84-632: Alton Towers Resort ( UK : / ˈ ɒ l t ən / OL -tən ) (often shortened to Alton Towers ) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire , England , near the village of Alton . The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park , water park , mini golf and hotel complex . Originally a private estate of the Earls of Shrewsbury , Alton Towers' grounds were opened to
168-576: A West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands. The resident population at this time was generally speaking Common Brittonic —the insular variety of Continental Celtic , which was influenced by the Roman occupation. This group of languages ( Welsh , Cornish , Cumbric ) cohabited alongside English into
252-522: A 10-metre (33 ft) underwater tunnel. The World of David Walliams opened in May 2021 and is aimed at younger children aged 7–11. It is based on the children's books by David Walliams . Attractions include Gangsta Granny: The Ride, Raj's Bouncy Bottom Burp (the former Frog Hopper) and Royal Carousel (previously Galloper's Carousel). The area has had various names over the years including "Cloud Cuckoo Land", "Cred Street" and "The Land of Make Believe", each had
336-434: A Phalanx facility. The ride originally operated from 2012 to 2015, however on 27 May 2023, it reopened. In May 2016, the ' Rollercoaster Restaurant ' opened, offering a dining experience where guests have their food delivered by looping rails. The restaurant is open daily from 10am – 9:30pm; available to guests without theme park admission after the park has closed, except during Scarefest and Fireworks events. Adventure Land
420-559: A century as Received Pronunciation (RP). However, due to language evolution and changing social trends, some linguists argue that RP is losing prestige or has been replaced by another accent, one that the linguist Geoff Lindsey for instance calls Standard Southern British English. Others suggest that more regionally-oriented standard accents are emerging in England. Even in Scotland and Northern Ireland, RP exerts little influence in
504-498: A deep tunnel. The Smiler is a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster , which opened in May 2013, that holds the world record for most inversions on a roller coaster at 14. The area layout was partially altered in 2013 season to accommodate the opening of The Smiler. Previous rides in X-Sector include The Black Hole , which was a Jet Star 2 coaster enclosed in a tent, where The Smiler is located today. Energizer (later renamed Boneshaker)
588-490: A division of Pearson plc , after his development of the former Battersea Power Station encountered financial difficulties. The change of park ownership brought another era of development, involving the opening of new themed areas and attractions, such as Runaway Mine Train (1992), The Haunted House (1992), Toyland Tours (1994), and Nemesis (1994). Tussauds' park development team from 1990 to 2002 included attraction producer John Wardley among others. The Tussauds Group
672-507: A global conglomerate and sovereign wealth fund of the government of Dubai and its ruling family . DIC invests private funds on behalf of Dubai Holding and several large third-party investors around the world with a mandate to build a portfolio of internationally diversified assets. DIC, which was founded in 2004, invests in public and private equity through three divisions: DIC's investments across its divisions include: Private Equity: Emerging Markets: Public Equities: On
756-508: A greater movement, normally [əʊ], [əʉ] or [əɨ]. Dropping a morphological grammatical number , in collective nouns , is stronger in British English than North American English. This is to treat them as plural when once grammatically singular, a perceived natural number prevails, especially when applying to institutional nouns and groups of people. The noun 'police', for example, undergoes this treatment: Police are investigating
840-515: A lawn where seasonal events take place. The first SkyRide station is located nearby, which is a 1,048-metre (3,438 ft) long cable car transport that opened in 1987, and was refurbished 2009. The monorail moves guests from the five on-site hotels, the water park and the car parks to the theme park. In this area during the hour before the park's daily closure, departing guests are entertained by three people wearing police costumes, two of them riding Segway -like vehicles which play party music and
924-406: A lesser class or social status and often discounted or considered of a low intelligence. Another contribution to the standardisation of British English was the introduction of the printing press to England in the mid-15th century. In doing so, William Caxton enabled a common language and spelling to be dispersed among the entirety of England at a much faster rate. Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of
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#17327725750391008-659: A process called T-glottalisation . National media, being based in London, have seen the glottal stop spreading more widely than it once was in word endings, not being heard as "no [ʔ] " and bottle of water being heard as "bo [ʔ] le of wa [ʔ] er". It is still stigmatised when used at the beginning and central positions, such as later , while often has all but regained /t/ . Other consonants subject to this usage in Cockney English are p , as in pa [ʔ] er and k as in ba [ʔ] er. In most areas of England and Wales, outside
