Farewell to Trentham's big wheel
FAREWELL: Workers have started dismantling a tourist attraction which dominated the landscape for seven months.
The pods which carried passengers on Trentham Gardens' Potters Wheel have now been removed.
The giant structure will continue to be dismantled over the next few days.
More than 80,000 people have ridden on the controversial 200ft attraction since it was assembled in December.
But on Monday,
The Sentinel
revealed that the wheel's operator had decided to take it to another site, despite originally saying that it would stay at Trentham for a year.
Jay Pender, from World Tourist Attractions, the company responsible for the £6 million wheel, said the ride will be transported to a new location elsewhere in Europe.
Mike Herbert, director of the Trentham Estate, which draws in three million visitors a year, said the wheel was always going to be a temporary addition to Trentham.
2 Comments
by Loraine Barnes, Stone
Sunday, July 26 2009, 7:18AM
“fancy getting rid of the wheel just before the summer holidays! I was looking forward to taking my grandchildren on it - most of the 14 of them!!!!! We shan't be going to Trentham at all now - so that's a lot of lost revenue!”
by GARY BUL, NORTON.STOKE ON TRNT
Saturday, July 11 2009, 1:17PM
“LET'S HOPE THAT MIKE HERBERT,THE DIRECTOR OF TRENTHAM ESTATE HAS GOT IT RIGHT.IT SEEMS HIS 3 MILLION VISITORS A YEAR COULD SOON DWINDLE,NOW THAT THE WHEEL HAS DISAPPEARED, THE ENTRANCE FEE TO THE WHOLE SITE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED,THE SHOP OUTLETS AND THE CAFE'S ARE ALMOST EMPTY DURING THE WEEK AND THE FAMILIES,WALKERS AND DAY TRIPPERS OF STOKE AND STAFFORDSHIRE HAVE DECIDED TO GO ELSEWHERE BECAUSE IT IS TOO EXPENSIVE . :-(”