Families enjoy return of seafront fun park
Lewis Gray, owner of Pops Meadow in Gorleston, with Lewis Gray Junior, Barron Coupland and Dolph Gray. - Credit: Daniel Hickey
A patch of land on Gorleston seafront has come to life again with the return of merry-go-rounds and trampolines.
Families were enjoying the half-term sunshine on Wednesday (June 2) at Pops Meadow play area - more than three years after the site was last occupied.
Over the years, the field, sandwiched between Pavilion Road and Beach Road, has hosted various low-key leisure activities including crazy golf and rides for young children but in recent years it had fallen into disuse and the future of the site was left uncertain.
Archie Reynolds, 5, enjoys the trampoline at Pops Meadow play area in Gorleston. - Credit: Daniel Hickey
That was until a vote last September at Great Yarmouth Borough Council which saw the land retained for community use for 25 years, with local couple Lewis and Cherise Gray buying the plot and transforming it again into a children's fun park.
Mr Gray said he was "over the moon".
Fairground rides have reappeared at Pops Meadow in Gorleston. - Credit: Daniel Hickey
"The site was up for tender at the council and I was lucky enough to attend. I put in a bid with the council to use the place as a children's play area," he said.
The couple received the keys in January this year and since then they have been bringing in fairground rides, erecting a new fence around the perimeter and refurbishing the cafe.
Mr Grey said his wife comes from a family with a fairground background while he was brought up in Newport where he was calling bingo since the age of 12.
"It's always been in the family," he said.
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He also said there are plans to add a crazy golf course.
Hillary Porter, Ann Curtis, Hannah Titterington and Glynn Bond enjoying the sunshine at Pops Meadow in Gorleston. - Credit: Daniel Hickey
Hannah Titterington, who lives near the site, said: "It's good for the area and it's great for the kids. It's something for them to do."
Ellesse, Alfie, Tilly, Emma and Holly Bland at Gorleston's Pops Meadow play area and fun park. - Credit: Daniel Hickey
Emma Bland, who works at the James Paget hospital and was visiting the park with her family, said: "It's lovely. They've been really good to my son who has additional needs, he has cerebral palsy.
"They've been amazing with him, helping him on the rides and everything, making sure he's safe getting on and off.
"It's really good for the kids," she added.
Pops Meadow, a fun park in Gorleston, has reopened after having fallen into disuse for more than three years. - Credit: Daniel Hickey
The park is currently open everyday from approximately 10am to 7pm and the cafe will be open year round.
Visitors buy tokens which can then be exchanged to use the rides.
People enjoying the sunshine at a newly reopened Pops Meadow in Gorleston. - Credit: Daniel Hickey
