Tucktonia

Tucktonia was a late 1970s theme park located on Stour Road, Christchurch, Dorset, England. It was officially opened on 23 May 1976 by Arthur Askey. It originally occupied of the Tuckton Park Leisure Complex. The park was closed down in 1986. The site has since been redeveloped for residential use.

General information

The park was best known for its large model village layout, which included a representation of London.

The narrow gauge ride-on steam train and some additional fixtures and fittings, were moved to the Moors Valley Railway in the Moors Valley Country Park near Ringwood, Hampshire.

It is rumoured that just prior to the closure of the park, the owners wanted to build a roller coaster at the rear of the site, but were refused permission by the local council. Following the refusal, the park closed shortly afterwards.

Bekonscot Model Village in Buckinghamshire provided much inspiration for the designers, one of whom had his office near Bekonscot and was a frequent visitor. The bulk of the models were built by KLF Ltd, who later went on to design similar models at Britannia Park in Derbyshire (known as "The American Adventure" theme park by the time of its demise in 2006). Tucktonia was the brainchild of former double British Formula 3 champion Harry Stiller who was still living in the area in 2006, before his death in 2018.

Some sources claim that the miniature London landmarks were destroyed during the making of the 1985 alien invasion movie '' Lifeforce'', and that the entire model village was destroyed when the park closed. However, other sources claim that, while the model village was used as the miniature set for the filming of ''Lifeforce'', the visual effects crew actually used their own destructible miniatures in the Tucktonia streets. The model of Buckingham Palace survives; this was acquired, restored and put on display at the Wimborne Model Town, Wimborne Minster in 2002, and moved to Merrivale Model Village, Great Yarmouth in 2006.

There are numerous unsubstantiated rumours that the models were not destroyed after the closure of the park – the main one being that they were instead placed into storage within a barn where they remained until 2001, when the building burned down.

BBC Television's ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'' show broadcast live from the park on one occasion.

The park's model London was used extensively in the obscure 1976 King Kong spoof Queen Kong.

Places and buildings featured in the model village

* Christchurch Priory
* Prospect of Whitby (London pub)
* High Street, Great Britain – a re-creation of a "typical" British High Street
* London's Tower Bridge, The Victoria Embankment, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, Cleopatra's Needle, HMS "Discovery", The National Westminster Tower, Piccadilly Circus

Rides and attractions present whilst the park was operating

After closure

After the park closed in 1986, the buildings and fixtures were cleared and the land used at first for a public house called "The Old Colonial", then, at a later date, "Bar Max". These were housed in the original buildings built by Harry Stiller and operated by him and known as the Golfer's Arms. This was a highly popular venue for both locals and tourists alike and featured the Raceway bar, where one of Harry Stiller's original race cars was a centrepiece on one of the walls in the main bar.

Bar Max eventually closed and the buildings demolished in 2003 to make way for a number of retirement flats and private dwellings.

References

External links

Moors Valley RailwayOriginal Tucktonia Brochures and other memorabiliaBBC Radio Solent's Jon Cuthill goes in search of Tucktonia

{{Christchurch, Dorset

History of Christchurch, Dorset
Defunct amusement parks in England
Buildings and structures in Christchurch, Dorset
Miniature parks
Tourist attractions in Christchurch, Dorset
1976 establishments in England
1986 disestablishments in England
Amusement parks opened in 1976
Amusement parks closed in 1986