Theme park's Tinkaboo Town throne restored

10 hours ago

David McKennaand

Kofi Smiles,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

News image — Alfie Lugsden, pictured, says he wants the restored throne, left, to go on public display in Cleethorpes

Alfie Lugsden/Pleasure Island Archive Composite image showing the throne before and after it was restored. Alfie Lugsden is seated on the throne in one image with a labrador. He has long dark wavy hair and is wearing glasses. The restored throne is brightly-painted and has the words: Tinkaboo Town painted on it. — Alfie Lugsden, pictured, says he wants the restored throne, left, to go on public display in Cleethorpes

A man says he wants a 'throne', which once took pride of place at a Cleethorpes attraction, back on public display after he helped restore it.

Alfie Lugsden, a Pleasure Island enthusiast, started a crowd-funding campaign to buy the Tinkaboo Town Throne after it recently came back up for sale.

Pleasure Island closed in 2016 due to falling visitor numbers. It was a fixture on the Lincolnshire coast for more than 20 years.

Lugsden said the resort needed something "to remember the park by".

Lugsden said the throne, which he described as "the only photo opportunity they ever really had at the park", was originally sold at auction for about £2,500 in 2018.

However, when it came back up for auction in July, Lugsden said: "I thought why don't we start a GoFundMe page to see if we can raise the money, and then put it somewhere for the public to enjoy."

He said the response had been fantastic, and they managed to secure the item for its opening bid price of £500, with the auction house, Prestige Auctions in Grimsby, waiving their commission fee.

Lugsden, who runs the Pleasure Island Archive on Facebook, said when he first went to view the throne he "didn't quite realise how much work was going to be involved".

"I thought I may be able to salvage a little bit of the paint, but it turned out it had been outside for most of the time since the original auction.

"All of the paint and varnish had been eroded by the rain. It was in a really bad state."

He said it now looked "more or less" like it did two decades ago.

Alfie Lugsden/Pleasure Island Archive Exterior view of the former entrance to the park. There is a red sign above the entrance, which has been cordoned off with a metal fence panel. There are a number of cordyline-type plants close to the entrance and some buildings in the distance. — The park closed in 2016 due to falling visitor numbers

He said the throne would be something for Cleethorpes to remember the park by as once it was demolished there would be "nothing to say Pleasure Island was here".

"The money has been raised by the public for this, so it needs to be somewhere the public can enjoy it," he added.

Lugsden said he was currently in talks with Parkway Cinema in the resort about hosting the throne.

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