entertainment from the BBC starting at 19:00. It began with this year's Comic Relief song "Just Can't Get Enough" by The Saturdays; so far so good. Next David Tennant and Davina McCall began presenting the show. What followed was somewhat disappointing. The line-up included Harry Hill's TV Burp, followed by The Sarah Jane Adventures. Both may have appealed to some, but neither impressed me much. John Humphrys presented Celebrity Mastermind: David v Davina. It appeared as though this must have been a joke considering the final scores (specialist subject and general knowledge combined): Davina 8, David 14. Pathetic compared to the real Mastermind. This was followed by a special edition of Outnumbered, featuring a family. More rubbish in my opinion. After that was the first of three instalments of Victorian Dragons' Den, the first featuring the toothbrush. Things didn't improve when Jonathan Ross and Claudia Winkleman took over presenting at 20:40. The sketch Smithy Vs. The England Team was about as amusing as watching paint dry. My biggest disappointment was the low number of songs after the opening song. They needed much more than "Lean on Me" from Annie Lennox and "The Garden" by Take That. When BBC One broke for the news at 22:00, the action continued on BBC Two with a special edition of Top of The Pops. At last, a chance to enjoy a succession of pop songs, including "Islands in the Stream" performed by Rob Brydon & Ruth Jones with Sir Tom Jones. The action returned to BBC One at 22:35, with Fern Britton and Alan Carr at the helm until 1:00. What followed was no better than the first three hours. This part began with an edition of The Apprentice, another somewhat boring item. This was followed by the second instalment of Victorian Dragons' Den: the flush toilet. Later the sketch Mitchell and Webb Vs. Armstrong and Miller was in monochrome, but even if it had been in colour it would still have failed to impress me. After that came the final instalment of Victorian Dragons' Den: the television. If they had to have Victorian Dragons' Den, why couldn't they have had one single edition, promoting the toothbrush, flush toilet and television in succession? Really though, why promote things that are now taken for granted? Wouldn't it have been better to have shown present day innovations? Graham Norton presented from 1:00 to 2:10 and by far his slot was the best. During this time, Jason Manford gave viewers about five minutes of stand-up comedy. He was funny and deserved a little longer. Another good act was the cast of Let's Dance for Comic Relief doing The Full Monty. This was followed by Franz Ferdinand performing the song "Ulysses". There was an explanation of how the Amarillo video was made in 2005, using a green background. What a pity they didn't make something similar this year. Finally at 2:10 it was time to announce the grand total: £57,809,938. Well done to all those who helped raise that staggering sum. On the whole, a very disappointing evening's viewing. It could have been greatly improved with more pop performances, and more stand-up comics such as Jasper Carrott, Jimmy Cricket, Carl Schofield and Craig Harper dotted about the evening. A magician would have worked wonders too, as would celebrities running around the stage bursting balloons. For good measure they could have thrown in a hilarious "It's A Knockout" style act, e.g. celebrities walking a low tight rope above a giant ball pit. To make room for all this, they could easily have dispensed with Celebrity Mastermind, Outnumbered, Smithy Vs. The England Team, Victorian Dragons' Den and The Apprentice. Looking back at recent years, 2005 was bad, 2007 was worse and this year's was worse still in my opinion. If the trend continues, what will RND 2011 be like? Unwatchable garbage, it seems, unless something is done to change it for the better. Well it's said Friday 13th is unlucky, was that to blame for this year's poor effort? So bad, it could become a collector's piece.

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RED NOSE DAY 2011 - Friday 18 March 2011

Features

TV show: assortment of sketches and songs, appeal films
Fundraising events around the UK

