The school holidays may be over but a weekend day trip can still bring back some summer fun, writes Stephen White

ONE of the West Country's favourite family destinations celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.

The award-winning Paultons Park, a 140-acre theme park on the edge of the New Forest, offers more than 50 different family rides and attractions.

Starting life as Paultons Park and Bird Gardens when it was opened by the Mancey family in 1983, it attracted 80,000 visitors in its first year. The Manceys are still at the helm, but visitor numbers have risen these days to 550,000 a year.

Unlike many of the bigger theme parks, all of the rides can be described as family friendly, which means everyone can join in the fun. And, there's another bonus, the queues are mercifully short – at least they were when we visited in early August.

There are nine "big" rides, the newest, introduced this year, being the Sky Swinger. This is a twirling, tilting ride that lifts you six metres above the ground. It has single and double seats, so smaller children can take to the sky with mum or dad.

The Cobra is the park's longest and fastest family rollercoaster, and features a mixture of drops, spirals, turns and "camel humps".

The Stinger rollercoaster is a giant bug which swoops up and down a series of twists and turns at speed. And the Wave Runner is a water ride in which riders descend a steep undulating trough of fast-flowing water in rubber dinghies made for two.

Anyone wanting to make a bigger splash should try out the Raging River Ride. This includes two huge drops – the biggest, from 11 metres, sends riders plunging into the water at 60km an hour, creating a huge splash from which you are guaranteed to get wet.

Kontiki is a raft that swings and swirls; the Pirate Ship swingboat reaches an angle of 60 degrees at either end of its swing; Jumping Bean takes riders 12 metres above the ground, before repeatedly dropping them when they least expect it; and the Dragon Ride Roundabout spins riders forwards and backwards.

If none of these takes your fancy, there are dozens of gentler rides dotted around the park, including the Rio Grande Railway, which takes visitors on a gentle ride past the paddocks and the lake.

The two-seater go-karts, the only ride at the park with an extra charge, offered some thrills and spills for drivers who struggled to cope with the steep bends in the wet conditions when we visited.

But there is more to Paultons Park than rides. There are 16 bird and animal areas, homes to a whole host of wildlife, including meerkats, wallabies, giant tortoises and 100 different species of birds. The park has eight gardens – the biggest of which is the 10-acre Paultons Gardens – all displaying beautiful flowers and plants.

There are also 10 different places to eat and three shops when you can buy gifts, sweets and souvenirs.

And to top it all, there are 14 different attractions to enjoy, from playgrounds to educational displays and museums.

These include Land of the Dinosaurs, Wind in the Willows, Romany Experience (the biggest collection of Romany wagons in the country), and the Village Life museum, which showcases traditional skills, including a blacksmith, carpenter and dairyman.

Factfile

Paultons Park is at Ower, near Romsey, Hampshire (SO51 6AL) just off exit 2 of the M27. From Salisbury, take the A36 towards Southampton. Follow the signs from the M27 roundabout.

Day tickets cost £16 per person, or £13 for seniors. Family tickets start from £45.50 for a family of three, Entry is free for children measuring under a metre. Season tickets, for unlimited entry for 12 months, cost £67.

Paultons Park is open daily until November 4. The park is open for Santa's Christmas Wonderland every weekend between November 15 and December 21, and will also be open on December 10, 11, 19, 22 and 23. Opening times vary.

For more details and to book tickets online, visit www.paultonspark.co.uk

Tickets can also be bought over the phone on 023 8081 4455, or on the day.