1092-520: A regional accent or dialect. However, about 2% of Britons speak with an accent called Received Pronunciation (also called "the King's English", "Oxford English" and " BBC English" ), that is essentially region-less. It derives from a mixture of the Midlands and Southern dialects spoken in London in the early modern period. It is frequently used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners. In
1176-543: A river rapids ride that opened 1986, as The Grand Canyon Rapids, and was refurbished in 1992. A 735 m long wild river rapids ride down the Congo River that lasts six minutes. Runaway Mine Train is a steel sit down powered coaster that reaches a speed of 22 mph (36 km/h) on a 1000 ft long track (305 m) and height of 36 ft (11 m); height limit 90 cm. It was designed by John Wardley for Tussauds and manufactured by Mack Rides . Gloomy Wood serves
1260-555: A short cut to the Gloomy Woods or the Forbidden Valley. 'Coaster Corner' The Retro Squad was a group of 3 temporary flat rides hired by Alton Towers from 2021 to 2023. In 2021 Mixtape, Roller Disco, and Funk'n'fly were all present, located in X-Sector, Dark Forest, and Forbidden Valley respectively. In 2022 Mixtape was replaced by Spinjam, with the other 2 staying. In 2023 Roller Disco was replaced by Twistatron, but
1344-499: A shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic , operating on a limited capacity from 4 July to 5 November. The resort resumed normal operations on 12 April 2021. Alton Towers rented four temporary flat rides for the 2021 season to help with capacity. Three of these were part of the "Retro Squad", which remained at the park until 2023. The woodland path was laid in place of the former Park Railway route, which ran 1953–1996. It can be
1428-464: A similar a cartoon-inspired look, mainly featuring Toyland Tours . The area was first built as "Talbot Street" in 1981, becoming the park's first themed area, home to the Around The World in 80 Days and Doom & Sons dark rides. The World of David Walliams also includes many of the author's hidden secrets such as one of the streets being called "Wallibums Way". In October 2019, it
1512-519: A stately home until 1924 and largely designed by Augustus Pugin , also noted for his work on the Palace of Westminster . The Towers are now in a state of disrepair following decades of neglect. The ruins are open to the public during most of the open season. However, some areas are closed off as part of a £1.1 million project in place to restore the oldest parts of the Towers. Key areas of The Towers include
1596-580: A themed road layout, featuring visual jokes along the way. A SkyRide station is located nearby Fountain Square, giving access to other areas of the park. British English British English (abbreviations: BrE , en-GB , and BE ) is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . More narrowly, it can refer specifically to
1680-527: A total of ten roller coasters and offers a range of accommodation and lodging options alongside the theme park. Facilities include Alton Towers Waterpark , Alton Towers Conference Centre and Extraordinary Golf. The theme park is open seasonally from mid-March to early November, whilst many of its hotels and amenities are open year-round. Special events are hosted throughout the year, including Alton Towers Scarefest (the park's Halloween event), Oktoberfest, Fireworks, and Christmas . Alton Towers first opened to
1764-455: Is a small family area featuring Spinball Whizzer ; based on a pinball machine in which the car is the ball whizzing around the machine. The ride originally had this name, until 2010 when it was known as Sonic Spinball until the name change back in 2016 when a contract ended with SEGA after six years. The ride is a Maurer Söhne spinning roller coaster, in which riders sit in cars that can spin on their base whilst travelling at speed around
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#17327725750391848-725: Is also due to London-centric influences. Examples of R-dropping are car and sugar , where the R is not pronounced. British dialects differ on the extent of diphthongisation of long vowels, with southern varieties extensively turning them into diphthongs, and with northern dialects normally preserving many of them. As a comparison, North American varieties could be said to be in-between. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are usually preserved, and in several areas also /oː/ and /eː/, as in go and say (unlike other varieties of English, that change them to [oʊ] and [eɪ] respectively). Some areas go as far as not diphthongising medieval /iː/ and /uː/, that give rise to modern /aɪ/ and /aʊ/; that is, for example, in
1932-434: Is based on British English, but has more influence from American English , often grouped together due to their close proximity. British English, for example, is the closest English to Indian English, but Indian English has extra vocabulary and some English words are assigned different meanings. Dubai International Capital Dubai International Capital ( DIC ) is the international investment arm of Dubai Holding ,
