Footage of abandoned Children's Pleasure Park in Southampton

Colin Smith, known online as The Bearded Explorer, is an urban explorer and content creator known for venturing into abandoned sites.

He recently visited The Children’s Pleasure Park in Southampton, filming the deserted attractions.

The video depicts Colin wandering through the site, where rides remain largely intact, including a merry-go-round, a helter-skelter, a train, slides and the token shed, all overgrown with plants.

null (Image: The Bearded Explorer)

He said: “This video is purely documenting the happy days that people once had here and what’s left of it now.

“Believe it or not, this place has actually been here since the 70s… There is a lot of history in this place.

“It’s so sad to see it like this.”

The park first opened in 1976 by a grandad of six, Donald Salter and his wife Betty.

Donald, known as Don, worked as a trampoline instructor in Hampshire and wanted to set up a theme park for children.

A number of the rides at the park were hand-built by Donald, who spent hours in the shed at the bottom of his garden making rides, using old lorry axles and pieces of wood.

And Don even had to battle with Southampton City Council 50 years ago to paint all the rides in bright colours because they wanted them kept natural colours.

Colin said: “The actual rides and equipment are still the original ones.

“It’s not a very big place, but it’s big enough to have lots of fun in.”

After nearly 40 years, Donald and Betty handed control of the park to their two sons Fred and Gary.

In 2014 Betty unexpectedly passed away, and just days after, Donald also died.

Colin said: “In later years the park unfortunately continued to face growing challenges with antisocial behaviour, which included several arson attacks.

“Despite rebuilding efforts and strong community support, the park eventually closed its gates for the final time.”

The park is now closed and in a state of disrepair, with its rides and facilities no longer operating.

In recent years, there were efforts to raise funds to help keep the park going and to support repairs after damage.

A fundraiser was launched by supporters to try to save the Children’s Pleasure Park from closing and to cover repairs and upkeep, with community members donating towards that effort.

However, despite these efforts, the park remains closed and its future is uncertain, with no confirmed reopening date.