Comments

"Do Something Funny For Money" Another odd-numbered year meant that one Friday in March was devoted to doing funny things to raise money. Keeping in the best possible taste, I chose not to wear a red nose or do anything silly with my hair. Furthermore the official T-shirts which were on sale were not to my taste either. Why couldn't they have also done T-shirts bearing the official Red Nose Day 2011 logo? As always, the day culminated in nine hours of entertainment from 19:00 onwards on BBC Television. The evening began on BBC One with an introduction from Lenny Henry. After that, Michael McIntyre and Claudia Winkleman presented the show for the first hour. Their hour began with a special edition of Outnumbered, followed by an edition of Doctor Who: Space by Steven Moffat. Just after 19:30, The Wanted performed the official Comic Relief song "Gold Forever". This was the first live song in the studio. Why did it take until over half an hour after the start of the show for the first song of the night? Next came the first instalment of MasterChef, in which Claudia Winkleman, Ruby Wax and Miranda Hart cooked a meal for David Cameron in No.10 Downing Street. Around 20:05 Graham Norton and Davina McCall took over as presenters. During their slot, viewers were treated to a special edition of Autumnwatch, featuring Harry Hill, a continuation of MasterChef, the first episode of Uptown Downstairs Abbey and a special episode of EastEnders. At 21:10 Graham Norton was replaced by Dermot O'Leary who, with Davina McCall, took the show up until 22:00. During that time, Take That performed the song "Happy Now" in the studio. This was followed by Ant and Dec's Big Red Nose Challenge, in which Ant and Dec had to get on as many TV and radio shows as possible in 24 hours to obtain items to auction for Comic Relief. The shows they appeared on were Daybreak, The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show, Breakfast, George & Suzie In The Morning, The Classic FM Morning Show, Capital Breakfast Show, Racing News, This Morning, Loose Women, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, QVC, Newsround, CBBC and The One Show. After that was the music video Geraldine McQueen (Peter Kay) & Susan Boyle "I Know Him So Well". At 22:00 BBC One broke for the BBC News at Ten, but the fun continued on BBC Two, presented by Lenny Henry and Fearne Cotton. This part began with the music video "Happy Now" from Take That & Fake That. This was followed by the sketch Miranda's Pineapple Dance Studios in which a group of celebrities took over the Pineapple Dance Studios. After that, JLS and Miranda Hart performed the song "Eyes Wide Shut" live in the studio. This part of the night drew to a close with Gareth Malone & The Comic Relief Chef Choir feat Rick Astley "Never Gonna Give You Up". The choir featured TV chefs including Ainsley Harriott, Antony Worrall Thompson, and Gary Rhodes. At 22:35 coverage returned to BBC One, where Lenny Henry and Fearne Cotton continued presenting until 23:10. Around 23:10 Jonathan Ross and Claudia Winkleman took over presenting until 00:40, and during their slot there were many more sketches. At midnight it was time for me switch off having watched since 19:00. My viewing of the post-midnight coverage on video continued Saturday daytime. Jimmy Carr joined Jonathan and Claudia as an additional presenter at midnight. Post-midnight coverage included Annie Lennox singing "Universal Child" whilst playing the grand piano live in studio. During her song, pictures of Africa were shown. This was followed by The Inbetweeners Rude Road Trip, in which The Inbetweeners Boys searched the UK for the 50 rudest place names in 50 hours. In the end, they found 52 names. From 00:40, Alan Carr, Fearne Cotton and Claudia Winkleman presented the show up to 2:15, with Davina McCall until 1:15. Perhaps the best bit during their slot was the music video Newport, a parody of "Empire State of Mind" (New York) featuring Welsh celebrities in Newport, South Wales. This was followed by 24 Hour Panel People, featuring highlights of 24 hours of comedy panel shows including Blankety Blank, Call My Bluff and Give Us A Clue. After that, The Axis of Awesome sang a live medley of pop songs featuring four chords. The medley included bits of several songs including Forever Young, With or without You, Let It Be, Down Under and Take On Me. This was followed by more 24 Hour Panel People. Finally Gareth Malone & Rick Astley appeared with several members of the night's cast to sing "Never Forget", with on-screen sing-a-long lyrics. At that point the final total £74,360,207 was announced. Well done in raising that colossal sum. That was partly helped by the £10,030,984 from Sainsbury's, the largest single donation Comic Relief has received to-date. That was effectively the end of the night, but Jack Whitehall and Kevin Bridges did an extra bit from 2:15 to 4:00. In my opinion that was just a "bolt on extra", and gave it a miss. Of course the sketches and songs throughout the evening were interspersed with appeal films. On the whole, a reasonable evening of entertainment, better than 2009, but in my opinion it deserved considerably more songs dotted about the evening. As far as Event of the Year is concerned, this is the first event in the Best Show category, and definitely one of the weakest events in that category.

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Nemesis Nick's Coaster History

Steelies

Steelies I've been on since 1998:

