The Cornwall Aero Park, which opened in 1976, became the Flambards Experience, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cornwall. Although many of the original aircraft have made way for other attractions, some still remain. There are still the Fairey Gannet ECM.6 XG831, the Westland Wessex HAS.1 XS887 and the nose section of an Avro Shackleton T.4 (WG511), whilst the war galleries have a large collection of aircraft relics and models. The Concorde fuselage section is from the original mock-up used to evaluate escape routes.
The Fun and Games are has some of the best fairground rides in Cornwall. In addition, there is video footage and live entertainment from such children’s celebrities as Peter Pan, The Simpsons and Snoopy. The more serious minded can test their presentational skills in the Weather Forecasting studio or visit the Science Centre with its unique disorientation tunnel, where it is possible to explore scientific phenomena.
The Britain in the Blitz exhibition features a street somewhere in London or some other city, at dusk during the Blitz. This is a street that was bombed the night before, but did not suffer as much as some other nearby streets. Everything is there from the dim lighting to the white paint on the kerbstones, enabling people to find their way around. An ARP warden will direct you, if you get lost. There is lots of rubble around and some boarded up property. A family is sheltering in an Anderson Shelter at the bottom of a garden. After the air raid siren sounds, the noise of a flying bomb can be heard. In the pub, service personnel mix with civilians. People are drinking and gossiping whilst one person watches and listens. The sounds of the Blitz are all around.
“Flambards” was a period television drama in the 1970s, which inspired this full size reconstruction of a Victorian Village. There are at least fifty shops, businesses and homes. The lamp-lit cobbled street demonstrates both the magic and underlying misery of life in Victorian England, showing the contrast between the lives of the relatively wealthy and the poor. The Chemists Shop offers a unique glimpse of medicines of the day. There is a fascinating selection of wedding dresses and old wedding photographs from Victorian times up to 1970. Some of the workmanship in the Victorian and Edwardian dresses it exquisite. A complete contrast is the wartime dress made from of a parachute.
There is access for the disabled here and plenty of facilities including shops and cafés. The Flambards theme park is justifiably proud of its beautiful garden setting, which have won many awards over the years for the trees, shrubs and flowers. The park is very close to the town of Helston and is open most days throughout the year, but it is wise to check before visiting.
