We’ve avoided theme parks up until now, figuring that we just spend the day longingly looking at the rollercoasters with one eye while watching the kids slowly go round in a ladybird with the other. In other words I didn’t think it would be worth the money.

This year the kids are 12 and 10 and seemed desperate to go to a theme park. We were up north so my preferred choice of Alton Towers wasn’t an option and we plumped instead for Lightwater Valley – not least because Tesco clubcard vouchers made it totally free. If everyone refused to go on scary rides at least I wouldn’t have spent anything.

It’s not the most salubrious of theme parks – a bit tired around the edges. Having said that the whole family had an absolute ball. Apart from the bit where they made me go on a pirate ship and I spent the whole experience trying not to vomit. It took a little while to return to my usual shade of sunburnt red after that but that was my only negative.

The kids were both tall enough to go on everything and my ten year old was only defeated by rides that actually turned you and held up upside down (I don’t blame her plus it meant I didn’t have to go on them either). Everything else she experienced, and loved, despite being quite a timid girl really.

We even went on England’s longest rollercoaster twice which we nearly all adored apart from my other half who is clearly too tall for roller coasters and came off with a small fleshwound that no-one at the park seemed unduly bothered by, but we’ll leave that there. Just think carefully if you are over 6 feet tall.

Overall I feel like we have turned the page into an exciting chapter where we get to ride on roller coasters together as a family. That’s pretty cool.