It started on the waltzers at Lister Park funfair, back in the mid-1980s. I was with a gaggle of girls screaming our heads off as we were endlessly spun around by strapping lads with tattoos leaping effortlessly from one waltzer to the next.

Ever since then I've had a thing for rollercoasters and any other ride that spins, climbs, dips, lurches and generally leaves you feeling dizzy and disorientated. I could happily become one of those rather focussed people in anoraks, let's call them nerds, who trawl themes parks around the world, seeking the ultimate big-dipper thrill. Some people love the adrenaline rush, some love the excitement of lurching from great heights, some may even love the view.

For me, it's the fear. It's the moment, seconds before you start moving, when you ask yourself Why am I doing this?' as you're strapped into a seat that's about to take you on a terrifying, albeit short, journey you can't help thinking you may not survive. Anyone who's travelled in a car around the Champs Elyss roundabout in Paris will know the feeling.

So it was with great excitement that I set off for Lightwater Valley, one of the north's biggest family attractions with scores of rides set in 175 acres of parkland.

When we arrived, at about 11am, there was a large, rapidly-growing queue outside the entrance. It's advisable to pre-book to avoid the queue and go straight in.

The theme park's wide range of rides are split into categories. From big-thrill white-knuckle rides to mini adventures for junior fun-seekers, there's something to set all pulses racing and hearts beating that bit faster.

There are five new rides, including the soon-to-be-opened Hornet's Nest - a not-for-the-fainthearted thrill-fest sending you hurtling through the air upside-down - the Dragon Boats, a water ride for young children, and Noah's Ark, also for youngsters.

Access to many of the children's rides is determined by height. Our party included my nephews Sam, six, and four-year-old Jack so we stuck largely to the nipper-friendly attractions. These included the Ladybird and the Caterpillar - tame rollercoasters with just enough twists, turns, rises and falls to excite the little ones - and the Lightwater Express, a mini steam train taking us around the park via the pretty Swan Lake where you can take out pedal boats.

Jack was particularly taken with a vintage car ride; youngsters sit in little cars running around a track (one too many times, if you're a weary adult waiting at the sidelines). Because he could turn the steering wheel, Jack was convinced he was driving the car and was delighted with it.

Sam loved operating the mini digger in the Lightwater Mining Company, a little sandy area where he could have happily spent all day scooping up and moving piles of sand.

For older thrill-seekers there are several daredevil rides, with The Ultimate towering above them all like a hulking great mountain. Billed as Europe's largest rollercoaster, it has near-vertical drops of over 160ft and stomach-churning speeds of 60mph as it twists, turns and thunders around a 2.3km track. If you can open your eyes for long enough, you'll see the pretty woodland that the ride passes through.

I loved Skyrider too because, as well feeling like an eight-year-old giggling on the local park swings again, you feel the thrill of flying. Once strapped into one of the 32 seats suspended by chains, there's an exhilarating buzz as you rise, tilting and soaring high above the other rides, legs dangling in the air.

Sewer Rat plunged us into a dingy subterranean world full of strange creatures. It's basically a rollercoaster in the dark, with eerie dripping and scuttling noises all around - but thankfully without the authentic sewer stench.

The Grizzly Bear is a traditional big-dipper, hurtling us up and down a twisting track, and the Twister is like a waltzer on a rollercoaster, spinning us around in a little cab while we lurched from one dip to the next. It would be wise to brave this one before lunch, unless you have a stomach of steel.

As their foolhardy aunt waved at them like a mad flapping bird from great heights, Sam and Jack stuck to the child-friendly rides below. Jack went on the vintage cars yet again, while Sam and his dad Neil braved the Falls of Terror, a log flume whooshing through a partially-covered water slide. It's more family-friendly than it sounds.

There are 14 food outlets, from restaurants to candyfloss kiosks, dotted around the park. In between rides we bought ice creams and took a pleasant walk through the grounds, stopping off to look at some beautiful birds of prey. They live in the park's Bird of Prey Centre but were brought out by a handler for visitors to see and be photographed with.

It took some delicate persuasion, with a bit of bribery thrown in, to get Sam to hold a magnificent European eagle owl called Henry but eventually he plucked up courage and held out his arm, flinching as the bird flapped his huge wings before gripping the leather glove.

"It's the biggest eagle owl in the world!" gushed Sam after chatting to the friendly bird-handler. He told us that money from visitors goes to the upkeep of Lightwater Valley's birds and to conservation projects. Some birds are released into the wild.

The Bird of Prey Centre is in the Lightwater Valley Shopping Village, which can be visited without going into the park. It's worth a visit, although the birds were all tied to perches, very much on public display, and I would have preferred to see them in aviaries, where they could at least move around in a more spacious environment. The birds on display included eagles - of the golden and bald variety - vultures, hawks, buzzards and various owls, including two beautiful snowy owls.

Within the centre is the Creepy Crawly Cave where we came face-to-face with snakes - including a 10ft-long Burmese Python - a tarantula, a white toad, scorpions, rats and an Australian Bearded Dragon. Most horrible of all were the giant snails. I can't even look at a common garden snail without breaking out into a cold sweat of fear, so I couldn't get out of the Creepy Crawly Cave fast enough. Give me The Ultimate any day.

We browsed around the indoor shopping village before heading back to the car park. The shops, scattered across a pretty cobbled area, sell souvenirs, home furnishing, clothes, domestic appliances and toys. There's a coffee shop and a traditional-looking sweet shop, where a clown was entertaining children with a ventriloquist's dummy. Outside there's a crazy golf course, cafes, an intriguing-looking bungee trampoline' and a garden accessories store.

If you fancy a day out, but without being strapped into a seat and hurtled through the sky, you could visit the Lightwater village for some retail therapy and a bite to eat. You'll soon get used to the screams and squawking in the background - as the humans swing from the Eagle's Claw and the birds of prey pose for their photographs.