The Boston Claim
A separate report placed a Pirate Ship at John H. Rundle's yard in Boston, Lincolnshire. Here is that claim, in full, and why the evidence points elsewhere.
How to read this page
- Supported
- Rejected
- Unresolved
A separate claim held that Wicksteed's original Pirate Ship was seen beneath a tarpaulin at John H. Rundle's yard in Boston, Lincolnshire. This section sets out that claim, how it was investigated, and why the evidence points elsewhere, without suggesting the witness lied or acted in bad faith.
What the witness described
A forum participant stated they had visited Rundle's yard, seen the front of a Pirate Ship under cover, and spoken with a worker who said the Pirate Ship was "still there, safe and sound." They said alleged plans seen at Wicksteed contributed to the identification, and that the visit took place in March 2025.
The person making the claim confidently told another forum member to "research yourself." The investigation did.
Two separate questions
The investigation deliberately separated two propositions: did the person visit Rundle's and see a Pirate Ship, and was that Pirate Ship Wicksteed's original Double Pirate Ship?
The first proposition was considered plausible throughout. The second lacked supporting evidence: no photographs, no visible serial plates, no confirmation both gondolas were present, no structural comparison, no documented ownership trail and no specific artwork details were offered.
Careful questioning, not leading questions
Questions were kept narrow before the full alternative theory was disclosed, so as not to reshape the witness's memory. For example, the witness was asked to pin down whether "last March" meant March 2025 or March 2026, without being told which answer would interact with the Kosovo evidence.
Similarly, questions about gondola number, artwork, flags, colours and lettering were designed to retrieve remembered details rather than feed identifying features to the witness.
What the witness later said
The witness confirmed the visit was in March 2025 and acknowledged that there may have been a mix-up.
The resulting conclusion is not that the witness lied about visiting Rundle's. It is that the ride they saw there was most likely misidentified.
The abandoned Fantasiana theory
A working theory proposed that the Rundle's ship might have been a later, single Pirate Ship removed from Fantasiana in Austria, with a proposed route through dismantling, transport to Britain, and storage at Rundle's because installation was too expensive.
Further checking showed the relevant Fantasiana attraction was a Wild Swing, not a Pirate Ship. The theory was abandoned before publication and was never presented as a finding.
This does not establish what was stored at Rundle's; it only removes Fantasiana as the proposed source. The Rundle's machine may still have been a different Pirate Ship, and its origin remains a separate, open question.
Conclusion
The witness may have seen a Pirate Ship at Rundle's, but the evidence indicates that it was not Wicksteed's original Double Pirate Ship. The identity of the Pirate Ship reportedly seen at Rundle's remains unresolved.