Park Profile
Norfolk’s unique outdoor park BeWILDerwood, offers families an enhanced play experience in a woodland setting, themed around a series of successful children’s books. Ronnie Dungan spoke to founder and author Tom Blofeld to find out more about his approach and plans to add similar parks…
The wild ones N
orfolk’s unique outdoor park Bewilderwood, offers families an enhanced play experience in a woodland setting, themed around a series of
successful children’s books. Ronnie Dungan spoke to founder and author Tom Blofeld to find out more about his approach and plans to add similar parks… Just as Disney World, the Epcot Centre, Six Flags or any of
the great theme parks could only have come out of America, no other country than Britain could have produced a park like Bewliderwood. You might even go further and say it is particularly English, possibly particularly Norfolk (certainly rural) and undeniably middle class in its approach with a curious mix of Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Edward Lear, PG Wodehouse and Baden-Powell at the heart of its ethos. Founder Tom Blofeld is the nephew of Henry Blofeld,
cricket commentary aristocrat and Test Match Special broadcasting legend and apart from clotted cream and strawberry jam on a scone, that’s about as English as you can get.
The park is themed around the successful children’s books
created by Tom Blofeld featuring woodland creatures called Boggles and Twiggles. “I had played in the woods of Bewilderwood as a child
and at first wanted to write children’s books about the marshes and all the funny things that went on there,” explains Blofeld. “Then it suddenly occurred to me that it would be even cooler to build the book. Which we did. “It was created in-house by myself and the team around me; it is very much an internal vision which belongs to all of us.
SEPTEMBER 2017
The whole concept was about knowing the landscape backwards, sharing it with as many people as possible and giving them some excitement along the way.” The environment is central to the park’s offering, giving
children what is essentially an enhanced outdoor play experience and encouraging them to enjoy what generations of children have always loved doing - playing in the woods. “We’ve huge slides, mazes, tremendous tree-houses, zip
wires (including baby zips for little folk) and traditional den building to name a few bits and bobs, all wrapped up in a unique story, set in the wonderful Norfolk Broads.” What it does not try to be is like any other family
attraction. The unique stories that Blofeld has created ensure an original theme, which is carefully brought to life by the in- house team within a set of parameters. “It has integrity and unique values,” says Blofeld.
“Bewilderwood looks and feels completely of its own kind. We welcome lots of people to our world and our aim is for them to have the best day out – that always comes first. “We don’t try to be all things to all men but identify the customers we’re best suited for - we’re aimed at 2-14yr olds and don’t add in extras that may draw away from the Bewilderwood experience our customers know and have come to love. “Most importantly though, once at Bewilderwood, we consider everybody to be a child and our park is designed to allow the whole family to play together in a healthy and safe environment. “With all modesty, I believe we are the best in the world for what we do – it’s not a big category but we are the best.”
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