Alton Towers Scarefest - with some weird guy from Germany.
- Thread starter furie
- Start date
slappy mcguire
Mega Poster
What strikes me about Charlie is how clearly it was built by Accountants, not Altons equivalents of 'imagineers.' I was actually really looking forward to it, before riding it for the first time, but found myself completely underwhelmed. Why no smell of chocolate? Why no bubbling water, to make it look a little more like you are actually riding on a chocolate river? Why no music from the two iconic films? Why no pardon how vI say this, Willy in the ride - only a big Willy on the screen, which all just smacks of a ride built with the ethos what is the LEAST we can do...' and frankly it feels like it.
People always overlook the little things, but little things add up to a bigger thing.
To be called a castle (officially, and REALLY getting into pedantry ) you need to have an 'license to crenelate'. It was a private, fortified house and you could not fortify a house unless the king allowed you. While people would, they couldn't call their residence a castle without the license. Bodiam Castle in Sussex was one of the last houses to be given a license to crenelate in the mid 15th century. This was English law for many hundreds of years.
Of course, there was a later resurgence of "fake" castles and fortified houses which we see around the country. 'Modern' castles (including the Pugin designed Alton Castle) were often built on the sites of older castles. While they were called castles, they often barely fit into the common description of a castle as used when referencing "true" castles. The fortifications are decorative, and not practical. It was still acceptable to call a new building a castle though.
It's true that the original build on Alverton lodge was known as Alton Abbey (nobody knows the reason why, as it was clearly never designed as an abbey or ecclesiastic building of any kind) the name was rescinded as the build became more extensive.
The correct term is "The Towers". I would happily accept castle as a description of the collection of the buildings though in the looser modern term (though I would snigger silently behind my hand
).
I would also, maybe, at a push, accept Abbey if referring to the actual original Abbey part of the Towers complex. I wouldn't expect anyone but somebody who has studied the Towers history to know the location though and refer to it as such. Likewise, I wouldn't expect them to use it unless they were in the presence of somebody with equal knowledge. Essentially, people using the term to be smug gits I would then also expect them to refer to the original lodge building as "the lodge" and to be able to refer to each room correctly throughout the entire building
I can't do that, so The Towers is fine, castle is fine-ish, pedantry over-rated, expectations of pedantry from somebody who has spent less than three days in the country out of order
Of course, there was a later resurgence of "fake" castles and fortified houses which we see around the country. 'Modern' castles (including the Pugin designed Alton Castle) were often built on the sites of older castles. While they were called castles, they often barely fit into the common description of a castle as used when referencing "true" castles. The fortifications are decorative, and not practical. It was still acceptable to call a new building a castle though.
It's true that the original build on Alverton lodge was known as Alton Abbey (nobody knows the reason why, as it was clearly never designed as an abbey or ecclesiastic building of any kind) the name was rescinded as the build became more extensive.
The correct term is "The Towers". I would happily accept castle as a description of the collection of the buildings though in the looser modern term (though I would snigger silently behind my hand
). I would also, maybe, at a push, accept Abbey if referring to the actual original Abbey part of the Towers complex. I wouldn't expect anyone but somebody who has studied the Towers history to know the location though and refer to it as such. Likewise, I wouldn't expect them to use it unless they were in the presence of somebody with equal knowledge. Essentially, people using the term to be smug gits
I would then also expect them to refer to the original lodge building as "the lodge" and to be able to refer to each room correctly throughout the entire building I can't do that, so The Towers is fine, castle is fine-ish, pedantry over-rated, expectations of pedantry from somebody who has spent less than three days in the country out of order
Concerning the "was it actually an Abbey" question...
I read in Michael Fisher's "Alton Towers: Past and Present", that the new name of Alton Abbey had nothing to do with what the building was itself, but more of fashionable thing to call your estate at the time once certain things are added to a house.
I read in Michael Fisher's "Alton Towers: Past and Present", that the new name of Alton Abbey had nothing to do with what the building was itself, but more of fashionable thing to call your estate at the time once certain things are added to a house.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
First of all, Alton Towers is quite clearly a castle and anyone who says otherwise is being ridiculously pedantic.
Second of all, UC... Your comments on Oblivion especially were amazing. So glad that you "get it".
Second of all, UC... Your comments on Oblivion especially were amazing. So glad that you "get it".
Smithy
Strata Poster
Have to say, after having a soft spot for Oblivion the same as most of us Brits do too, I let out a sly grin when reading that UC "got it". Glad that he liked Alton too, when I read trip reports from other sites I often get the impression that they just treat it as a generic theme park, when it's clearly unique to most others around.
Plus he's clearly one of the most ardent critics on here so we can all be proud and patriotic.
Plus he's clearly one of the most ardent critics on here so we can all be proud and patriotic.