Although we’ve lived in Somerset for almost 6 years, I often forget how close we are to the sea! Early last month, when we had a (small) glimpse of sunshine before the storms, I took the girls on a little day trip to Burnham-on-sea/Highbridge, to visit Apex Park. The weather may have taken a chilly turn and the Not So Tiny One may have been in a teething grump but the park was so great that we refused to let our enthusiasm wane and pushed on through (for a long as we could, anyway). I’m so glad we did as there is so much to explore there. We’ll certainly return on a sunnier day when all of our party is in more favourable spirits!
So, what’s there? Free parking for starters, right on site. There are also toilet facilities and a small kiosk serving snacks that’s open in high season (the kiosk wasn’t open on this occasion but the toilets, thankfully, were). Adjacent to the car park is a beautiful large lake with lots of ducks and swans (and, I hear, plenty of other wildfowl in warmer weather). There’s a tarmacked path that runs round the whole diameter of the lake – it’s accessible for prams and, although it says “no cycling,” we took the Little Big One’s balance bike and she scooted alongside us and had a great time. I’ve mentioned before that I’m always on the lookout for great places to take the bike and this was ideal.
The play park is fantastic. There’s an enclosed area for pre-schoolers which kept my girls entertained and there’s a larger park aimed at slightly older children complete with scramble nets, climbing frames and a slide that’s big enough for 2 or 3 kids to go down at the same time (or 2 kids and a mummy!!) There’s also a skate park, so something for all ages.
The best bit about this park is the variety. We took the lakeside circular walk which takes in the lake, the ducks and the play park. There’s also a woodland trail, a wildflower area and the piece de resistance – a waterside walk (again accessible for prams and bikes) that leads along the river Brue to the southern end of Burnham sea front (by the sailing club). That’s right, you can see the sea! For us, who had basically been in hibernation since early December and were feeling starved of fresh air, this was a real coop. I can only imagine that a trip in the spring/summer would be delightful!
This excursion was part of a wider research project to find the best parks around Somerset/Wiltshire so keep your eyes peeled for another park-based blog post coming soon.
Ok, so it’s yet another rainy weekend. You’ve used up all of your rainy day play ideas and can’t face spending another hour at soft play or the faff of a swim. The weather’s far too ghastly to even entertain going outside. And you’ve watched Frozen so many times recently that your kids are now calling themselves Elsa and Anna. What can you do?
This was our predicament at the weekend. We were running low on ideas until we started an internet search and came across Better Extreme, a trampoline park in Bath. *There are others around, which I’ll link to at the end of the post, but we didn’t fancy venturing too far with Storm Dennis on the rampage.
The smile says it all – the trampoline park was a winner!
Both our girls are heavily into jumping right now so a trampoline park sounded right up their street. Plus, every weekend Better Extreme hosts a “Family Bounce” session that’s suitable for anyone under the age of 12 (and parents/carers, of course). Ideal. If you fancy trying it out mid-week instead, they actually do a “Toddler Bounce” session on a Thursday morning, which would probably be even better if you’re like us and have very little ones (it’s only for under 5’s).
For smaller children, Better Extreme is fantastic. It’s housed in a big open and light space with a variety of different areas. You’ve got your standard trampolines – the main area is split into lots of individual trampettes so that people can jump at their own speed… AND there are trampolines on the walls too so if you feel like it you can really go big.
Then there are the games areas – there’s a basketball dunk court and a dodgeball court, which, when you’re not competitively playing the game (which we obviously weren’t) is just a great space for running around, climbing, sliding and throwing balls around.
There’s even a nice enclosed area for under 8’s that has smaller trampettes and a little foam pit that’s great for jumping into or just rolling around in!
Even though there were a few older kids there, I never felt concerned about ours getting knocked around; the girls were just delighted to have free reign to explore! Amazingly, despite it being the first weekend of half term, and a ghastly day, it was pretty quiet, which meant it was actually a really relaxed experience.
