Splashdown Quaywest

Last updated

Splashdown Quaywest
Splashdown Quaywest Goodrington (cropped).jpg
Water slides at Splashdown Quaywest
Location Goodrington, Paignton, United Kingdom
OwnerAlan Richmond
General managerJon Lees
Opened1988
Operating seasonMay – September
Water slides18 water slides
Website quaywest.splashdownwaterparks.co.uk

Splashdown Quaywest is the largest outdoor waterpark in the UK. [1] [2] It is located on Goodrington Sands Beach near to Paignton, Devon.

Contents

The original site has 8 water slides, small splash pools for youngsters and a swimming pool. In addition to the water park, the site also hosts a beach shop and a restaurant called 'Boarders waterpark cafe' and several food outlets selling fast food, ice creams and drinks, and now boasts 18 waterpark slides. 11 in the main waterpark and a further 7 in Captain Lewey's Shipwreck Island area.

History

The water park first opened in 1988 as Quaywest and it was run for 15 years by Freetime Lesiure Management. Due to heavy financial losses Freetime Leisure Management handed the keys back to the council in September 2008. [3] Torbay council awarded the contract to run the park to the Lemur Attractions Group, the company running the Splashdown water park in Poole, Dorset initially on a five and half year basis. [4] The park was re-opened in June 2009 as Splashdown@Quaywest[ citation needed ] and is now known as simply Splashdown Quaywest. In 2021 the operators signed a long-term lease with Torbay Council, planning to spend £3 million to redevelop and expand the site. [5] This development started in 2023 with a new 3 lane head first multi slide (the first in the UK) 3fall opening in June 2023, the first new slide since the Waterpark opened in 1988. May 2024 saw the opening of "Captain Lewey's Shipwreck Island" boasting a further 7 slides. They plan to open 2 more unnamed slides in the future as part of the expansion, as shown on the website.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon</span> County of England

Devon is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west. The city of Plymouth is the largest settlement, and the city of Exeter is the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torquay</span> Town in Devon, England

Torquay is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brixham</span> Town in Devon, England

Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with Paignton and Torquay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torbay</span> Borough in Devon, England

Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of 24.27 sq mi (62.9 km2) of land around the east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme Bay on the English Channel. A popular tourist destination, Torbay's sandy beaches, mild climate and recreational and leisure attractions have given rise to its nickname of the English Riviera. The neighbouring districts are South Hams and Teignbridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paignton</span> Seaside town in Devon, England

Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston. Paignton is around 25 miles (40 km) north east of Plymouth and 20 miles (32 km) south of Exeter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawlish</span> Seaside town in Devon, England

Dawlish is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Teignbridge district in Devon, England. It is located on the south coast of England at a distance of 12 miles (19 km) from the city of Exeter and a similar distance from the town of Torquay. The 2011 Census population was recorded at 11,312, rising to 13,355 in a 2019 estimate. Dawlish had grown in the 18th century from a small fishing port into a seaside resort, as had its near neighbour, Teignmouth, in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartmouth Steam Railway</span> Heritage railway line in Devon, England

The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a 6.7-mile (10.8 km) heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between Paignton and Kingswear in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay, who travel to Kingswear, where the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry takes them across the River Dart to Dartmouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riviera Line</span> Railway line in Devon, England

The Riviera Line is the railway between the city of Exeter, towns Dawlish and Teignmouth, and the English Riviera resorts of Torbay in Devon, England. Its tracks are shared with the Exeter to Plymouth Line along the South Devon sea wall. It is part of the Network Rail Route 12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torbay (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency

Torbay is a constituency in Devon represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kevin Foster, a Conservative. He defeated Adrian Sanders of the Liberal Democrats, who had held the seat since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paignton railway station</span> Railway station in Devon, England

Paignton railway station serves the town and seaside resort of Paignton in Devon, England. It is 222 miles 12 chains (358 km) from London Paddington, via Box. It opened in 1859 and is now the terminus of Riviera Line services from Exeter and heritage services on the Dartmouth Steam Railway from Kingswear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodrington Sands railway station</span> Heritage railway station in Devon, England

Goodrington Sands railway station is on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, a heritage railway in Devon, England. It is close to Goodrington Sands beach and the Splashdown Quaywest water park in Paignton. There has been no scheduled service at the station since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartmouth and Torbay Railway</span>

The Dartmouth and Torbay Railway was a broad gauge railway linking the South Devon Railway branch at Torquay with Kingswear in Devon, England. It was operated from the outset by the South Devon Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A379 road</span> Road in Devon, England

The A379 is a road in the English county of Devon. It links points on the edges of that county's two principal cities, Exeter and Plymouth, by an indirect and largely coastal route. The A38 provides a faster and more direct inland route between Exeter and Plymouth, whilst the A380 provides a similarly faster route between Exeter and the Torbay area. However the A379 serves many small coastal communities and ports along the coast. The indented nature of the South Devon coast means that the road is usually out of sight of the sea, but the many rivers and estuaries are crossed by bridges and, in one case, a cable ferry.

The railway branch line from Newton Abbot to Kingswear in Devon, England, is unusual as a large majority of the stations are still open for traffic. Of the eleven stations, seven are still open so there are only four disused railway stations on this line, a much lower proportion than most similar lines that do not serve big cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodrington</span> Village in Devon, England

Goodrington is an area of Paignton in Devon, England. It is situated in Tor Bay and lies between Paignton town centre and Brixham, less than 1 mile (1.6 km) south of central Paignton. Its beach is known as Goodrington Sands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadsands</span> Beach in Devon, England

Broadsands is a beach on the coast of Torbay in South Devon, England. It is also the name of an area of housing inland from the beach, in the Churston Ferrers part of Torbay between Paignton and Brixham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoalstone Pool</span> Seawater swimming pool in Devon, England

Shoalstone Pool is a sea-water swimming pool or lido on Shoalstone Beach, Brixham, Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Splashdown Waterpark (Poole)</span>

Splashdown is a water park located at the Tower Park complex near to Poole, Dorset, England. The park opened in 1990 and was one of the founding attractions at Tower Park. The park experiences approximately 180,000 visitors a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodrington Sands</span> English beach

Goodrington Sands is a sandy beach on the English Riviera, located at Goodrington, a coastal village on the outskirts of Paignton.

References

  1. "SLIDE INTO THE GREAT OUTDOORS AT BRITAIN'S LARGEST OUTDOOR WATERPARK". Splashdown Qauywest.
  2. "The best waterparks in the UK". Time Out United Kingdom. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. "Water park to stay shut this summer". the is Exeter. 6 January 2009.
  4. "Quaywest set to open for summer". the is Exeter. 11 May 2009.
  5. Henderson, Guy (12 April 2022). "Splashdown Quaywest to get 'once-in-a-lifetime' £3m makeover". DevonLive. Retrieved 30 May 2023.

50°25′28″N3°33′39″W / 50.4245°N 3.5609°W / 50.4245; -3.5609