Blogs for April 2017

Enter our Lappa Valley Family Ticket Facebook Prize Draw for a great day out.

Posted on Thursday 27th April, 2017

Journey into the park on one of the beautiful steam engines. Once inside you will find the leisure park packed full with a whole host of family friendly activities including crazy golf, play areas, canoeing lake and two further railways to explore. 

Just follow this link to go to the Facebook post to enter https://goo.gl/LkmrbU

You will need to be a fan of our Facebook page to enter. Closing date midnight on the 5th May 2017.

For more information on Lappa Valley Steam Railway please click here http://bit.ly/2bZMzhK

Eden Project wins national award for inclusivity

Posted on Wednesday 26th April, 2017

The Eden Project has been named the country’s best visitor attraction for inclusivity at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.

It won the category for Inclusive Tourism at a prestigious ceremony held at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel in central London this week (April 24).

Now in their 28^th year, the VisitEngland awards attracted a record 600 applicants across 22 categories this year and competition was particularly fierce.

Eden was competing for the Inclusive Tourism award with two other finalists – the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and The Deep aquarium in Yorkshire.

Gordon Seabright, Eden’s Managing Director, said: “We are so proud to win this national award for all the work we do on inclusivity to enable everyone to visit Eden.

“One of our most exciting recent developments is our fully-accessible Cloud Bridge in the Rainforest Biome where all our visitors can experience travelling through swirling rainclouds.

“We want to pay tribute to our whole team who have worked so hard in making Eden a special place for everyone.”

VisitEngland Chief Executive Sally Balcombe said: “The Awards shine a spotlight on an industry driven by the highest-calibre people and organisations who deliver unforgettable experiences for visitors, raising the profile of England as a world-class destination and driving the economic benefits of tourism across the regions.”

Eden runs a number of accessibility schemes for visitors from providing easy access into what was once an old clay mine, to enabling visitors to view the treetops of the largest rainforest in captivity. 

There are accessible parking spaces and toilets, free entry for personal assistants, manual and powered wheelchairs available for free and information provided in large print, Braille and audio formats.

During the Eden Sessions there is a relaxed viewing area where people with additional needs can watch concerts in a less crowded area away from the arena.

Over the past decade Eden has worked closely with the Sensory Trust to ensure it is as accessible and engaging as possible for all staff and visitors.  This has included access reviews, equality and diversity training, inclusive design advice, accessible information, sensory design and creative community engagement.

For more details on Eden go to http://www.edenproject.com

Picture caption: From left: Eden’s Operations Manager Dave Folland, Managing Director Gordon Seabright and Visitor Experience Manager Jude Thorn with the VisitEngland Award for Excellence in Inclusive Tourism at the fully-accessible Cloud Bridge in the Rainforest Biome.

Young Patients from Royal Cornwall Hospital Receive Chocolatey Surprise and a Visit from the Easter Bunny

Posted on Wednesday 19th April, 2017

Camel Creek Adventure Park, near Wadebridge hosted an egg-stra special Easter surprise for children receiving treatment for cancer and leukaemia at Royal Cornwall Hospital’s oncology ward on Monday 10^th April.

The children were greeted by the Easter Bunny who presented them with a delicious Easter Egg generously donated by Clicsargent of the oncology ward and free tickets to the Adventure Park.

Families were delighted with the opportunity to have a break from the hospital and revel in the fun that Camel Creek has to offer including Cornwall’s only 5D Simulator, Crocodile’s Corner Reptile House, heated indoor soft play and Easter themed face painting.

Senior Play Specialist Deborah Charles from Royal Cornwall Hospital said: “‘We would like to thank Camel Creek on behalf of the children they kindly invited to the park. They all had a fantastic time and loved the amazing rides Camel Creek has to offer, as well as the added bonus of meeting the Easter bunny and receiving an egg!”

Find out more about Camel Creek here

New Actors Join the Crew at Pirate’s Quest

Posted on Thursday 13th April, 2017

New actors have joined the crew at Newquay’s Pirate’s Quest to escape the pirate hunters this 2017. Chris Barnicoat debuted at the Cornish attraction over February Half Term, learning the ropes as the crew set sail for a new season, whilst Adam Hinton joins ready for Easter weekend.

