The unusual site of a giant crow's nest being squeezed through the narrow streets of Flushing on the back of a truck turned a few heads last week.

The feature is part of the new play equipment currently being installed on the Bowling Green and will sit atop the mast of a wooden pirate ship, which will be complete with rope ladder, rigging, slide and other opportunities for balancing, swinging and general clambering.

Children will also get to hide out in the Strawbuckies Crab Shack, a wooden play house, named after the nickname for born and bred Flushing folk.

Shopkeeper Sandy Skinner, who runs Flushing Stores, said: "It was quite a sight, seeing the crow's nest pass by the shop. We couldn't work out what it was at first. It's going to be lovely for the children when it's finished."

The new pirate ship play equipment is part of a £140,000 project to upgrade the Bowling Green. The idea to replace the play equipment itself was that of Flushing mother-of-two Rachael Pashley who set the Friends of Flushing Bowling Green with a group of other mums in the village.

The group worked hard to seek and secure funding, including £85,000 from the SITA Cornwall Trust, and considered tenders from a number of suppliers of play equipment, before putting a shortlist of schemes to the rest of the community to choose from. The scheme which achieved the greatest number of votes in a public ballot was a design by Hampshire-based Russell Play, a company with 30 years experience in play area design and construction.

Rachael said: "Having worked on this project tirelessly for over a year, it is amazing to finally see it being installed. The equipment is of an excellent quality that the children will enjoy for many years."

Work to replace the Bowling Green pavilion building, which will be used to cater for parties, clubs and village events, is due to begin in September. Installation of the new play equipment will take another couple of weeks to complete and the Friends group are holding a fun event to officially open the new park on Saturday, May 28, from 3pm to 8pm.

Aimed at all the family, there will be live music, a covered bar area, BBQ and other refreshments as well as games, activities and a chill out area with cartoons for the children.