Cobra

The traveller finds Cobra not in a bare fairground, but on an old Hampshire estate. Paultons traces the manor land back to 1086, and the Mancey family bought the house site, gardens, and parkland north of the lake in 1979 before opening the park in 1983. paultonspark.co.uk

In the autumn of 2005, the new ride was announced for the following season: a Gerstlauer bobsled coaster for Paultons Park, set out on a 450-metre course and rising to 17 metres. Four-seat cars would carry visitors through the compact steel arrangement. parksmania.it

Cobra opened in 2006 and gave the Hampshire park a larger family roller coaster for the middle of the decade. In the park’s own story, it belongs to the years when Paultons was steadily adding stronger rides around its established gardens and lakeside grounds. coasterpedia.net· paultonspark.co.uk

The engineering is German and neatly measured: Gerstlauer steel, a Bobsled Coaster form, and a course that turns and dips without sending its passengers upside down. Paultons later called Cobra a favourite ride, which is perhaps the gentlest and best review a family park can give. coasterpedia.net· blog.paultonspark.co.uk