To claim a find on this virtual, please post a photo of you or a personal item with the remains visible at the headline coordinates with your log.
As an optional activity, if you’d like to post a picture of you on the stepping stones adjacent to the car park, then by all means do so, but take care not to fall in!
The easiest route from the car park to GZ involves following the roadway above the waters edge (that is also a public footpath), PAST the headline coordinates and then turning left through the wooden gate where the footpath splits as it climbs up into the woods. It is possible to make a circular return via different public footpaths. Please note that the paths and woodland are likely to be muddy, so wearing wellies or other suitable footwear is advised. Also, at the highest spring tides, there may be water in the car park and along the road to GZ, so you may wish to park elsewhere and use the alternative footpath via Piggy Lane (see additional waypoint).
Although now abandoned to nature, Tivoli Park was modelled on, and named after the world famous Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen. Built by local China Clay magnate Frank Parkyn, work started after he visited the Danish Tivoli around 1920. The park first opened to the public in 1922. Born in Lerryn in 1850 to parents Margaret and Francis Parkyn, Frank was described as one of the last ‘Merchant Princes’ of Cornwall, who traded in various commodities, including wool, from farms east of the River Fowey and lots of China Clay. It is fair to say that Frank became fairly wealthy. He eventually moved out of Lerryn to Penquite manor house above the River Fowey near St Winnow Point, where he received a string of important visitors including the Prince of Wales who went on to become King Edward VII.
Frank Parkyn
Despite its relatively remote location, between 1870 and 1968, the annual boating regatta held at Lerryn regularly saw crowds of up to 5,000 people attending.
Lerryn Regatta with Tivoli Park to the right
When first built, Tivoli Park boasted a bandstand, ornamental fountains, pools and a pavilion. During the regattas, Lerryn staged entertainments, a fun fair with stalls, swing boats and roundabouts. The festivities culminated in a torchlight procession through the village and a dance with live music in Tivoli Park.
One of the ornamental fountains and pools in the 1930s
After the decline of the regatta in the late 1960s, the park began to fall into disrepair and now only offers a shadow of its former grandeur.
Although remnants of the park can be found scattered throughout the woods, at GZ, some of the largest remains can be found. The flatter platform on the northeastern side is the former bandstand and one of the larger water fountains in the park can still clearly be seen when facing to the southwest.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.