Alton Towers is the oldest theme park in the UK, situated on the border of the village of Alton in the middle of the Staffordshire countryside. The resort encompasses the park itself, a waterpark, two hotels, an “extraordinary” golf course and a range of peripheral attractions. At the centre of the complex stands the neglected remains of a once-magnificent stately home, which has fallen into disprepair even as the modern park has developed around it.

Alton Towers was originally famous for its gardens. These are now largely forgotten. While thousands of guests each day pass from one side of the valley to the other via the Skyride, few make the trek down into the gardens themselves. Adbandoned toilet blocks, cafes and lodges are scattered throughout the grounds, as well as caves, an ancient chained oak, and the remains of an ornate pagoda.

Most UK residents are aware of Alton Towers as a garish tourist attraction, but few are aware of its long and complex history, and the forgotten elements that still linger behind the scenes.

This Residency was supported by a grant from Arts Council England.

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Residency Book

[ Temporarily Unavailable ]

This A6, perfect-bound booklet collects together the images, impressions, and stories that make up Alton Towers. It is the third in the Liminal Residency series. There will only ever be 200 numbered copies in existence, available at a flexible price of £5 or more. All proceeds will be used to fund future residencies.

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Book Launch

For this Residency Book, we had a launch event in Stoke-on-Trent, at the gorgeously liminal North Stafford Hotel. On the evening of Saturday 5th October 2019 a selection of our writers read their work, talked about the Towers, and shared some memories from years gone by. You can find pictures, videos, and snippets from the launch on Twitter and Instagram.

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Participating Artists

Gaynor Jones is a short fiction writer based in Manchester. In 2018 she was the recipient of the Mairtín Crawford Short Story Award and was named Northern Writer of the Year at the Northern Soul Awards. She is currently working on a short story collection. Find her at jonzeywriter.com.

Claire Fuller started writing when she was 40. She’s the author of Our Endless Numbered Days (winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize), Swimming Lessons, and most recently, Bitter Orange. She also writes short stories and flash fiction, and has won the Royal Academy/Pin Drop Short Story Prize amongst others. Her website is clairefuller.co.uk.

SJ Bradley is a novelist and short story writer from Leeds, whose short fiction has appeared in various journals and anthologies. She is a K Blundell Trust Award winner, and a Saboteur Award winner for her work as editor on Remembering Oluwale. As well as being Fiction Editor at Strix magazine, she is also director of the Northern Short Story Festival. Her second novel, Guest, is out now, available from Dead Ink Books. Her website is sjbradleybooks.blogspot.com.

Alison Powell writes both flash and long-form creative prose and has been published in various anthologies and magazines, including To Carry Her Home, The Lobsters Run Free and Mslexia. Her work has been placed in several competitions including the Bath Short Story Award, the Mslexia New Novel Award and the Bridport First Novel Prize. She co-edited the 2018 National Flash Fiction Day anthology and is one of 20 emerging Welsh writers on the Hay Festival Writers at Work scheme 2018-19. Find her on Twitter: @alisonJpowell.

Julia Deakin was born in Nuneaton and spent some of her childhood in the Potteries. Widely published, each of her four poetry collections is praised by nationally-renowned poets. A former lecturer and a compelling reader, she has read on Poetry Please and won numerous prizes. www.juliadeakin.co.uk.