WHAT have Ant and Dec, Denise Van Outen, Jeremy Beadle and Shaun Ryder from the Happy Mondays got in common?
Obviously, they are all famous but Britain’s Got Talent finalist and comedian Steve Royle has talked about how they used to get lots of celebrities down working at Camelot Theme Park near Chorley.
He was known as Edgar and the entertainer recalls his happy memories when he thinks back to his antics, in his 20s, and his spell at the venue saw him spend 13 years there.
Thousands of people travelled from across the North West and even further afield to enjoy the theme park which was named after the castle associated with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table when it opened in 1983.
The venue in Charnock Richard closed down in 2012 and was left to go to ruin.
We delved into our archives and found lots of fun photos from the theme park.
Steve said: “Back in the day we were entertaining 2000 people twice a day and I don’t realised how lucky I was.
“It was a great place to perfect some of my routines and made me the performer I am today.
“It was the largest outside jousting arena in in Europe. It was the place to be for the local community and was great for the economy. As I have kids who are teens and it was great place in July to get a job in a fun environment. People used to come from all over to enjoy it.”
Steve Royle on Britain's Got Talent in 2020
We have also managed to get lots of photos throughout the years of the amusement park and eagle-eyed readers will spot TV star Jeremy Beadle making an appearance at the venue.
Steve said: “I remember Jeremy Beadle coming to promote one of the new rides there.
“But we used to get them all there including Shaun Ryder and I wanted to get all my Happy Mondays stuff signed but then you had a Denise Van Outen there.
“When I went on Britain’s Got Talent I was talking to Ant and Dec reminding them we met at Camelot when they performed as PJ and Duncan and they remembered.”
Bulldozers were seen last year knocking some of the structures down which Steve was ‘sad’ about.
* What was the highlight and memories for you at Camelot? You can email them to robert.kelly@nqnw.co.uk.
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