Big kids (or fun-loving adults) can go large and jump into a giant foam pit. Me and the hubby had a go (I did a very sensible pencil jump, his dismount was more daring), but we were instantly shown up by two girls who both did front flips into the foam.
If you’re up for extending the day, there’s also a soft play area and cafe on site (access will cost you extra). Bath Sports and Leisure Centre also has a great swimming pool that we’ll be checking out another time.
The small print…
Prices: The sessions aren’t cheap. A family bounce session ticket costs £15 (1 under 5 and 1 adult) so we booked two of those. Otherwise adult tickets are £11 and junior tickets are £8.50. You can’t go in without their branded grippy socks so that’ll cost you an extra £2 per person on top of the ticket price. The good thing is that you get to keep the socks so subsequent visits will be cheaper.
Timings: Family bounce sessions are 10-11am on Saturdays and Sundays. Toddler bounce sessions are 10-12pm on Thursdays. A full programme can be found here. On the website it says arrive 30 minutes before your booked session. This isn’t necessary – we arrived bang on time at 10am (you try getting there 30 mins early, on a Saturday, with two under 4’s and a 45 minute car journey!) and had no issues (though we had booked in advance online). Once you’ve got your socks, you just need to watch a 2 minute briefing video (health and safety and all that) and then you’re free to bounce.
Parking: The only reason I’d suggest allowing extra time before your session starts is the parking. Extreme Bath is linked with the Bath Sports and Leisure centre and parking is limited. You can park for 3 hours for £3.60 but if you show your ticket at the desk when you sign in, you can claim a refund of £1.10.
Location: Bath Sports and Leisure Centre, North Parade Road, Bath, Somerset, BA2 4ET.
As I mentioned before, there are alternative trampoline parks in Bristol. Here are the links:
Ah family walks. Don’t you just love ’em? As much as I do love them, the girls have both hit a tricky age for walks. The Not So Tiny One LOVES walking so getting her in a carrier is always a bit of a battle… but she doesn’t last long. The Little Big One on the other hand is a little more reluctant and tires quickly, unless there’s something on the route that holds her attention, but she’ll almost always need carrying eventually. This means that the walks we love the best – sweeping walks in the hills – tend to begin and end with the following scenario: 10 minutes and approximately 30 steps in, enthusiasm wanes, protests start and no amount of cajoling will help them appreciate the wonderful views or the grazing sheep so you pause for an energising snack and hope that it’ll buy you another 10 minutes (it doesn’t always work).
It’s a different story with a pram though. Ah yes, the pram enables us to go the distance. And there are some lovely, accessible walks around. Ham Wall and the Avalon Marshes are a prime example.
We’ve been to Ham Wall a few times. It’s an RSPB site and is home to a wetland teeming with wildlife – from water voles and otters to herons and kingfishers. It offers stunning views across the marshes to Glastonbury Tor and is wonderfully tranquil.
The view to the Tor
You can opt to stick to the main path which runs through the heart of the reserve, called the Ham Wall loop, which is wide and flat and just under 3km long. This footpath is part of an old railway track that links to Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, which is across the road from Ham Wall, and Glastonbury (so you could, in theory, go all the way from Ham Wall to Glastonbury – around 4 miles in total). As well as the main path, there are a couple of short pram and wheelchair accessible boardwalks (the one we walked was 200m) that take you a little further into the marshes and give you a better glimpse of the wildlife without venturing too far. The Little Big One was very excited to spot a heron.
On the boardwalk…Twitchers-in-training
If you’re not reliant on a pram, there are also two grassy trails that take you through the marshes. These are both between 1-2km long and, I imagine, can get pretty wet and boggy so only attempt with good footwear!
Off road options are available
As well as being pram friendly, Ham Wall is great for bikes too (it’s actually a cycle route). We’ve found that the Little Big One can go so much further on her bike, meaning we get to stride out a bit too! She loved having the freedom to go off ahead of us (it’s a straight path so you can see for miles) and she enjoyed bumping along the boardwalk too.
