Memories of landmark Scenic Railway rollercoaster

The Scenic Railway at Dreamland in Margate has, in some ways, been like the proverbial cat with nine lives.

Britain's oldest rollercoaster has survived fires, both accidental and deliberate, and been restored to former glories after age took its toll.

News of its permanent closure has prompted outcry, as people mourn the loss of the seaside ride which has spanned multiple generations.

The Grade II* listed wooden ride has been described as a "clanking rattling part of our history", "part of Margate's heritage", and "iconic".

Dreamland opened on 3 July, 1920, after entrepreneur, musician and cricketer John Henry Iles transformed a site he had bought for £40,000.

According to Nick Evans, a historian who specialises in the history of Dreamland and other parts of Thanet, the Scenic Railway was "integral" from the start.

A million people enjoyed the ride during its first season, with the revenue generated enough for Iles to "pay off many of the loans he had taken out to build the park".

"That one ride, in one season, paid off pretty much all the debts," Evans said.

While Iles invested about £500,000 in Dreamland, building the rollercoaster itself cost about £20,000.

"It's got to be the best £20,000 ever spent," Evans remarked.

There have been three separate fires at the Scenic Railway.

The fires in 1949 and 1957 were accidental, then the rollercoaster was damaged in a 2008 arson attack carried out when the park was shut.

Lifelong Margate resident Susan Jordan said she remembers watching on as "it was burnt down, and crying because it was so emotional".

Evans was also an onlooker back in 2008.

He said: "Watching that fire at the time, and seeing the people around me reacting to that, they too thought that a big part of Margate was being lost."

A restoration of the Scenic Railway was completed in 2015 as part of a wider £18m investment to reopen Dreamland.

Nearly 10 years had passed since the park was last open, and Lorraine Barnard and her friend Mary Wilson queued up from 05:00 to visit.

She told BBC Radio Kent: "We were so excited...we went on the ride, and we've been on it quite a few times since."

Barnard has also kept a piece of burnt wood she received with her ticket as a legacy from the damaged ride.

A common consensus among those mourning the closure is that the Scenic Railway is a cultural reference point for the generations which rode on it.

Jordan and Evans share the view that the rollercoaster is part of Margate's "heritage".

For the historian, the ride is synonymous with the seaside town.

Jordan said she took her grandchildren on the ride after doing so herself as a child, something she used to "love".

The Scenic Railway holds the same significance for the Barnard family.

Barnard said: "We've had three generations. My parents first brought me down with my three older brothers, I then met my husband and we went on it over the years, and then we had our son."

She hoped that their son would carry the tradition on with his children one day.

"It's iconic...it's just a majestic piece of equipment," Barnard added.

A similar attachment was felt by some of those who worked at Dreamland.

After spending a lot of time at the park growing up, Shelley Nicholls began working there when it reopened in 2015.

She said: "I worked front of house. On days where we'd come in and the Scenic wouldn't be running we all knew we were going to have a bad day."

Reflecting on the closure, Nicholls said: "Technically she's only 10 years old. She was rebuilt and rebuilt for a reason."

Dave Collard, a former brakeman on the Scenic Railway, began working at the park in the 1990s.

There was a real clamour for the ride and affection for the staff, he said.

"So many people wanted to come on the ride and talk to you as well," Collard said, adding that there would often be "hundreds of people" waiting.

He recalled stopping at the top on the last run during fireworks shows on Thursday nights.

"We would just sit up there and watch the fireworks."

While the star attraction has been out of action since developing a fault in 2024, the prospect of this being permanent has saddened locals.

Margate councillor and former mayor Rob Yates said he was upset at the loss of what he called "a clanking rattling part of our history".

Evans, who first went on the Scenic Railway in the early 1970s when he was nine or 10 years old, believes that "part of Margate's heritage is being stolen".

A "baffled" Barnard added: "How can we send spaceships to the moon but we can't fix a fairground ride?"

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