2016-795: Is included in style guides issued by various publishers including The Times newspaper, the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press . The Oxford University Press guidelines were originally drafted as a single broadsheet page by Horace Henry Hart, and were at the time (1893) the first guide of their type in English; they were gradually expanded and eventually published, first as Hart's Rules , and in 2002 as part of The Oxford Manual of Style . Comparable in authority and stature to The Chicago Manual of Style for published American English ,
2100-500: Is the area containing the dark ride The Curse at Alton Manor , which originally opened with the area as The Haunted House in 1992. In 2007, a themed footpath through the woods was added to the area, named Haunted Hollow . The pathway follows the route formerly used by the park's old scenic railway, linking from Mutiny Bay. Haunted Hollow includes tombstones, statues and other features, some of which interact with guests using sound effects. In July 2015, Nitrogenie opened and replaced
2184-410: Is themed as an alien creature inhabiting the quarry where the coaster is situated. The Blade is a Huss Pirate Boat modified with a pendulum blade. It opened in 1980, and was relocated to the area in 1997 from Fantasy World. The Blade operated as the only flat ride in Forbidden Valley following the removal of Ripsaw . Galactica is a B&M flying coaster, originally opening as Air in 2002. Air
2268-547: The Chambers Dictionary , and the Collins Dictionary record actual usage rather than attempting to prescribe it. In addition, vocabulary and usage change with time; words are freely borrowed from other languages and other varieties of English, and neologisms are frequent. For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the ninth century, the form of language spoken in London and
2352-599: The Corkscrew ; the park's first roller coaster, which opened in 1980. Rita is a hydraulically launched steel sit-down coaster that reaches a top speed of 62 mph (100 km) that is now themed around an abandoned drag racer that is used to escape the Dark Forest. The area was previously a cartoon prehistoric area named Ug Land, which opened in 1999, but was half-demolished to make way for Rita's construction in 2005. Rita used to be themed around drag racing but
2436-658: The East Midlands became standard English within the Court, and ultimately became the basis for generally accepted use in the law, government, literature and education in Britain. The standardisation of British English is thought to be from both dialect levelling and a thought of social superiority. Speaking in the Standard dialect created class distinctions; those who did not speak the standard English would be considered of
2520-522: The English language in England , or, more broadly, to the collective dialects of English throughout the British Isles taken as a single umbrella variety, for instance additionally incorporating Scottish English , Welsh English , and Northern Irish English . Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English acknowledges that British English shares "all the ambiguities and tensions [with]
2604-493: The Royal Spanish Academy with Spanish. Standard British English differs notably in certain vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation features from standard American English and certain other standard English varieties around the world. British and American spelling also differ in minor ways. The accent, or pronunciation system, of standard British English, based in southeastern England, has been known for over
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2688-490: The Scots language or Scottish Gaelic ). Each group includes a range of dialects, some markedly different from others. The various British dialects also differ in the words that they have borrowed from other languages. Around the middle of the 15th century, there were points where within the 5 major dialects there were almost 500 ways to spell the word though . Following its last major survey of English Dialects (1949–1950),
2772-573: The University of Leeds has started work on a new project. In May 2007 the Arts and Humanities Research Council awarded a grant to Leeds to study British regional dialects. The team are sifting through a large collection of examples of regional slang words and phrases turned up by the "Voices project" run by the BBC , in which they invited the public to send in examples of English still spoken throughout
2856-610: The West Country and other near-by counties of the UK, the consonant R is not pronounced if not followed by a vowel, lengthening the preceding vowel instead. This phenomenon is known as non-rhoticity . In these same areas, a tendency exists to insert an R between a word ending in a vowel and a next word beginning with a vowel. This is called the intrusive R . It could be understood as a merger, in that words that once ended in an R and words that did not are no longer treated differently. This
2940-601: The 1970s included a boating lake and chairlift . Property developer John Broome purchased a majority stake in the park after marrying the daughter of majority shareholder Dennis Bagshaw in 1972. From there, he began the theme park by developing new areas and installing permanent rides, including the Corkscrew , The Flume , Around The World in 80 Days , The Black Hole and the Grand Canyon Rapids . In 1990, Broome sold Alton Towers to The Tussauds Group , then