Freewheeling!
There’s a nice little picnic spot adjacent to the car park and the Visitor Welcome building (there are toilets too, always handy) but if you prefer to walk first and lunch along the way there are a couple of semi-covered viewing platforms and bird hides dotted around that offer a bit of shelter from the chill or the rain. Just remember to be respectful of the resident twitchers who may not take kindly to loud chatter that might spook the birds.
A perfect hideout for lunch
Also near the Visitor Welcome building there are a number of wooden carved sculptures for children to find and a willow eel tunnel to play in.
Exploring the eel trail
This time of year is a great time to visit Ham Wall as it’s prime starling murmuration season, where hundreds of thousands of starlings congregate and roost in the reed beds overnight. Starling murmurations are one of nature’s wonders and the Avalon Marshes are one of the best places in the UK to witness the spectacle. It’s an incredible sight and well worth making the trip for. Dusk is the best time to visit if you’re looking to catch the murmurations at their best (head there for 3:30/4pm), although it gets very busy throughout December and January so expect crowds!
The starling murmurations are a must-see
As well as offering great family walks and bike rides, the team at Ham Wall run a variety of events throughout the year during school holidays. Check their website for details.
Some museums are awesome aren’t they? Awe-inspiring exhibits, new discoveries waiting around every corner… and chock full of things that fill you with wonder (about how completely brilliant our world is). We the curious in Bristol is one of those museums. Designed with playfulness in mind, its exhibits invite visitors to interact, experiment and question just about anything and everything. It’s the most interactive museum I’ve set foot in, for sure.
we the sandscapers
Last week I visited for the first time, and I took the Not So Tiny One with me. Friday saw the venue open its doors for a Toddler Takeover event, where the smallest people have free reign to enjoy all it has to offer without getting under anyone’s feet. It was fabulous! There is so much to see there. We made rainbows, giant bubbles, flew parachutes, constructed things, drew our own Aardman animations and held a 6 month old foetus (a pretend one, of course – from their pregnancy life cycle exhibit).
we the baby makers
We the curious is housed over two floors. The ground floor plays host to their biggest exhibits. This is where we had fun exploring the textures of different fruits and vegetables and getting to grips with knife skills in the demo kitchen; where we learnt about the life stages of the aforementioned human foetus and other cool stuff about the human body; and where we sculpted with sand, played with interactive light installations and explored the kinetic forces at play when we jump, to name but a few.
we the chefswe the masters of light
Upstairs, it’s all about light, sound, designing and making and all things sensory. Here we used ginormous bubbles to create our own rainbow effects; donned our hard hats and constructed walls and bridges and spent an unfeasible amount of time playing with the topsy turvy ball run. The ball run was a massive hit with the 18-24 month crowd. I could barely drag the Not So Tiny One away!
we the bubble wizardswe the animators
As well as all of this, we visited the Planetarium, which **exciting fact alert** is housed within the iconic giant silver ball that sits in Bristol’s Millennium Square. I’m not kidding, we were INSIDE the ball. Amazing. We added a Planetarium show to our visit for an extra £2.50 (for me as the Not So Tiny One was free as an under 2) and it was brilliant. We did the Space Explorers show, which takes you on a whirlwind adventure around space, spotting stars, constellations, planets, galaxies… and more!
we the space explorers
For under a tenner (on a Toddler Takeover day anyway) I thought it was a great day out and I’ll certainly be taking the Little Big One there too (probably with the hubby as I’d be tied up in knots keeping track of both girls – there are just too many exciting things to explore!)
Toddler Takeover prices are as follows: Adults £8.20 / £7.20 concessions, children 3+ £6.20, under 3s free / extra Planetarium shows from £2.50. (Bearing in mind that adult tickets usually cost £14.50 and over 3s, £10.45, it’s certainly worth looking out for the Toddler Takeover events). Check the website for upcoming dates.
