Splash boat in East Park, Hull

The Grade II listed splash boat in Kingston upon Hull’s East Park was supplied by Charles Wicksteed & Co in 1929 at a cost of £1400. The city engineer’s department built the tower for £474 2s 5d. The drop is 22 feet, in a run of around 100 feet.

The ride’s rail support structure was rebuilt around 1961.

The splash boat was closed for almost two years following an accident during maintenance on 6 August 2010. An inspection was undertaken by NPS Humber, and their condition report was presented to the city council in May 2011.

Happily the splash boat underwent a £35 000 restoration undertaken by Hull firm DB Engineering from November 2011, and it reopened on 2 June 2012. The video is from 5 June 2012.

Great fun, well worth the 80p for a ride. And yes, you do get wet.

The other surviving splash boats are the original 1926 waterchute at Wicksteed Park near Kettering, and a 1932 one to a different or rebuilt design in Scarborough. This was part of the Kinderland park until its closure, but in 2008 the waterchute reopened under the management of the North Bay Railway.

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