Pleasure Island fought seven losing seasons, then closed its gates

The Gibb family, owners of Flamingo Land, opened Pleasure Island Family Theme Park on 27 May 1993 on a 54-acre Cleethorpes site that had held a zoo and a stock-car stadium. The £7 million park grew fast — more than £20 million invested in rides within a decade, three million visitors by its tenth year, and thrill machines like the 100-foot Boomerang and the 80-foot Pendulus.

The park even survived one brush with the end: it closed temporarily in April 2010 before reopening with nearly all of its 200 staff rehired. But after that, the decline was steady rather than sudden. Visitor numbers kept falling season after season, and owner Melanie Wood said running the park had become 'a massive struggle' — seven seasons of trying hard, with 'too many hurdles'.

In September 2016 staff were told the park would close at the end of the season. The last regular day was 26 October 2016, with a final firework event on the 29th. A councillor called the closure a blow it would be 'hard to replace'. Afterwards the park's contents went under the hammer — including a 1904 carousel — and the last rides were sold in October 2018; the site stood abandoned, rides slowly stripped, with no redevelopment.