The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 15
John Finley with Aycliffe Today editor Martin Walker, just before his leap of faith.
Landing pad – thrill-seekers land on top of an old Londonstyle double-decker bus.
Media coverage – The Northern Echo covered the launch of ROF 59’ s latest attraction.
Phew! Martin Walker makes it down in one piece.
Park skyline at speeds of 30-35mph, and suddenly the trepidation turns into sheer exhilaration.
It was over before I knew it and, typically unique for John, I landed on top of an old London-style double-decker bus. Yep, a bus. It’ s thought to be the only zip line of its kind in the North-East, and it is now open to the general public – as well as team-building classes for local businesses.
“ We wanted to come up with something completely different,” said John.
“ We’ ve had the land for a lot of years, and I had the idea when we first launched ROF 59 nearly three years ago.
“ Then came the bus idea. We needed a landing area to be at least five metres up from ground level, and we acquired an old London-style open-top bus, so we secured it into place and renovated it to create a bespoke landing pad. It really is quite unique.”
ROF 59 utilised the expert services of Lancashire-based Entre-Prises to install the new zip line, which is one of many new attractions added to ROF 59 in the last 12 months.
Earlier this year, a 19-metre drop-zone was installed, where daredevil participants must rustle the courage to throw themselves off a platform but land safely to the ground thanks to a harness and a freefall auto belay.
And at the end of 2017, ROF 59 revealed it had invested £ 350,000 in re-launching its climbing area with five new elements – adventure walls, speed climbing walls, a tower climbing area, mosaic climbing walls and‘ bouldering’.
ROF 59 originally underwent a £ 1.1m redevelopment three years ago, rejuvenating the old Presswork Metals building and former World War II munitions factory into a 21st Century entertainment and leisure venue.
The 70,000 sq ft centre now includes the Blitz restaurant, the Bunker bar / lounge, ice cream parlour, events room, trampoline park, adventure walls including the‘ leap of faith’, Virtual Reality suite, Battlefield outdoor laser combat, outdoor play area, beer garden, 19m drop-zone, climbing centre and the 200m zip wire.
“ We’ d love to see the people of the North-
East support what we’ re doing here,” added John.
“ We’ ve created more and more attractions for parents to get involved in, so it isn’ t just a drop-off point for children, there’ s enough here to choose from you can either take part in a single activity or stay the whole day and enjoy everything we have to offer for the whole family.
“ We’ re always trying to come up with new and exciting ideas different from anything in the area and we think this is a genuine first for the North-East.
“ But it won’ t stop here – I’ m already thinking of my next new and exciting activity, so watch this space!” John, his family and their team have worked very hard to create a truly unique activity centre on Aycliffe Business Park.
They can take heart from the fact others have copied their ideas – imitation is the highest form of flattery, as they say – but their admirers will do well to emulate this.
The zip wire adds to what is a vibrant and busy leisure destination where people and families can spend most of the day having fun, eating and drinking.
And the zip wire, at the very least, is a must-try for anyone brave enough to have a go.
HAVE A GO
People from 4.5st up to a maximum weight limit of 18st can try the new zip line at ROF 59, which is priced £ 7.50 per person for one go or £ 10pp for two.
To book, call ROF 59 on 01325 728222 or email hello @ rof59. co. uk