If you’re looking for a family friendly walk in the Bath area, then I have just the thing for you – the Bath Skyline. Now, you may well balk when I tell you that the Skyline is a six mile walk that takes up to four hours (I’m with you – there’s no way I’d consider attempting that with two young whippersnappers in tow). However, the walk can be broken up into shorter sections, meaning that the whole family can enjoy it, even if those little legs aren’t willing to wander far.
The section of the Skyline that I’d recommend for families with young children is the area around Claverton Down. This is where we found ourselves last week. The Skyline is managed by the National Trust and, during school holidays (February to October), those lovely National Trust folk put on a little thing called Wild Wednesdays – a group that runs from 10:30-12:30pm providing nature themed activities for children (at a charge of £2 per child). What’s even better is that Wild Wednesdays takes place in a gorgeous area of woodland that has been transformed into an incredible woodland play area. So not only can you partake in such activities as potato printing, crown making and leaf collaging, you can also enjoy a scavenger hunt AND go crazy on an abundance of natural wooden play structures that are scattered amongst the trees in what was once a working quarry.
Just some of the activities on offer at Wild WednesdaysIn the midst of autumn crown making
We’re talking a course of not just stepping stones, but stepping logs too, wobble beams, traverse ropes, a walk on see-saw, wooden hop-skotch, a winding woodland walk, a den building area, and an amazing rope swing! The Little Big One was in her element.
Traversing the stepping logsDen building fun
As well as being home to an incredible adventure playground, this section of the Bath Skyline is also home to the Long Wood Elf and Fairy Foray. On the short amble through the woods to the play area (about 400m), there are 15 elf and fairy doors to be found. A great incentive to encourage little ones to stay on the ground (and off your shoulders!)
Don’t miss the elf and fairy trail!
One thing to mention about the Bath Skyline is that there are no parking facilities. However, in the school holidays when Wild Wednesdays is running, the National Trust put on event parking at Ralph Allen School (the entrance to the Skyline walk from here is across the road, through a field, into the woods and around a 400m walk, which is where the elf and fairy trail comes in mighty handy). If you’re visiting outside of school holidays or at the weekend, you can park in the city centre and catch a bus to your desired starting point. This handy little guide has all the details you need.
For more information on family friendly activities being run by the National Trust on the Bath Skyline, check out their Facebook page.
The Little Big One and I enjoyed a thoroughly literary day on Sunday as we headed to the brilliant Bath children’s literature festival. It’s no secret that both of my daughters are mega bookworms (I was as a child too). But I enjoy reading books with them as much as they enjoy being read to. I’m no stranger to literary festivals, having worked in publishing in my previous life, but introducing the Little Big One to the people behind the pages of her favourite books was great fun – for both of us!
With a ten day long programme of events on offer, and a line-up that includes renowned authors such as Julia Donaldson and Michael Rosen, and familiar characters like Hugless Douglas and Elmer, the Bath children’s literature festival is a fantastic event. Talks are categorised by age and although the Little Big One is 3, we snuck into a talk for age 4+ by children’s picture book writer Jarvis, of Alan’s Big Scary Teeth fame.
Jarvis’s talk was hosted in the beautiful Holburne Museum (worth a visit at any time as they often have child-friendly exhibitions and events on). It was entitled Drawing Fun with Jarvis and it was an entertaining mix of storytelling, drawing tutorials and contests. Being the author of the books, Jarvis told the tales in a hugely captivating way and did a great job of getting the kids to interact and listen by testing his audience with questions based on the stories that, if correctly answered, resulted in prizes! And the drawing element was brilliant. By the end of the show every single child in the room had learnt to draw a worm… and an alligator (with varying degrees of likeness!)
Afterwards Jarvis was kind enough to sign the Little Big One’s own version of an alligator and draw his version alongside – something to treasure for years to come.
That afternoon we made a trip to Mr B’s Emporium – the most magical bookshop I’ve visited. We bought a copy of Jarvis’s book (the Little Big One didn’t win a book at the talk so we obviously had to remedy that) and the girls got lost in a heap of other stories for a good while. We were all in our element… even the hubby found a book and got lost for a moment. If you have bookworms in your family, I’d highly recommend a visit when you’re next in Bath.
