The Drayton Manor that passed to the next three Sir Robert Peels, only for them to fritter it away until all that remained was the ivy clad clock tower. Have a look here if you are interested in the story of how the estate came to ruin.
History of the Peel Family
In 1950, the second Drayton Manor, the one most would associate with today was born, opening with one restaurant, a tea room, three hand operated rides, six rowing boats and some dodgems. Some of my memories from the 1980s are of frisbee, football and picnics on the grassy car park, trying to stretch the day out, because Mum and Dad wouldn’t buy any more ride tickets; the horror of plastic animals jolting up out of the water and the dark tunnel of the Jungle Cruise *shudder*; finding out the hard way that sitting on the end of the Pirate Ship is not the same ride as sitting in the middle of the Pirate Ship, and perhaps most of all The Snake Train, which was toned down in 1986 and finally closed in 1993, saving future generations from bruises, whiplash and worse. For some pictures of Drayton Manor Park from the 1950s to the 1990s visit their website Drayton Manor 60th Anniversary
Now, I can’t resist a ghost story, and Drayton Manor has a fair few. Sir Robert Peel, whilst Prime Minister, was taking a walk in the grounds of Drayton Manor, when apparently his father (deceased) appeared to him and had a chat.
One final interesting fact about Drayton Manor is that the Tamworth Breed Pig originated at the Estate. Also, there are some pictures of the house and estate at the StaffsPastTrack website