Great Yarmouth established itself as a destination during the 18th century, when wealthy people travelled to bathe in the sea to take advantage of its supposed healing powers. The railway arrived at the town in 1844 and bought working class families on their first leisurely holidays. Mass tourism followed and the town has since developed into the tourist destination it is today.
L. A. Thompson's switchback railway invention arrived in Britain in 1885 and the first example opened at Skegness. Numerous other examples followed at tourist locations across the country. Great Yarmouth's Switchback Railway opened in 1887, following successful application to the Council by Mr L. K. Skinner for lease of an area of sand dunes opposite Nolfolk Square. This was Great Yarmouth's first amusement ride.
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| Great Yarmouth's Switchback Railway |
The Switchback Railway proved extremely popular, and the operator's takings on its first bank holiday exceeded the £100 ground rent for the year. The Council increased the rent to £150 the following year, apparently recognising the income it could generate from hosting such an attraction. The ride was relocated several times during its time at Yarmouth, including the year after it opened, when it was moved from the beach to the promenade. Subsequently, the ride was relocated in 1892 to between nearby Albemarle Road and Sandown Road on what is now Wellesley Road Recreation Ground.
The Switchback Railway was joined by another American invention - the Bicycle Railway, which had been designed by Arthur Hotchkiss, who had intended it as a means for people to transport themselves. He opened the first example, a 1.8 mile (2.9km) stretch that ran from Smithville to Holly Mount in New Jersey in 1892. It consisted of an elevated monorail track along which specially adapted bicycles rode. As a means of transport, the idea was a failure and the railway closed just six years later. However, the design had been imported to the UK by William George Bean (1868 - 1929), who saw its potential as an amusement ride. He opened a Bicycle Railway at Great Yarmouth in 1895 on a site adjacent to the Switchback Railway.
The Switchback Railway was joined by another American invention - the Bicycle Railway, which had been designed by Arthur Hotchkiss, who had intended it as a means for people to transport themselves. He opened the first example, a 1.8 mile (2.9km) stretch that ran from Smithville to Holly Mount in New Jersey in 1892. It consisted of an elevated monorail track along which specially adapted bicycles rode. As a means of transport, the idea was a failure and the railway closed just six years later. However, the design had been imported to the UK by William George Bean (1868 - 1929), who saw its potential as an amusement ride. He opened a Bicycle Railway at Great Yarmouth in 1895 on a site adjacent to the Switchback Railway.
Hotchkiss with his Bicycle Railway
In 1900 both attractions were relocated to between Beaconsfield Road and Salisbury Road, where Great Yarmouth High School now stands. Bean also owned the Switchback Railway for a while, before terminating his lease of the site in 1908 to focus on the amusement park he founded in 1896, which we know today as Blackpool Pleasure Beach. A scenic railway opened on the site that would go on to become Great Yarmouth's Pleasure Beach in 1909. The popularity of this newer ride spelled the end for the Switchback Railway and Bicycle Railway and they were both relocated to Hope Bank Pleasure Gardens at Honley, near Huddersfield, following the 1909 summer season.
Great Yarmouth was also home to the first of five revolving towers designed by engineer Thomas Warwick. It comprised a 140 foot tall steel structure surrounded by a cage in which passengers rode. The cage rotated whilst ascending and descending the tower - hence it was called the Revolving Tower. It was located on the seafront adjacent to North Drive and operated from 1897 until 1939.
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| View south along Marine Parade from the Revolving Tower. Britannia Pier is in the foreground. |
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