At Mr B’s we picked up a special Bath children’s literature festival treasure trail sheet – there are 7 favourite children’s book characters hidden in locations across Bath for book fans to find; a great activity to complement the main festival events.
If you have a bit of time over the next week, do check the festival out (it’s on until Sunday 6th October). There are plenty of events still to come, just visit the website for more details.
This week I attended that rare form of toddler group: one where I’m pretty sure I was as, if not more, entertained than the children! At times I was enjoying myself so much that I almost forgot the kids were there. But then I zoned back in and caught sight of the Little Big One running towards me wearing an unfeasible amount of head gear including a sparkler headband and some star framed glasses and I remembered that I wasn’t, in fact, at a real gig. I was instead at a toddler group, surrounded by small children and bundles of fancy dress and shaky instruments. But I was listening to a great cover of ACDC’s Back in Black. Yup, this was not your standard toddler group play list… Humpty Dumpty and Incy Wincy didn’t even get a mention!
Rock the Tots is one of two music-based groups that I’ve attended in the last couple of months (the other one is Music for Miniatures – more on this later) that bring “real” music to children; inspiring a passion for music that parents and their little ones can share together. Here’s more about them.
The more contemporary of the two, Rock the Tots, is run by a lovely musical couple called Stephanie and Craig. Craig plays guitar and sings (in a number of different styles) and Stephanie sings and works her magic with puppets and props. They pair songs with fun on-screen visuals that capture the children’s attention and they have a great range of dress-up props and shaky instruments that the kids can work their way through during the session; as I mentioned above, the Little Big One took full advantage of this, at one point wearing five different pieces of head wear, shaking a sparkly pom pom and singing into a microphone simultaneously. She’s a rock star in the making.
Every month the music has a different theme. September’s theme was colours so we were treated to renditions of Purple Rain, Fields of Gold, TheYellow Submarine… you get the picture! Despite this being a preschool group (it’s for under 5s), its very much choreographed with grown-ups in mind (which I loved). Not only have nursery rhymes been completely vetoed (as well as the examples above, we heard covers from the likes of Coldplay, KT Tunstall, Jimi Hendrix and Joni Mitchell) but Craig’s impersonations of the artists are spot on (I particularly enjoyed his Eiffel 65 – yep, you remember that classic 90’s song Blue… da ba dee da ba daa). At a couple of points he threw in the odd anecdote about a song or band too; anecdotes that went way over the kid’s heads but gave us grown-ups a bit of a laugh or a flutter of nostalgia.
Now it’s not always easy for parents to loosen up and relax at these events so to break the ice, there was a game of say what you see that saw the original lyrics of “Whoa, Black Betty, bam-a-lam,” replaced with things like “bramble jam” and “panda lamp” which was a great way to get the parents engaged and was very funny too.
The event ended with a colour themed story – bringing it back to the kids. Wow, Said the Owl is one of our family favourites so it was the perfect finale to a great morning. October’s theme is Spooky fun but I’m told there won’t be anything too terrifying! Dates tend to appear on their website the month before, so you’ll find October dates here.
Prices: £4 per head but if you are bringing a second sibling they offer a small discount – a siblings ticket will cost you £7. We got ourselves a loyalty card too – get 5 stamps and your 6th gig is free!
Venues: Gigs take place in Bath, Bristol and many places in between, including Corsham and Bradford on Avon. Check the website for a full list of locations.
After embracing our inner rock stars at Rock the Tots, we took the pace down a level at Music for Miniatures and indulged in a bit of classical music. Now, if I’m honest, we don’t really listen to a lot of classical music in our house (apart from the occasional nod to it with the Ballet for Kids playlist on Spotify). We’re plebs, I know. Having said that though, our house is always filled with noise and the girls seem to love music of any kind so I figured Music for Miniatures would broaden their musical horizons a little bit.
