Camelot theme park was a favourite among Merseyside families thanks to its accessible location in Lancashire.
It first opened its doors in 1983 and soon became a big hit with families, especially those with younger children.
Camelot soon became famed for rides such as Excalibur, Knightmare and
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The jousting tournaments staged in the ‘Avalon Arena’ where staff would encourage the crowd to cheer for the ‘goodies’ and boo the ‘baddies' were also very popular.
With its soaring popularity, TV show Sooty & Co came to the park with Sooty, Sweep, Sue and presenter Matthew Corbett enjoying Camelot all to themselves.
But the once fairytale resort, centred around the legend of Camelot, started to struggle with declining visitor numbers.
Story Homes acquired the site in 2009, agreeing to continue the theme park lease to Knights Leisure despite increasing concerns about its financial performance.
But in 2012, the park shut the gates of the giant white castle for the final time.
Owners Knights Leisure blamed low visitor numbers on bad weather and events such as The Olympics and The Queen’s Jubilee - with over 150 staff losing their jobs.
Roy Page, managing director of Knights Leisure at the time said: "I would like to thank all the staff who have helped to make Camelot Theme Park one of the region's most entertaining visitor attractions and our many loyal visitors for their continued support over the past 29 wonderful years."
Following the closure, Story Homes began formulating plans to redevelop the site and submitted an application to Chorley Council in January 2014 for 420 homes meaning the rides would be dismantled and completely demolished.
It was refused on the grounds that it was large scale and would negatively impact the openness of the green belt.
Several planning applications for housing estates have been further submitted and subsequently rejected by Chorley Council.
A lot of the rides have since been sold off, but the well-known Knightmare roller coaster remains standing, albeit in a terrible state.
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However, earlier this month, bulldozers and diggers were pictured at the former theme park and demolition work is well underway.
A spokesperson for Story Homes, told the ECHO: “Following the closure of the attraction more than eight years ago, demolition of a number of unstable structures at the former Camelot theme park site is in progress.
“Following planning refusal in 2018, Story Homes is still considering its options for this site.”
