Blackpool Pleasure Beach Valhalla: 14 brilliant retro pictures from when the Viking ride was first opened by Jonathan Ross in 2000

Jonathan Ross was in town to perform the official opening and bravely accepted the challenge, with his wife Jane Goldman, to journey to Valhalla alongside Pleasure Beach boss Geoffrey Thompson and Barbara Thompson.

It had cost £15m to build and was the country’s biggest, privately-funded Millennium project. It was built on the site of the Fun House, which was destroyed by fire in 1991 and ironically featured an inferno of its own, with a wall of flames confronting brace Viking warriors. Rock FM was there to broadcast live from the park and there was a steady queue of eager thrill-seekers who wanted to be among the first to try it. Were you one of them? The day’s finale was a huge firework display, set to music, which lit up the sky in spectacular style. The photos are mainly from the opening but include pictures of the ride’s naming day and construction phases

In case you missed them: Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s hotly-anticipated ride Valhalla set to reopen for technical rehearsals this April following major refurbishment

These were the scenes as Blackpool Pleasure Beach kicked off the 2023 season and announced Valhalla's reopening

21 scenes of Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the 90s - the park, the people and the rides including Avalanche, Playstation and The Big One

We love taking you on a trip down memory lane looking back at people and places through the decades - from long, lost boozers to memorable moments in time and much, much more - sign up to our NEW newsletter here