[2] Lightwater Valley was founded by Robert Staveley in 1969, and is now owned and operated by The Brighton Pier Group, having been purchased by them for £5 million in 2021.

Later on, Staveley introduced a petting zoo, BMX bikes, Go Karts, a pitch and putt golf course, a hell slide and a water chute ('Devil's Cascade', later re-themed to 'Toad Hole').

At the time, Robert Staveley's wife was a keen protector of the country park status and did not like the idea of having a roller coaster spoiling this.

To accommodate his wife's wishes, Robert decided that he would bury the roller coaster underground and it became based on the dwellings of a sewer rat.

[citation needed] Following the success of the Rat Ride, Robert Staveley persuaded his wife that a 'proper' roller coaster be built.

[citation needed] Additional rides and attractions were added throughout the decade, including roller coasters such as The Viper, The Batflyer, and The Ladybird.

Lightwater Valley was given a new lease of life in February 2001 when the park was bought by Ball Investments who used Heritage GB to manage the operations.

Some of these improvements included: investment in the re-theming of the Sewer Rat to Raptor Attack, the introduction of the first themed 'area', 'Skeleton Cove', with five new rides (bought from the now defunct Loudoun Castle park in Scotland) along with new family friendly attractions such as the Angry Birds Activity Park, Eagles Creek Farm, the Vintage Car Rally and Jurassic mini golf course.

Initial planning permission for holiday caravans and log cabins was rejected by Harrogate Borough Council due to concerns about the impact on traffic and local businesses.

After Livingstone Leisure Ltd bought the park, the decision was made to close the Lightwater Country Shopping Village at the end of the 2017 season.

The Valligators were three green alligator-costumed entertainers who acted as the park's mascots named Harry, Sally and Baby Al.

[12] On 21 June 2001, 20-year-old Gemma Savage died following an accident the previous day when two carriages collided on Treetop Twister, a spinning Wild Mouse roller coaster, which had opened in May of that year.

Lightwater Valley's owners and electrician Eric Butters admitted to breaching health and safety laws at Leeds Crown Court on 14 November 2006.

[16] A French manufacturer, Reverchon Industries SA, was convicted of two charges of failing to ensure the ride's safe design and construction.

[20] These include new carbon-neutral biomass boilers producing 400 kW per unit, enabling the park to move away from the conventional oil-based heating system.

Vintage Car Rally (2015 onwards) The Ultimate was designed by Big Country Motioneering (BCM) and the park's original owner, Robert Staveley.

However, much of the installation was largely undertaken in-house and supervised by engineers from British Rail after BCM were sacked due to track problems and slow progress.

[citation needed] Staveley got assistance from American and German roller coaster manufacturers, who advised him to ensure that there was enough flexibility in the track to allow for expansion and contraction under fluctuating temperatures.

Staveley wanted to ensure that he was the first to ride his creation well in advance of its opening in order to give himself time to improve and re-work areas of track.

[citation needed] Initially, Staveley had not set out to break any records and it was only once construction had gotten underway that a colleague exclaimed that there couldn't be a roller coaster longer than the one they were building.

Following their takeover of the park, The Brighton Pier Group’s Chief Executive stated, ‘The Ultimate is not dead in the water.