PEASHOLM PARK NAVAL WARFARE (The Battle of Peasholm Park)
Peasholm Park Naval Warfare is a unique holiday attraction and could be the longest running show of all time. As near as we can say the first performance was held about 1927. It was the brainchild of Mr George Horrocks who was the Entertainment’s Manager for many years. Incidentally he was also responsible for the Open Air Theatre which is just across the road from Peasholm Park.
In the early days the models consisted of First World War battleships which were known as Dreadnoughts, a mystery ship or two which were known as Q ships, a liner bearing the name 'Orantes' and even in those days there was a submarine (U-boat). All the vessels were powered by manpower only. It was, of course, hard work for the operators. Although the vessels were 20ft plus long, cramped conditions inside created a host of problems. Electric power was introduced for the 1929 season. During the 1939-45 war years all the models were kept in storage. Unfortunately they suffered battle damage in the form of dry rot and woodworm so that after the war the vessels made a visit to the breaker’s yard and were replaced with a new fleet of ships. The ships built being all scale models of the vessels which took part in the Battle of the River Plate consisted of the following: British cruisers — HMS ‘Ajax', HMS ‘Achilles’ and HMS ‘Exeter’, the latter being the flag ship of the famous trio, and of course the German battleship ‘Graf von Spee’. The Royal Mail liner ‘Asturias’ was also introduced along with a submarine. The format was changed at about 1960 when aircraft were introduced and since then we have included other vessels, like the ‘Jervis Bay’ and the tanker ‘British Pride’ and 'Ark Royal' in 1972. The average life of one of these vessels is 20 to 25 years. The ‘Austurias’ originally built in 1947 was replaced in 2000 with the ‘Jervis Bay’ new this year. Both boats were built by Scarborough Marine Boat Builders.
Many changes have taken place over the years. We are always trying to improve this unique attraction and the technical difficulties we encounter can be quite considerable. It is, of course, the smallest manned navy in the world and we are very proud of the fact that the show is known and has been reported in all parts of the world. It has been shown on both BBC and ITV networks but it must be remembered that this is a holiday show — lots of fun and a jolly good battle. Furthermore everyone lives to fight another day!