3024-629: The 21st century. RP, while long established as the standard English accent around the globe due to the spread of the British Empire , is distinct from the standard English pronunciation in some parts of the world; most prominently, RP notably contrasts with standard North American accents. In the 21st century, dictionaries like the Oxford English Dictionary , the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ,
3108-569: The Big Fun Show Time stage include: Teletubbies Big Band Show, Bing Live, and Hey Dugee Live. In 2015, Octonauts Roller Coaster Adventure opened, it is an underwater themed children's roller coaster; built on the former site of The Beastie rollercoaster. CBeebies Land was further expanded in 2017 with the opening of the Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride and The Furchester Hotel Live , and again in 2019 with
3192-836: The English Language (1755) was a large step in the English-language spelling reform , where the purification of language focused on standardising both speech and spelling. By the early 20th century, British authors had produced numerous books intended as guides to English grammar and usage, a few of which achieved sufficient acclaim to have remained in print for long periods and to have been reissued in new editions after some decades. These include, most notably of all, Fowler's Modern English Usage and The Complete Plain Words by Sir Ernest Gowers . Detailed guidance on many aspects of writing British English for publication
3276-666: The Germanic schwein ) is the animal in the field bred by the occupied Anglo-Saxons and pork (like the French porc ) is the animal at the table eaten by the occupying Normans. Another example is the Anglo-Saxon cu meaning cow, and the French bœuf meaning beef. Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English;
3360-456: The Nemesis and Thirteen rollercoasters were opened respectively. Previous themed area Current themed area Opened in 1986, Towers Street is the first area that visitors to the park encounter. Themed loosely as a town street, it leads to views of the gardens and the Towers across the lake in the distance. Along the pathway are the park's jumping frog fountains and
3444-604: The Night Garden... and Postman Pat . Attractions in the area are: In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride , Postman Pat's Parcel Post , Get Set Go Treetop Adventure , Something Special Sensory Garden , Bugbie Go Round, Justin's House: Pie-O-Matic Factory , Hey Dugee Big Adventure Badge, Andys Adventures Dinosaur Dig, Jojo & Gran Gran at Home, Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop, Octonauts Roller Coaster Adventure, and The Furchester Hotel Live . Shows at
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3528-922: The Oxford Manual is a fairly exhaustive standard for published British English that writers can turn to in the absence of specific guidance from their publishing house. British English is the basis of, and very similar to, Commonwealth English . Commonwealth English is English as spoken and written in the Commonwealth countries , though often with some local variation. This includes English spoken in Australia , Malta , New Zealand , Nigeria , and South Africa . It also includes South Asian English used in South Asia, in English varieties in Southeast Asia , and in parts of Africa. Canadian English
3612-712: The South East, there are significantly different accents; the Cockney accent spoken by some East Londoners is strikingly different from Received Pronunciation (RP). Cockney rhyming slang can be (and was initially intended to be) difficult for outsiders to understand, although the extent of its use is often somewhat exaggerated. Londoners speak with a mixture of accents, depending on ethnicity, neighbourhood, class, age, upbringing, and sundry other factors. Estuary English has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it has some features of RP and some of Cockney. Immigrants to
3696-574: The Towers and takes in views of the gardens. The park's maximum capacity at any one time is set at 28,000 guests. According to the TEA attendance report, the park was estimated to have attracted 2,130,000 people in 2019, a 1.4% increase on 2018's figure of 2,100,000. This made Alton Towers Britain's 2nd most visited theme park, after Legoland Windsor , and the 13th most visited theme park in Europe. Annual admissions surpassed 3 million in both 1994 and 2010, when
3780-550: The UK in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country and particularly to London. Surveys started in 1979 by the Inner London Education Authority discovered over 125 languages being spoken domestically by the families of the inner city's schoolchildren. Notably Multicultural London English , a sociolect that emerged in the late 20th century spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London . Since
3864-640: The United Kingdom , as well as within the countries themselves. The major divisions are normally classified as English English (or English as spoken in England (which is itself broadly grouped into Southern English , West Country , East and West Midlands English and Northern English ), Northern Irish English (in Northern Ireland), Welsh English (not to be confused with the Welsh language ), and Scottish English (not to be confused with
