Back to Blackgang Chine for another season

This fella has moved over the winter

There's always a special thrill about the first trip of the season to Blackgang Chine. The park generally closes from late October/early November until some time around March or April, so there’s always a few changes to admire.

To add to the excitement, Blackgang Chine has to deal with the fact that the majority of the Isle of Wight’s erosion happens in winter. The wet weather softens the cliffs so you always feel relieved that the park is still standing by Easter.

The moving dinosaurs that keep moving

Winter erosion has obviously caused much head scratching and created much work over winter in dinosaur themed Restricted Area 5 – where we started our tour. 

A big chunk of Restricted Area 5 has been re-designed, with the most obvious change being that the T-Rex has moved. It’s turned out to be a nice adjustment but it must have been a huge amount of work considering it is on an unstable slope. There is something poetic about a plastic dinosaur sinking into cliffs that may well be full of real dinosaur fossils. One day, a confused palaeontologist will dig up the remains of an animatronic dinosaur and declare it a new species.

Mrs Guru kept pointing at dinosaurs that haven’t moved and confidently saying that they were new, but the children quickly corrected her.

As discussed in our ridiculously long history of Blackgang Chine, this constantly changing landscape at the park does rather set it apart from most theme parks. Leaving everything as it is has never really been an option when there’s a risk of bits sliding into the sea.

Sliding around the park

The entrance to Nurseryland has also moved further away from the cliff edge over winter. I’m not sure if this is an aesthetic choice or one brought about by cracks in the footpaths but my guess is the latter.

We then moved on to the waterslide, which is one of the few rides that I can manage without achieving a wobbly tummy. It was a particularly grey and wet day when we visited, but the views were still pretty good from the top of the slide. I should point out that we usually wait for a sunny day to visit Blackgang Chine, as it’s much more pleasant but it was child one’s birthday and we had agreed on a visit to the park regardless of the weather.

After the waterslide we went for the Underwater Kingdom, which seemed appropriate considering the rain was dribbling down my nose by this point.

Rootin’ tootin’ time

From the Underwater Kingdome we wandered to perhaps my favourite part of the park – Cowboy Town (the dinosaurs are joint favourites). I’ve always loved the way that the cliffs overhang the bank, church and saloon and almost look like they are made of carbon fibre themselves.

The plus point of visiting on a wet day is that there weren’t a huge number of other visitors, so the children were able to occupy entire buildings and lark about. Usually, your games are interrupted by a random nine year old with a cap gun telling you to ‘stick ‘em up’ whilst the parents stare at their phones in the café.

The Singing Pet Shop was the next stop. This was added to the park in 1992, but it’s been changed and updated a few times over the years, including a Baby Shark feature, which child two spent a long time pressing.

"We operate a Challenge 25 policy in this bar, Sir"

The maze hangs on

The maze was next. Long time visitors will realise that we didn’t take the most logical route around the park, but it was a good chance to get my steps in.

This is another part of the park that is perilously close to the cliff edge. The maze was planted in 1963 so it’s quite remarkable that it’s still going after 62 years. I believe it is the last remaining attraction that hasn’t been relocated or removed since the 1960s and 1970s. At some point it will become a much smaller maze.

Next up was the Shipwrecked ride. My stomach can’t cope with this (relatively tame) ride, so Mrs Guru dutifully stepped in and got a wet bottom.

We finished the outing in the welcome shelter of the Hall of Mirrors. This actually filled more time than perhaps anything at the park that day. I’m a big fan of low-key fun at parks like Blackgang Chine. We enjoy the rides, but things like the Hall of Mirrors are perfect since there is no tension about which members of the family want to take part. There is also a significant amount of sniggering and chortling.

Blackgang Chine is celebrating its 182nd anniversary - otherwise known as Triple Diamond + Cotton

Returning for the rest of the park

As you’ll probably realise, we didn’t see everything at Blackgang Chine on our first visit of the season. Some areas are too dangerous to open in the rain, including Blackgang Beach and the Snakes and Ladders slides. We also didn’t do the bigger rides – including the Jolly Robin, which has been moved from Robin Hill and rebranded with a pirate theme. We also didn’t order our usual portion of chips in the café.

You get a seven day free return to Blackgang Chine, so my advice is always to visit early on during a holiday. Visiting on a wet day is a bit limited, although it will appeal if you don’t like big crowds.

My advice is to visit twice in a week, with a couple of days' gap in between. During the summer there is often a late night opening with a cliff top party and fireworks.

​We’ll be back for those in a few months.