There were many billboards in Cornwall advertising Flambards Theme Park. But we were planning to go there on day five anyway. And now that we were staying on the outskirts of St Ives, the journey was short and pleasant.

I did not expect from it much because, unfortunately , I judge a place by its price. Compared to Legoland or Alton Towers, it was significantly cheaper. BUT, it was the end of August, and to attract customers, they were offering fireworks and a performance. I do like fireworks!

Arriving was interesting, cause Flambards is very much next to the Sainsbury's supermarket. A bit odd, in my opinion. Although, parking was more than plenty. BUT, again, the entrance was not impressive and was lacking in something "grande".

Once inside, past the entrance gates, you have the cafe/restaurant, stage and facilities. The cafe/restaurant is like any other fast food place. I was sad for not taking packed lunches cause that would have been more satisfying.

Then you can choose between going into the kiddies area on the right or the grown-up side on the left. Our kid was still three at that time, so we immensely enjoyed the kiddies area. There was plenty to do, very different from other fun fares, actually. It was a pleasant surprise!

I will not name all, but I would like to share what we tried and loved.

Jurassic Journey

This part is for dinosaurs loving kids. It has a lovely park area with dinos, and there is a cave and a most amazing prehistoric boneyard. Even I, a grown-up , was participating in archaeological discovery. The idea of carefully brushing off the sand from the skeleton is satisfyingly amusing.

Exploratorium

What great fun this was! With multiple mirrors, things to touch and feel, it was filled with kids and naturally was buzzing. The mirror illusions do not particularly amuse me, but they made my three-year-old laugh like a chimney. Many activities saw queues in here. Everyone wanted to try the illusion or a laser and did not want to leave.

Victorian Village

Victorian Village is perhaps what makes it worth sharing. It has a very different feel to the funfair. Hidden away, you are forced to step back in time. Inside it has been transformed into the Victorian era, with streets, buildings, businesses and beautiful artefacts on display. The shops have staff and visitors dressed in clothes of that era. Extremely satisfying to see the attention to detail. I have struggled to take images in poor light, so I haven't much to show. But trust me, it is worth the visit.

Apart from the Victorian town, you are led to explore the war gallery and artefacts, predominantly related to Cornwall. Here I found an image of the Queen in her days before becoming the head of the monarchy. Right next to it was an entrance to the war zone with a bunker, shelters, air-raid sirens, walls made of bags filled with sand. There were piles of bricks from the bomb explosion, shops with goods during those times. It didn't feel very good to see it all. I don't like to think of those times. But it is a great example to show our younger generation what happened and what war means.

The hangar was also housing a Concorde plane. You walk through it, see the cockpit. Impressive!

The other side, for the grown-ups, got many sickening rides, not much for the small audience. I quite liked the Hornet rollercoaster, it was not too crazy. I wanted to go on the Colorado River Log Flume, which slides into the water, but the weather wasn't the greatest to walk wet.

There is also a Formula Kart track at the back, BUT you have to pay extra for each race. It would have been cool to try cause it looked good. But we felt it wasn't fair to have it as part of the Theme park but charge separately. So there goes why the entrance is cheaper.

Then came the evening. The stage lights switched on, and a singer deciding he was a Gary Barlow, began to perform. He did exceptionally well because I could not understand if it was the real thing or not. But it looked like the guy was singing live. From time to time, he filmed himself on his mobile. The crowd was singing along and cheering the singer.

At 8 pm we have finally had the fireworks! By the way, some of the rides were going till the fireworks, but none were suitable for kids.

Some Useful Advice

We have visited Flambards twice, during August 2018 and July 2021.

In August, we went from ride to ride and had fireworks. It was easy, and everything was open.

In July, the place was bunkers, car park overfilled, queuing time up to 40 minutes, madness. And, of course, because of the pandemic, many indoor activities were closed. So felt like you got cheated because you paid for something you cannot use.

We were also quite unfortunate because Cornwall had issues with the internet that day. That meant if you wish to buy something, use cash! The only cashpoint inside the Theme park was quickly out of order. So, something to keep in mind - have enough cash just in case!

Day 5, Cornwall #1 - Going back in time

Jurassic Journey

Exploratorium

Victorian Village

Some Useful Advice

To be continued...