3948-465: The West Scottish accent. Phonological features characteristic of British English revolve around the pronunciation of the letter R, as well as the dental plosive T and some diphthongs specific to this dialect. Once regarded as a Cockney feature, in a number of forms of spoken British English, /t/ has become commonly realised as a glottal stop [ʔ] when it is in the intervocalic position, in
4032-460: The addition of Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop and Teletubbies Big Band Live Show . 2022 saw 3 new attractions arrive, being Hey Dugee Big Adventure Badge, Andys Adventures Dinosaur Dig, and JoJo and Gran Gran at Home . A new Bluey themed attraction opened on 23 March 2024. The Towers are the ruins of Alton Towers stately home and are the source of the park's name. They belonged to the Talbot family as
4116-410: The adjective little is predominant elsewhere. Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English within the United Kingdom, and this could be described by the term British English . The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken and so a uniform concept of British English is more difficult to apply to
4200-415: The area had a ' post-apocalyptic ' theme with scrapyard structures populating the area. A SkyRide station also serves this area of the park. The area's principal attraction is Nemesis Reborn , previously Nemesis which opened in 1994. Nemesis Reborn is a steel inverted coaster that reaches a speed of 50 mph (81 km) with four inversions, set in a rocky quarry over waterfalls. The attraction
4284-417: The area is the rocking boat ride, Heave Ho . The park's original teacups ride was re-themed to become Marauders Mayhem , with the tea cup cars being redesigned as gunpowder barrels. The Flume was a Mack log flume ride that opened in 1981 and was rethemed in 2004 with a sponsorship from Imperial Leather alongside Bubbleworks at Chessington World of Adventures. Upon opening, it was the longest flume ride in
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#17327725750394368-448: The areas theme was broadened and any references of marmalisation and correction was removed. The area contains two thrill rides. The steel dive coaster Oblivion ' although the drop is only 87.5 degrees the ride opened in 1998 as "the world's first vertical drop rollercoaster",designed by Tussauds and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard . The cars are held over the edge of the drop for between one and three seconds, before diving into
4452-488: The award of the grant in 2007, Leeds University stated: that they were "very pleased"—and indeed, "well chuffed"—at receiving their generous grant. He could, of course, have been "bostin" if he had come from the Black Country , or if he was a Scouser he would have been well "made up" over so many spondoolicks, because as a Geordie might say, £460,000 is a "canny load of chink". Most people in Britain speak with
4536-418: The banqueting hall, the chapel, conservatories, and Her Ladyship's Gardens. Hex – The Legend of the Towers , a walk-through dark ride based within the ruins themselves, opened in 2000. The finale to the ride is a Vekoma Madhouse located away from the real Towers but themed as a secret vault. The storyline is based on a local legend about the chained oak tree, located in a nearby forest, and makes use of
4620-622: The country. The BBC Voices project also collected hundreds of news articles about how the British speak English from swearing through to items on language schools. This information will also be collated and analysed by Johnson's team both for content and for where it was reported. "Perhaps the most remarkable finding in the Voices study is that the English language is as diverse as ever, despite our increased mobility and constant exposure to other accents and dialects through TV and radio". When discussing
4704-485: The history of the Towers. It draws its theme from the legend of the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury who was said to be cursed by a beggar woman to suffer death every time a branch falls from an old oak tree. The Alton Towers Dungeon was added to the area in 2019. Since the openings of CBeebies Land and The World of David Walliams; Spinball Whizzer and Cloud Cuckoo Land have been part of the area. Cuckoo Cars Driving School allows children to drive miniature electric cars around
4788-458: The idea of two different morphemes, one that causes the double negation, and one that is used for the point or the verb. Standard English in the United Kingdom, as in other English-speaking nations, is widely enforced in schools and by social norms for formal contexts but not by any singular authority; for instance, there is no institution equivalent to the Académie française with French or
4872-523: The last southern Midlands accent to use the broad "a" in words like bath or grass (i.e. barth or grarss ). Conversely crass or plastic use a slender "a". A few miles northwest in Leicestershire the slender "a" becomes more widespread generally. In the town of Corby , five miles (8 km) north, one can find Corbyite which, unlike the Kettering accent, is largely influenced by
4956-518: The later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary . Dialects and accents vary amongst the four countries of
