Now in his middle years, Horatio Evans has been knocked back by the failure of his communist uprising. The atmosphere in the town is also depressed, because several of the mines are to close. He sees this not as a crisis, but as another opportunity for a revolution - of sorts. If the mines are closing why doesn't the town buy them (for a song) and create visitors' attractions?Horatio's idea of setting up the theme park is beset by a major problem - he has no cash. Persuading the once-rich Fogle family, which owns one of the mines (and most of Abertump) to collaborate with him, sees a clash between his communist, working class values and their upper-class privileged ones.Then Gladys comes to the rescue with a plan, not only for getting some cash but also for earning some themselves from the theme park. But how could a communist become a capitalist? Such a fundamental clash of belief is just another challenge for our loveable hero.