Coaster Name	Venue	Date First Ridden	Further Riding
Dragon Coaster	Butlins Minehead	Thu 24 Sep 1998	None
Ski-jump Coaster	Travelling fair at Royal Victoria Park Bath	Tue 24 Jul 2001	None
Hornet Coaster	Flambards	Tue 9 Jul 2002	5 Jul 2003, 9 Jul 2003, 3 Jul 2004, 4 Jul 2005, 7 Jul 2006, 4 Jul 2007, 10 Jun 2008, 30 Sep 2009
El Pastil Loco / Maximus[1]	Devon's Crealy	Tue 30 Sep 2003	29 Aug 2004, 30 Sep 2005, 16 Oct 2005, 15 Oct 2006, 30 Sep 2007, 30 Sep 2008, 06 Jun 2009, 26 Sep 2010[2], 19 Jun 2011, 30 Sep 2012
Colossus	Thorpe Park	Thu 23 Jun 2005	24 Jun 2005, 21 Mar 2009, 30 Sep 2011, 22 Mar 2012
Nemesis Inferno	Thorpe Park	Thu 23 Jun 2005	24 Jun 2005, 21 Mar 2009, 30 Sep 2011, 22 Mar 2012
Klondike	Funland Hayling Island	Sat 9 Jul 2005	12 Sep 2009, 9 Oct 2010, 29 Oct 2011, 27 Oct 2012
AIR	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	None
Nemesis	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	7 Oct 2006
Spinball Whizzer	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	7 Oct 2006
The Beastie	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	7 Oct 2006
Runaway Mine Train	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	None
Corkscrew	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	7 Oct 2006
Oblivion	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	7 Oct 2006
Rita	Alton Towers	Sat 8 Oct 2005	7 Oct 2006
Cliffhanger	Blackgang Chine	Tue 28 Mar 2006	None
Cobra	Paultons	Sat 1 Jul 2006	30 Sep 2006, 13 Oct 2007, 18 Oct 2008, 17 Oct 2009, 11 Sep 2010
Stinger	Paultons	Sat 1 Jul 2006	30 Sep 2006, 13 Oct 2007, 18 Oct 2008, 17 Oct 2009, 11 Sep 2010
Flying Frog	Paultons	Sat 1 Jul 2006	30 Sep 2006, 13 Oct 2007, 18 Oct 2008, 17 Oct 2009, 11 Sep 2010
Rage	Adventure Island (Southend on Sea)	Sat 30 Jun 2007	23 Jul 2011
Green Scream	Adventure Island (Southend on Sea)	Sat 30 Jun 2007	23 Jul 2011
Barnstormer	Adventure Island (Southend on Sea)	Sat 30 Jun 2007	23 Jul 2011
Mighty Mini Mega	Adventure Island (Southend on Sea)	Sat 30 Jun 2007	23 Jul 2011
Pepsi Max Big One	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	18 Apr 2009, 17 Apr 2010, 16 Apr 2011, 14 Apr 2012
Steeplechase	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	18 Apr 2009, 17 Apr 2010, 16 Apr 2011, 14 Apr 2012
Infusion	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	18 Apr 2009, 19 Apr 2009, 16 Apr 2011, 17 Apr 2011, 14 Apr 2012, 15 Apr 2012
Morgan's Circus Clown Coaster	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	None
Irn Bru Revolution	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	18 Apr 2009, 17 Apr 2010, 16 Apr 2011
Avalanche	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	13 Apr 2008, 18 Apr 2009, 17 Apr 2010, 16 Apr 2011, 14 Apr 2012
Big Apple	Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach	Sat 28 Jun 2008	None
Saw-The Ride	Thorpe Park	Sat 21 Mar 2009	30 Sep 2011, 22 Mar 2012
Crazy Mouse	South Pier Blackpool	Sun 19 Apr 2009	None
Velocity	Flamingo Land, North Yorkshire	Sat 4 Jul 2009	None
Corkscrew	Flamingo Land, North Yorkshire	Sat 4 Jul 2009	None
Dragon Coaster	Flamingo Land, North Yorkshire	Sat 4 Jul 2009	None
Kumali	Flamingo Land, North Yorkshire	Sat 4 Jul 2009	None
Wild Mouse	Flamingo Land, North Yorkshire	Sat 4 Jul 2009	None
Mumbo Jumbo	Flamingo Land, North Yorkshire	Sat 4 Jul 2009	None
Speedy Coaster	Leisureranch Weymouth	Sat 8 Aug 2009	5 Jun 2010
Woody's roller coaster	Funland Hayling Island	Sat 12 Sep 2009[3]	9 Oct 2010, 29 Oct 2011, 27 Oct 2012
Super Dragon roller coaster	Funland Hayling Island	Sat 12 Sep 2009	9 Oct 2010, 29 Oct 2011, 27 Oct 2012
Go-Gator	Billy Danter's Funfair (travelling fair) at Bournemouth Pier Approach	Mon 28 Dec 2009	None
Go-Gator (Philip Stevens)	Travelling fair at Royal Victoria Park Bath	Thu 8 Apr 2010	None
Dragon's Fury	Chessington WOA	Sat 19 Jun 2010	None
Vampire	Chessington WOA	Sat 19 Jun 2010	None
Rattlesnake	Chessington WOA	Sat 19 Jun 2010	None
Runaway Train	Chessington WOA	Sat 19 Jun 2010	None
Fantasy Mouse	Fantasy Island (Ingoldmells)	Sat 3 Jul 2010	None
Millennium Roller Coaster	Fantasy Island (Ingoldmells)	Sat 3 Jul 2010	None
Jubilee Odyssey	Fantasy Island (Ingoldmells)	Sat 3 Jul 2010	None
Rhombus Rocket	Fantasy Island (Ingoldmells)	Sat 3 Jul 2010	None
Queen Bee	Botton's Pleasure Beach (Skegness)	Sun 4 Jul 2010	None
Runaway Train	Botton's Pleasure Beach (Skegness)	Sun 4 Jul 2010	None
Big Apple	Botton's Pleasure Beach (Skegness)	Sun 4 Jul 2010	None
Rockin Roller	Botton's Pleasure Beach (Skegness)	Sun 4 Jul 2010	None
Runaway Train	Dunes Leisure (Mablethorpe)	Tue 6 Jul 2010	None
Mini Mine Train	Pleasure Island (Cleethorpes)	Wed 7 Jul 2010	None
Boomerang	Pleasure Island (Cleethorpes)	Wed 7 Jul 2010	None
Little Dipper	Mack's Amusements (Cleethorpes)	Thu 8 Jul 2010	None
Kiddi-Koasta	Adventure Island (Southend on Sea)	Sat 23 Jul 2011	None
Astro Storm	Brean Leisure Park Fun City	Sat 3 Sep 2011	1 Sep 2012
Caterpillar Coaster	Brean Leisure Park Fun City	Sat 3 Sep 2011	1 Sep 2012
Shockwave	Brean Leisure Park Fun City	Sat 3 Sep 2011	1 Sep 2012
Magic Mouse	Brean Leisure Park Fun City	Sat 3 Sep 2011	1 Sep 2012
X:\No Way Out	Thorpe Park	Fri 30 Sep 2011	22 Mar 2012
Flying Fish	Thorpe Park	Fri 30 Sep 2011	22 Mar 2012
Ben 10 - Ultimate Mission	Drayton Manor Park	Sun 9 Oct 2011	None
Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster	Drayton Manor Park	Sun 9 Oct 2011	None
Shockwave	Drayton Manor Park	Sun 9 Oct 2011	None
Buffalo Mountain Coaster	Drayton Manor Park	Sun 9 Oct 2011	None
G Force	Drayton Manor Park	Sun 9 Oct 2011	None
Swarm	Thorpe Park	Thu 22 Mar 2012	None
Stealth	Thorpe Park	Thu 22 Mar 2012	None
Treetops Rollercoaster	Oakwood Theme Park	Fri 10 Aug 2012	None
Speed: No Limits	Oakwood Theme Park	Fri 10 Aug 2012	None
Circus Clown	Oakwood Theme Park	Fri 10 Aug 2012	None

