Coney Beach Pleasure Park & Sir Leslie Joseph

The Coney Beach Pleasure Park in Porthcawl was opened in 1921 by local businessman Ernest Joseph who redeveloped a plot of land previously known as the ballast pit. The Joseph family owned a number of businesses in the area including a newspaper and a construction company which helped rebuild large parts of Swansea after World War 2. The family also built and developed the huge Trecco Bay caravan park, now the biggest in Europe.

To build the amusement park Joseph acquired a couple of old World War 1 airplane hangers along with a secondhand Figure 8 coaster from Swansea. Major Leslie Joseph, son of Ernest, soon joined the family business and quickly made a big impression which included the construction in 1932 of a 65ft tall Water Chute which he designed and built in house. Also that year he built a miniature railway adjacent to the park entrance and again designed all of the equipment himself.

In 1947 Leslie started the annual Porthcawl fireworks which usually ran on Fridays and Saturdays in September. The highly polished 40 minute show soon became one of the largest in the country complete with synchronized music, live commentary, tightrope walkers and mock naval battles.

He also constructed a 12,000-capacity arena next door to the amusement park and promoted regular boxing matches throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Henry Cooper appeared there in 1958. The arena also hosted a popular annual jazz festival.

In 1950, Leslie was called upon by the government to “sort out the mess” at Battersea Funfair in London, built as part of the Festival of Britain. He managed to get it open, a few weeks late, but it earned him a knighthood the following year. Over the next few years, Sir Leslie continued to manage the park and owned several ride concessions.

In 1956 Sir Leslie teamed up with Charles Forte to acquire the Belle Vue park in Manchester with Joseph became managing director and Forte deputy chairman.

In 1955 Leslie built a second Water Chute at Battersea Park followed by a third in 1957 at Belle Vue and a fourth in 1958 at Southend Kursaal. He later sold most of his Belle Vue shares to Lord Forte but joined the board of Trusthouse Forte and was responsible for their extensive leisure division. For a few years the Coney Beach amusement park also became part of the Trusthouse empire but was later bought back by Sir Leslie.

Ernest Joseph passed away in 1959 at the age of 76. Coney Beach was sold to Pat Evans in 1981, leading to the end of the annual fireworks. The miniature railway was closed in 1986, and the old boxing arena was used for markets and car boot sales.

Sir Leslie Joseph passed away in January 1992 at the age of 83. In 2023, it was announced that Coney Beach had been sold to the local council, which plans to redevelop the site.

What happened to the Leslie Joseph water chutes?

The original 1932 ride lasted until 1995 when it was tore down after a serious accident the previous year

The Battersea ride was sold to Dreamland Margate in 1977 and continued in use until 1995.

The Belle Vue ride was sold to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1979 and reopened as Vikingar where it remained in use until 2003.

The Southend ride was sold to Ocean Beach Rhyl in 1971 and continued in use until 2007. Parts of the ride, including the boats, were rescued by the Save Dreamland Campaign.

In 1972 a new Water Chute opened at Great Yarmouth pleasure beach which was built to the original Leslie Joseph plans. It lasted until 1992 when it was scrapped.

We’d love to hear your memories and stories of Coney Beach. Please feel free to share them in the comments below.