Coney Beach Pleasure Park


Coney Beach Pleasure Park was a small amusement park in Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan in Wales, opened in 1918 and in operation from the end of February until 5 November. The park was permanently shut down on 5 October 2025.

History

Early days

Coney Beach Pleasure Park opened in 1918, reportedly originally to entertain American troops returning from World War I. It was named as a tribute to the New York amusement park on Coney Island. In 1920 a Figure Eight wooden roller coaster was relocated from West Glamorgan and initially operated from an old World War I aircraft hangar. This particular attraction continued to operate until July 1981, when it was dropped as part of an attempt to modernise the look of the park for contemporary audiences of the 1980s. Other attractions in the early days included a bandstand on the town green nearby, an outdoor and indoor skating rink, three cinemas, a Pierrot stage, and donkey and pony rides on the adjacent beach.
Another notable ride, the Water Chute, opened in 1936; Sir Leslie Joseph, an amusement park entrepreneur who operated the Coney Beach park, built similar rides at several of his parks. It operated until 1995 and dominated the skyline nearest the beach.
In September 1939, following the outbreak of World War II, the park was temporarily closed as the 15th battalion of the Welsh Regiment was based at the Coney Beach site; later on, the Belgian Brigade's armoured car division were also billeted there until the unit left Porthcawl in 1942. Normal service was resumed after war's end in April 1946.

Commercial peak

Porthcawl had already been a popular holiday destination for locals in South Wales for many years, and the park attained modest popularity throughout the second half of the 1940s as the UK recovered from the after-effects of World War II. However, it was in the 1950s that the park experienced its first boom in popularity; events such as boxing matches, firework displays and aerial acrobat shows organised by the Royal Air Force drew in crowds of hundreds from all over Wales, and, as transport links improved further following the extension of the M4 motorway into South Wales in the 1960s and 1970s, Porthcawl experienced a dramatic rise in tourists visiting the area from all over the UK, and the park was one of the town's leading attractions. Further events, such as open air markets, circuses, and professional darts and snooker tournaments/exhibitions were staged. By the late 1980s, thousands of people visited the park from all over the world as more road and rail improvements in South Wales saw easier access from Cardiff Wales Airport.

Decline and announced closure

The 1990s saw a downturn in the park's fortunes. From 1994 onwards, a chain of incidents at the park led to repeated negative publicity, causing the number of visitors to fall. In one of these, a gantry fell onto the track of the Water Chute, possibly because of damage from high winds, causing a number of cars to be derailed and killing a 9-year-old boy. The stigma of the accident saw the numbers of people who used the ride rapidly decline and it was closed in 1995 and demolished in 2000.
In March 2023, the owners of the park, the Evans family, announced that they had sold the park site to the Welsh Government. The sale included an adjacent site known as the Monster Park. In July 2025, they announced that the park would close permanently in October 2025. Bridgend Council and the Welsh Government plan to redevelop the waterfront, including the site of the park. The park's last day was to have been 4 October 2025; the final closure occurred on 5 October, with a fireworks show that evening marking the event.

Rides

  • "Beach Party" Afterburner
  • Break Dance
  • Paratrooper
  • Ghost Train
  • "Miami Madness" Miami
  • "Thunderdome" Waltzer
  • "Wacky Worm" Roller Coaster
  • "Sizzler" Twist
  • "Fantasia" Super Bob
  • Dodgems
  • Go-Karts
  • Rotor
  • "Bounce" Jump & Smile
  • "Go Gator" Junior Coaster
  • Jumbo Circus Fun House
  • "Nessi" Roller Coaster

Incidents and controversies

Coney Beach had a reasonable record of safety between its opening in 1920 and its commercial heyday between the 1950s and 1980s, when it often attracted several thousand visitors per week in the summer months.
Since 1994, Coney Beach has been the scene of several serious and in one case fatal incidents:1994 - In April, a 9-year-old boy died in an incident on the Water Chute. A gantry fell onto the track, causing several carriages to derail. It was also revealed in the aftermath that there had been an accident on this ride a year prior, where three passengers were injured when their boat left the tracks and fell nearly 6 ft; this had not been reported because it had been caused by drunken passengers deliberately shifting their weight and causing the boat to go off course.1994 - In August, a 14-year-old girl fractured three ribs and injured her lungs when she was thrown 40 feet out of the newly opened Top Flip ride at the park. Three other people were injured in the incident and were treated for stomach, neck and leg injuries. The incident occurred only hours after the ride had been tested. The ride was immediately dismantled.1994 - Two months after the accident on the Top Flip ride, and less than two weeks after the fatal incident on the Water Chute, the 'Blizzard' roller-coaster overshot on its exit run, injuring three passengers. Unlike the previous two incidents in 1994, this accident was caused by human error, as the ride attendant was not paying attention and forgot to apply the brakes when the ride was supposed to have stopped. The employee was dismissed. The Blizzard, in operation since the late 1980s, was eventually withdrawn in 2004 amongst reports that its speed relative to its size was causing riders to experience head shaking.2000 - A 17-year-old girl suffered a fractured skull when a bolt fell out of the Skymaster ride and hit her as she walked past.2002 - A suspicious fire occurred at the park.2004 - A sex offender, who had been ordered to stay away from children by a court, was found to have been given a job at the park two weeks later.2023 - A man suffered a spinal fracture on the Waltzer.2025 - On Wednesday 13 August, a partial derailment of the Wacky Worm, an introductory roller coaster that the park said was owned by a third party, injured an adult and thirteen children.
Many visitors and critics from local and national press complained in the 2000s that the park did not properly maintain or care for its older rides, instead focusing solely on its newer additions, compromising the safety of users. Additionally, the 'Megablitz' and 'Nessi' rides were regularly reported in the local press to create very sharp impacts on the rider and to sometimes shake riders' heads excessively.