[1] El Pastil Loco was re-themed and renamed Maximus at the start of 2010.

[2] First time of riding El Pastil Loco under its new identity Maximus.

[3] I may have previously ridden this Saturday 9 July 2005.

Total 76 steel coasters altogether.

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Woodies

My experience of woodies is still very limited by comparison.

Coaster Name	Venue	Date First Ridden	Further Riding
Roller Coaster / Nickelodeon Streak[4]	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	18 Apr 2010, 14 Apr 2012[5], 15 Apr 2012
Grand National	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 12 Apr 2008	18 Apr 2009, 17 Apr 2010, 16 Apr 2011, 14 Apr 2012
Big Dipper	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sun 13 Apr 2008	19 Apr 2009, 18 Apr 2010, 17 Apr 2011
Roller Coaster	Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach	Sat 28 Jun 2008	None
Zipper Dipper / Blue Flyer[6]	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 18 Apr 2009	17 Apr 2010, 14 Apr 2012[7]
Wild Mouse	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Sat 18 Apr 2009	16 Apr 2011, 14 Apr 2012
Megafobia	Oakwood Theme Park	Fri 10 Aug 2012	None

[4] Roller Coaster was re-themed and renamed Nickelodeon Streak at the start of 2011.

[5] First time of riding Roller Coaster under its new identity Nickelodeon Streak.

[6] Zipper Dipper was re-themed and renamed Blue Flyer at the start of 2011.

[7] First time of riding Zipper Dipper under its new identity Blue Flyer.

Total 7 wooden coasters altogether, not many compared to steel.

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Other

Listed on Coaster-Count, but I've shown this separately as it's debatable whether or not this is a coaster:

Coaster Name	Venue	Date First Ridden	Further Riding
Weymouth Super Snails	Weymouth Beach	Sat 5 Jun 2010	None

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