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Arthur Askey royally opens Tucktonia in 1976
Aunt Sally (Una Stubbs) and Jon Pertwee (Worzel Gummidge)visited in 1981 to open the new National Westminster Bank model at Tucktonia
Dear Allan,
Smashing article by M. J. Simpson on Queen Kong in issue 44. Just a few minor corrections— the theme park they filmed in was called Tucktonia (not Tuctonia) and was in Tuckton (not Tucton), which is definitely not a “village”, it’s a suburb of Bournemouth. I should know, as I grew up there and went to visit Tucktonia several times as a child. I have very happy memories of seeing the huge model village layout (“See Britain in a day!”), driving the go-carts around and going for a swim in the outdoor pool. Chilly!
Mark Campbell, by email.
Sounds like you should do a feature on Tucktonia old chum. Looking it up I discovered that it was the original Little Britain and the forerunner of Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures as arguably the country’s first theme park. To a generation that grew up in Dorset in the 1970s and early 1980s, Tucktonia was the doyen of days out – leisure-time nirvana on the banks of the Stour. Reputed to have cost around £2 million, Tucktonia was opened on 23 May 1976 by none other than Arthur Askey, but it couldn’t compete with the likes of Alton Towers and closed in 1986.