'I bought the theme park I loved growing up'

Owning a theme park is the stuff of dreams for some children, but for James Mellors, that dream has become a reality.

When Lightwater Valley went up for sale last year, the Mellors Group director says he jumped at the chance to buy it.

"My auntie and uncle live in Dinnington, so this is where they would bring us for a day out," he says.

"We've visited the park throughout the years, so now it's really nice to actually say it's ours and think about what we can do with it."

The North Yorkshire theme park opened near Ripon in 1969 and was once home to the longest rollercoaster in the world, the Ultimate, which held the title between 1991 and 2000.

After being dismantled in 2023, Lightwater Valley then rebranded to cater to children under 12 years old.

"It's changed massively and, unfortunately, I don't think it's seen the investment it needed," Mellors says.

"When I think back to the days of the Ultimate or the Rat [the world's first and only subterranean rollercoaster built in 1987], they were things that people hadn't really done before.

"In my opinion, the previous owners really went in the wrong direction and went down to more of a younger age group.

"You have to remember that the 12 and unders still have parents that are in their mid-20s, 30s, 40s and they still want to have a great time as well."

Mellors acquired another theme park, Fantasy Island, in Ingoldmells, in 2016 but says he has always had his eye on Lightwater Valley.

"If you can imagine it almost being like a Disneyland, that's where our vision is," Mellors laughs.

"We have to be realistic, though, we don't have the budgets of Disney, we don't have the backing of cartoons and characters like these huge parks do.

"It's very difficult because the vision is unaffordable at the moment but we've got so many great ideas, things we want to do with the park, utilising more of the space to its full potential."

The theme park opened its new rollercoaster, Spinning Racer, on Friday as part of its "new era".

"We knew we needed to change things quite quickly to get off for the year, so that was why we wanted to introduce a coaster," Mellors says.

And what about the prospect of bringing a statement attraction like the Ultimate?

"Nowadays, with the cost of steel and everything else, rollercoasters are a huge, huge amount of money," he explains.

"I'd love to get back to that standard, to that level and I'm not going to say no, it's never going to happen, because it might, and I would love it to happen sooner rather than later."

Mellors says one of the biggest challenges will be the running costs.

"You need a big site, then you have a lot of land rent you have to pay. People want these big rollercoasters, it takes huge amounts of power," he says.

"Then you have the labour, not only to operate, but to maintain these big rollercoasters, so there's a lot of hidden charges that people aren't seeing.

"When you think that somebody pays an entrance price, that has to cover everything else that comes behind it.

"But we enjoy this business as well and I think as long as you're doing a job that you enjoy, you never do a day's work in your life."

As middle-income families cut back on days out, Mellors hopes crowds will still come out in the summer.

"Fuel prices are going up, which is another thing now that we have to worry about because people have to drive to get here to Ripon," he adds.

"But you can't get this experience on the internet, so if people want to go out with their families, theme parks are always here."

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