Blackgang Chine

There's a lovely history to Blackgang Chine, the Isle of Wight's famous attraction that celebrates its 170th birthday in 2013. Started by entrepreneur Alexander Dabell seeking to make his fortune, it began life as a ravine filled with pretty paths and gardens leading down to Chale Bay and designed to tickle the fancy of holidaying Victorians. To this end, Dabell added to the park a huge fin whale that had been stranded off the Needles, stripped its blubber, bleached it bones and brought it to Blackgang – it still has pride of place in the park today. In the 1960s, the Dabell family turned the attraction into a theme park and these days there are rides galore for children of all ages – try Nurseryland with Humpty Dumpty, The House that Jack Built and Magical Toadstools for little ones plus Pirate Cove featuring a lively battle between a pirate ship and a French frigate. There's also a Crossbones play area, pirate shooting gallery and a talking parrot! Visit the local saloon in Frontierland and become a baddie up for a shoot out or drop in on Fantasyland, home of angry dragons and the weather wizard. There's more rides besides - this will easily take up a whole day.