There were certainly surprises to be had as flocks of people made the journey into the wood at one of north Norfolk's most popular tourists' attractions.
Set in the heart of Hoveton's natural woodland, near to Wroxham, visitors joined together to celebrate the 10th birthday of BeWILDerwood – the Curious Treehouse Adventure park.
Creator, Tom Blofeld, was on-hand with the attraction's Twiggle Team as well as popular faces Swampy the Marsh Boggle and Mildred the Crockelbog.
Speaking at the event, Mr Blofeld said: 'Somehow, without realising it, we made something that is probably the best in the world in its category. Of course it's not a huge category but it's still the best.'
As part of the celebrations, frolicking fun, and copious amounts of cake, there were also big announcement plans.
On May 9, BeWILDerwood gained planning permission for a second site to build another adventure park.
The £5m investment aims to encourage children and their families to enjoy traditional, imaginative, and healthy outdoor play.
The park will be aimed at families and will be set in the historic Cholmondeley Castle grounds, in south Cheshire. This will be BeWILDerwood's second site in England and will run alongside the award-winning branch in Norfolk.
The new park will be environmentally sustainable and will include play structures, tree houses, boardwalks, and a mystical boat ride to transport visitors into the world of BeWILDerwood – much like the existing attraction.
The planning team from Savills acted on behalf of the park for the planning application. Adam Key, the planning director, said they were 'delighted' to be involved with such a creative project.
'It has been a long journey involving the full spectrum of planning issues, but we are extremely pleased to have obtained this resolution to grant planning permission.
'BeWILDerwood will bring significant environmental improvements. We now look forward to working with them to bring the vision to life.'
The park currently supports education through play using traditional and non-traditional learning by integrating a story element.
The park and activities are based on the narrative from book A Boggle at BeWILDerwood' by Mr Blofeld, with the aim of encouraging adventure into literacy outside of the park experience.
Organisers said school visits also help to meet school curriculum objectives through outdoor play and reinforces literacy, science, and maths through education programmes for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils.
As part of a national initiative, the team collaborates with tourism organisations to encourage visitors to the region. A total of 90pc of catering is locally sourced and family businesses work with the park to support the local economy.
The park also works with the Broads Authority and other organisations in the county to ensure the preservation of the natural environment by doing things such as sourcing materials that will not impact on the environment. A total of 80pc of the park's waste is recycled and the rest is used for renewable energy.
Finally, as part of the birthday celebrations, Mr Blofeld talked visitors through the plans for the new park and expansion plans for new play sites on the current park. He also treated the crowds to a reading of a new poem about baking Crockelbog cakes, readings from his books, and book signings.
BeWILDerwood is a family adventure park that aims to open up a new world which includes intriguing characters such as Boggles, Twiggles, the Thornyclod Spider, and vegetarian Crockelbogs.
The park covers 18 acres of marsh and woodland and begins with a with a boat journey into the park, where the characters are introduced.
There are aerial and ground woodland walks linking a series of treehouses, play structures, picnic and story-telling areas.
Attractions within the park include the Broken Bridge, an invisible glass walk, the Wobbly Wires, a zip line, and the Slippery Slopes.
Visitors of all ages are welcomed.
- The birthday celebrations continue today (Monday). For more information about the park visit the website at www.bewilderwood.co.uk.
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