Mystery surrounds future of Gold Mine ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Mystery continues to surround the future status of Blackpool Pleasure Beach's Gold Mine ride, which closed to the public on September 25, 2011.

Construction work inside the building that houses the Gold Mine has already begun, but it is not yet known whether the ride will return in refurbished form or be replaced altogether. Inevitably, rumours that it will be transformed into a Wallace & Gromit-themed attraction have once again resurfaced, but there has no been official indication that this is the case from Blackpool Pleasure Beach itself.

The rumours were initially sparked by comments made by Nick Park, the creator of the award-winning Wallace & Gromit animated films. He told the the Express that discussions were focused on a family-friendly ride that would open in 2012. If Park's comments were accurate, a cheaper retheming of an existing ride may be more likely as Blackpool Pleasure has recently completed a £10 million investment in the new Nickelodeon Land area.

The Gold Mine has been in place since 1971, and there has no been announcement of a permanent closure of the 40-year-old attraction. In its current format, riders board mine car vehicles before travelling through a series of scenes depicting a gold rush era mine.

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