Full Steam Ahead! Eastbourne's favourite miniature railway is back

Located off Lottbridge Drove, the miniature railway is nestled within 5 acres of beautiful woodland and a wildlife lake, providing much more than just a railway ride. Families can bring their own picnics, enjoy crazy golf, explore a willow maze, and, of course, ride the miniature railway, which offers a scenic journey around the entire park.

Mike Wadey built the park with the help of his wife, Rachel, and their children, Luke and Cheryl, back in 1991, and it opened to the public in 1992. The Wadey family remains actively involved in the park's operations today.

Mike said: "Well, in the early years we had a lot of support from the Borough Council, East Sussex County Council, our landowners, which is Chatsworth Estates, the Duke of Devonshire and Derbyshire. We had a lot of support in the early days because this was designated as the new Eastbourne Park, which didn't happen, but we would have been the premier attraction if it had."

Until 1999, Mike was a full-time firefighter at Eastbourne Fire Station. He worked on building the park during his days off and continued until he retired from the fire service.

"Our main visitors are local people," he said. "We have quite a few annual memberships, which is really good value. It gives them free admission to the park anytime. We also get quite a lot of visitors from further afield, who are staying in campsites nearby and that sort of thing, or B&Bs, and we get people from other countries because we are the only miniature steam railway theme park in the country."

During the summer season, they employ 26 part-time staff members, along with family members who work full-time year-round: Mike's wife, daughter, son, and his son's wife.

"There's a lot for families to do here," he remarked. "We've got loads of picnic spaces and benches. We have a children's adventure playground and a little tots playground. We've got a nature walk that includes a grandma's garden area, a novelty area with fountains and waterfalls, and a bird hide."

He added: "It was a bit stressful in the very early days, getting people to know where we are because we're not visible from the main road. There are even locals who've never been. But now we're more established and people know we're here, it's much nicer. It's great to see people and children having a lot of fun, and that's what our main aim is: to give everyone a really, really fun day out without it costing them a fortune. We're keeping prices as low as we can."

For more information and bookings, you can visit their website at https://emsr.co.uk/