5040-457: The mass internal migration to Northamptonshire in the 1940s and given its position between several major accent regions, it has become a source of various accent developments. In Northampton the older accent has been influenced by overspill Londoners. There is an accent known locally as the Kettering accent, which is a transitional accent between the East Midlands and East Anglian . It is
5124-463: The modern period, but due to their remoteness from the Germanic languages , influence on English was notably limited . However, the degree of influence remains debated, and it has recently been argued that its grammatical influence accounts for the substantial innovations noted between English and the other West Germanic languages. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting
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#17327725750395208-513: The old Waffles and Ices, a shop producing ice cream using liquid nitrogen . However, this is now closed. Gloomy Wood was suggested by the 2017 park map to be home to the new Wicker Man wooden coaster, opening in 2018. However, the park later stated that the ride was in Mutiny Bay. Forbidden Valley is set in a 'research facility' run by the Phalanx organisation. Prior to a redesign for 2024,
5292-448: The public in 1860 to raise funds. In the 1970s, a few rides were added and some of the themed areas were developed. Inspired by Disneyland , it was transformed into a theme park in 1980 with the installation of its first roller coaster and several new rides. The park has many attractions such as Congo River Rapids , Runaway Mine Train , Nemesis Reborn , Oblivion , Galactica , The Smiler , Wicker Man , Rita and TH13TEEN . It operates
5376-416: The public on a regular basis following the opening of Alton Towers railway station . Money raised from railway excursions was paid to the earl and helped to maintain the upkeep of the grounds. In 1924, a group of local estate agents formed Alton Towers Ltd to take ownership of the estate and began to restore the gardens as a tourist attraction. In the 1950s, this included the operation of a fairground, and by
5460-497: The retro squad (a series shortly lived themed flat rides), "mixtape" (ride type: smashing jump), "spinjam" (ride type: extreme) and "twistatron" (ride type: trabant). They remained from 2021–2023. Mutiny Bay is a pirate-themed family area, which opened in 2008. The area was a re-theme for Merrie England. Attractions in Mutiny Bay include: Battle Galleons , an interactive "Splash Battle" boat ride, where guests sit in tracked boats while soaking other riders with water cannons. Also in
5544-401: The spoken language. Globally, countries that are former British colonies or members of the Commonwealth tend to follow British English, as is the case for English used by European Union institutions. In China, both British English and American English are taught. The UK government actively teaches and promotes English around the world and operates in over 200 countries . English is
5628-603: The theft of work tools worth £500 from a van at the Sprucefield park and ride car park in Lisburn. A football team can be treated likewise: Arsenal have lost just one of 20 home Premier League matches against Manchester City. This tendency can be observed in texts produced already in the 19th century. For example, Jane Austen , a British author, writes in Chapter 4 of Pride and Prejudice , published in 1813: All
5712-399: The third standing with an old-fashioned megaphone that is unused, and a man riding a miniature ship while dressed as a sea captain. Themed as an African village; created in 1992 and incorporated existing rapids ride. Rides include the roller coaster Runaway Mine Train and Congo River Rapids . Both are well-established rides in the park whose ride tracks share a tunnel. Congo River Rapids is
5796-484: The track. Spinball Whizzer is now part of The Towers, alongside Cuckoo Cars Driving School, Hex and the Alton Towers Dungeon. It has a sister rollercoaster located at Chessington World of Adventures . Adventure Land is named after the adventure play ground which previously sat on the site. The former play area was one of the attractions of a larger area called Kiddies Kingdom. In 1996, Kiddies Kingdom
5880-403: The traditional accent of Newcastle upon Tyne , 'out' will sound as 'oot', and in parts of Scotland and North-West England, 'my' will be pronounced as 'me'. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are diphthongised to [ɪi] and [ʊu] respectively (or, more technically, [ʏʉ], with a raised tongue), so that ee and oo in feed and food are pronounced with a movement. The diphthong [oʊ] is also pronounced with
5964-750: The varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon , eventually came to dominate. The original Old English was then influenced by two waves of invasion: the first was by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who settled in parts of Britain in the eighth and ninth centuries; the second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman . These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it
6048-402: The word 'British' and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity". Variations exist in formal (both written and spoken) English in the United Kingdom. For example, the adjective wee is almost exclusively used in parts of Scotland, north-east England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally Yorkshire , whereas
