The Ultimate Rollercoaster

The area that became Lightwater Valley began life as a pig farm that would be transformed into a self-pick fruit farm in the late 1960s, the fruit picking would become so popular that it started to expand over the following years. Then in 1976 the farm was hit with a severe drouth which had a huge effect on the farm's produce. Unfortunately this resulted in a massive drop in revenue that year, to try and counter this the farm excavated a large lake within the grounds, this lake would eventually prove more popular that the fruit picking business. Because of this the owners would take the decision to transform the whole farm into a full tourist attraction, this included the addition of an adventure playground, canoes, circus and rowing boats which resulted in a huge increase in attendance figures. Over the coming years more attractions were added including fair ground rides and a restaurant, then in 1987 the park received its first roller coaster named 'The Rat' this was an Anton Schwarzkopf Wildcat which was constructed in a warehouse giving the illusion that the ride was underground. This ride proved very popular with the visiting public, almost doubling gate attendance in the first year, a year later the park added a second roller coaster 'The Super Looper' which again proved really popular earning the park the reputation as one of the best theme parks in the UK.

After two successful rollercoasters in a row the owners wanted more, a ride that was so ambitious it would not only become the parks defining attraction it would also have such a huge impact that would stop the park from ever reaching the same heights again. The owners wanted the ride to run through the valley that the park had taken its name from, however this was a significant distance from the existing attractions on offer. In order to get visitors to the valley the designers decided to create a ride that would first take you out to the valley even before it incorporated the valley section. This created one ultra-long rollercoaster, which at the time the designers didn't know they would create the longest rollercoaster in the world at the time. Originally estimated to cost just £1.2 million the company Big Country Motioneering Limited was appointed to construct the ride, they were flying high following successes of some of their smaller rides at other theme parks around the UK. It would soon become clear that their involvement in the project would be a huge mistake, as construction was plagued with long delays and costs escalating out of control Lightwater Valley eventually fired them and turned to engineers from British Rail for assistance with completing the ride. BR's team managed to complete the attraction by July 1991. What had been created was a roller coaster measuring 2.4km in length which was the worlds longest rollercoaster taking the title from The Beast at Kings island Amusement Park in Ohio, United States.

The final cost of the ride was £5.2 million in 1991 (the equivalent of over £11 million in 2023), the ride continued to operate each year until the end of the 2019 season. Along with all tourist attractions Lightwater Valley was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and when the park was finally allowed to open again later that year The Ultimate was left standing but not operating. It would see the same treatment in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, which cased serious doubts about its future within the enthusiast community. Finally in late 2022 the park confirmed via social media that the coaster had been decommissioned and would not return. This makes sense as in 2021 the park was sold to the Brighton Pier Group (riderater.co.uk/9049/lightwater-valley-sold-to-brighton-pier-group/) who are in the process of transforming the park into a Family Fun Park targeted at under 12's, demolition has not yet been confirmed but is likely to commence shortly. Because of the terrain hugging design of the ride it is very unlikely to find a new home at another park and will most likely meet the scrap pile.