Marjorie Hume

Explorer Tom At Joyland on Great Yarmouth's seafront, the most celebrated thrill ride advances at the stately pace of a snail, which is an excellent way to look fearless without alarming your hair. The Cole family opened this little amusement park in 1949, and its home-built Super Snails have been taking the scenic route ever since. Horace Cole designed the snail ride and made it at the family's engineering works in Great Yarmouth. The first five snails were fitted in 1948 before the park opened the following summer; today nine differently coloured snails circle a track that has changed over the decades. The Tubs are another original favourite, alongside later rides and an arcade. Here, a queue can contain several generations of one family, each claiming to know the fastest snail. Entry to the park is free, while rides use paid tokens. Joyland says it is open daily during the October half term from 24 October to 1 November 2026, with weather and trade able to alter opening and ride availability. Outside that period, check its current opening notice before setting off. This is a compact children's park, so do not arrive expecting a sprawling fairground or a guaranteed operating ride. I strongly suspect the Super Snails hold their own championship after closing, with the winner decided by a finish-line judge whose beard grows faster than the field. That is my theory, not Cole family history. The real treat is seeing a locally built 1949 idea still coaxing delighted passengers around its bends: take your place, admire the craftsmanship, and let the slowest creature on the promenade make your day move faster.