6132-568: The world are good and agreeable in your eyes. However, in Chapter 16, the grammatical number is used. The world is blinded by his fortune and consequence. Some dialects of British English use negative concords, also known as double negatives . Rather than changing a word or using a positive, words like nobody, not, nothing, and never would be used in the same sentence. While this does not occur in Standard English, it does occur in non-standard dialects. The double negation follows
6216-483: The world at 886 metres (2,907 ft). Late in the 2015 season, the ride and the neighboring tavern closed and were removed in 2016 to make way for the Wicker Man roller coaster and the "Welcome Inn" bar which shares the coaster's theme. In 2009, a Sea Life Centre named Sharkbait Reef opened in the location previously home to the 3-D Cinema. This includes "touch pools" for interacting with underwater species and
6300-401: Was a swinging gondola flat ride. It was replaced by Submission in 2001, a "Chance Double Inverter" flat ride, which was itself removed in 2014. Enterprise was a standard HUSS Enterprise model which opened in 1984, spinning riders 360 degrees and giving the illusion of defying gravity. It was permanently removed from the resort in 2023 after being SBNO in 2022. It also featured 3 members of
6384-460: Was announced that Cloud Cuckoo Land will be replaced by "The World of David Walliams " for the 2020 season, which will feature attractions based around Walliams' series of children's books . On 29 May 2020, it was announced that the opening of "The World of David Walliams" would be delayed from 2020 to the 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another attraction, Flavio's Fabulous Fandango,
6468-513: Was changed with the opening of Th13teen and the Dark Forest. With the opening of Th13teen , the area was renamed as Dark Forest and further altered with a new colour scheme and entrance feature. Rita was also given a repainted control cabin and trains, shortening its name from "Rita – Queen of Speed". CBeebies Land is based on the BBC children's TV channel: CBeebies and opened on 24 May 2014. The area includes rides, shows and interactive experiences based on programmes from CBeebies, including In
6552-552: Was located next to Spinjam on the former Enterprise site, instead of the Dark Forest. On 5 November 2023 the Retro Squad departed the resort permanently after 3 years. The Alton Towers Theme Park is divided into 11 areas: Towers Street, Mutiny Bay, Katanga Canyon, Gloomy Wood, Forbidden Valley, Dark Forest, The Towers & Gardens, The World of David Walliams, X-Sector, Adventure Land and CBeebies Land. The SkyRide cable car system travels between Towers Street, Forbidden Valley, and
6636-448: Was loosely themed as a peaceful landscape, distanced from the 'apocalyptic' look of Nemesis. Air was redesigned as Galactica in 2016, adopting virtual reality headsets and a space travel theme. The VR headsets have since been removed due to feedback from customers. Nemesis Sub-Terra is a walkthrough / ABC Rides drop tower combination. The experience is themed around the story of Nemesis , and how some eggs have been found underground in
6720-422: Was never a truly mixed language in the strictest sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication). The more idiomatic, concrete and descriptive English is, the more it is from Anglo-Saxon origins. The more intellectual and abstract English is, the more it contains Latin and French influences, e.g. swine (like
6804-451: Was sold to private investment firm Prestbury under a sale and leaseback agreement. Merlin continues to operate the site under a renewable 35-year lease. As of 2023, the property is owned by LXi REIT plc. As of early 2008, the resort changed its name to Alton Towers Resort to better reflect its status as a multi-day destination. Most other Merlin-owned theme parks with onsite hotels would follow soon afterwards. In 2020, Alton Towers operated on
6888-681: Was sold to venture capital firm Charterhouse in 1998. The opening of Oblivion that same year and Air (now Galactica ) in 2002 saw the park sustain new major roller coasters, both marketed as 'World First' rides. In 2005, Dubai International Capital (DIC) acquired Tussauds for £800 million. In May 2007, The Blackstone Group purchased The Tussauds Group for US$ 1.9 billion and merged it with its then-subsidiary Merlin Entertainments . Dubai International Capital also gained 20% of Merlin Entertainment. On 17 July 2007, Alton Towers
6972-472: Was split into Adventure Land and Storybook Land. X-Sector is themed as a secretive government facility, suggested to be subjecting park guests to experimental testing. In 2013 the areas theme was tweaked to include the Ministry of Joy, making guests test subjects for their machines, including The Smiler , which was meant to 'marmalise' and 'correct' riders into forcing a smile. In 2015 after The Smiler Crash,
7056-443: Was temporarily added to the land for opening. The land also features Raj's Shop and various outdoor entertainment. The Dark Forest is themed as a supernatural woodland area; to coincide with the opening of TH13TEEN , a steel family coaster themed as a haunted crypt , that opened on 20 March 2010. Th13teen, features the "world's first freefall drop on a roller coaster" – an indoor, vertically dropping track element. The ride replaced
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