Barnicoat is a professional actor; an experienced pirate reenactor and has appeared in ‘The White Princess’ and the soon to be released feature film, ‘Mordred’. The two actors join the crew of passionately piratical actors leading tours through The Golden Age of Piracy.

Chris Barnicoat says: “I’m looking forward to a new acting challenging and working with an interactive audience. The experience is going to be great fun and it’s brilliant to work with such a good gang.”

The actors join the award-winning band of notorious buccaneers known as the Republic of Pirates, travelling back in time to 1721 when a Pirate Hunter’s Ship called the ‘Royal Anne’ left England with the intention of sailing to the Caribbean to capture pirates… but she was not destined to complete that voyage.

The ship crashed just off the south coast of Cornwall, and this is where the adventure begins!

Join the new recruits and escape the pirate hunters this Easter holidays, until 23 April.

*The hour long tours set sail from 10am with the final tour starting at 4pm and run regularly throughout the day.  Advance booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.

Visit the Pirate's Quest website here www.piratesquest.co.uk

Abandoned Turtles Have a Lucky Escape!

Posted on Monday 3rd April, 2017

Three yellow bellied slider turtles were cruelly abandoned by a callous member of the public on the door step of Newquay’s Blue Reef Aquarium this week.

A man dumped a bucket with the three tiny turtles in it at the aquarium entrance, claiming he had found them locally and left quickly before the animal staff could talk to him to explain that the aquarium cannot accept any more freshwater turtles or terrapins.  The three turtles, measuring around 12cm long, were left in a bucket of filthy water and the aquarists at the aquarium checked their health before placing them into clean water.

It has been illegal for any EU zoo or aquarium to accept additional freshwater turtles since 2015, under the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulations. Any zoos or aquariums that breed or acquire these and many other commonly kept terrapins & turtles can face prosecution under the legislation.  Only a small number of limited permits are granted to re-home these animals under strict rules.

This placed the Newquay aquarium in the unenviable position of either finding a legal home for these tiny turtles or being forced to have them put to sleep.  The aquarium also potentially faced prosecution if they were not removed from the premises.  Against all odds the turtles were found a new home.

Yellow bellied sliders Trachemys scripta scripta and their close relatives red eared terrapins have been banned as being invasive species. Coming from North America they can survive winters in parts of the EU and pose a threat to native wildlife if released or escaped into the wild.

Steve Matchett, Curator at Blue Reef Aquarium said “We currently have a small group of fresh water turtles and terrapins that include this species, but even if we did have the room for more, we cannot re-home them.  It saddens me to say that we were strongly advised that we would have to have the turtles euthanized as we cannot accept any of these animals under the new legislation.”  The regulations were brought in to protect EU wildlife from alien species that can spread diseases and out-compete native wildlife.

 “Pet owners often expect zoos and aquariums to take their unwanted turtles when they no longer wish to care for them and it is now a common problem for all zoos, aquariums and rescue centres that if we did take them in we can face legal action.  What many people don’t realise is that they can live for up to 25 years and get quite large. Reptiles are a long term commitment and people need to be far more responsible as pet owners.”

This story had an unexpected good turn of events for the turtles.  The RSPCA were contacted to see if they could help find a home.  After an extensive UK search they managed to find a rescue centre that had three spaces left on their permit to take these turtles.

The rescue centre that has re-homed the turtles is now full and wishes to remain anonymous as they cannot legally help with more turtles.

To find out more about Blue Reef Aquarium please visit www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk/newquay

WIN a Family Ticket to one of our 'Attraction & Theme Park' days out!

Posted on Monday 3rd April, 2017

Visit out FACEBOOK page for our Prize Draw to WIN a FAMILY TICKET to visit one of our ‘Attractions and Theme Parks’

The prize draw will close at midnight on 13th April 2017. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on our Facebook page within 2 days.