Music for Miniatures is all about introducing live classical music to babies and young children. It was started by musician and mum, Julie, who is joined by a host of other musicians to bring high quality live music to families, without the stress of trying to keep little ones quiet and still. Classical music has been proven to be calming for children of all ages (and grown-ups too!) but at these concerts, it doesn’t matter if babies cry and toddlers babble and totter around because they are encouraged to explore, dance, pick up a shaker or scarf and get right up close to the performers. There’s something really special about seeing different instruments up close too – my two were fascinated by the oboe and the Little Big One couldn’t wait to have a tinkle on the piano at the end (her daddy plays it and she loves joining in).
Each concert has a different focus – at one event you might be watching a jazz quartet and one week it might be all about percussion or horns. The concert we attended was called A Musical Zoo and all of the songs were animal themed, which was a great introduction to classical music for my two. There were the obvious animal themed tunes like Swan Lake (which was a big hit with our ballet loving Little Big One) and Flight of the Bumblebee. And there were some more subtle links to animals where we were encouraged to listen to the sounds within the music and pretend to be whichever animal it made us think of; for example, the bouncy tones in Benjamin Britten’s Bacchus saw us become jumping kangaroos. The girls loved getting involved and we all enjoyed the beautiful music.
Prices: £8 per adult/child pair, £4 per extra adult, £3 per extra child.
Venues: Concerts take place in Bath, Frome, Street and a few places in between (we went to one in Midsomer Norton).
I’ve been writing this blog for a couple of months now and it’s dawned on me that, while I have highlighted a few of our favourite spots in our hometown of Wells, I have yet failed to mention the Bishop’s Palace. Now, after writing all about the delights of Hestercombe last week, this seems a little unfair, so I’m dedicating this week’s post to the palace, which we visit so frequently that it has almost become our home from home in Wells. Given we live just a short walk away, we probably visit the palace at least once a week, sometimes more (we’re members by the way, which makes it a very cheap day out). I imagine most Wells folk will already be aware of the palace’s appeal but those that live a little further away may not be. From the outside, with it’s drawbridge and neatly mown croquet lawn (complete with “Please keep off the grass” signs) it doesn’t immediately shout “come in, and bring your kids” but venture into the gardens and you’ll find plenty to keep the little ones amused. For us, it’s the perfect place to take the children. Whether it’s for an afternoon with the grandparents, a picnic with friends or just popping in to pass the time before a nursery pick-up, here are three reasons why it’s our go-to place.
It’s great here!
The Dragon’s Lair The Dragon’s Lair is a perfect playground for young adventurers, who can let their imaginations run wild as they come face to face with… a dragon! The interactive play areas are all inspired by the history of the palace so there’s a waterwheel and pump (which the Little Big One loves), a maze, a tunnel, a pole jungle and a couple of climbing frames (with a slide thrown in for good measure). You’ll find the Dragon’s Lair in the arboretum so not only is it great fun, it’s also in a lovely shady spot (a perfect hideaway on a blazing hot summer’s day… or, more likely, a good place to shelter from the rain!) There are picnic benches here and plenty of space for picnic rugs so it’s perfect if you want to picnic and play. If you remember, do ask at the entrance for one of the beautifully illustrated story maps, which little navigators and explorers can use to find their way around the palace to the dragon – you’ll learn a few cool dragon facts too!
Getting acquainted with the palace dragon, in his lairTunnel funWheeeeeeeeee!Taking the Dragon’s Lair stepping stones in her stride
Picnics in the South Garden The South Garden (just inside the entrance) is an ideal location for a picnic (one of many lovely spots in the palace, but my particular favourite). It’s a beautiful spot – a lovely open lawn with a few large trees dotted around that provide a good amount of shade – and with plenty of space for little ones to run around. In fact, it’s where the Little Big One first honed her walking skills. It’s a toddler’s dream: soft ground underfoot, trees and plants to investigate and so much space for little legs to roam. Bigger kids can explore the ramparts (or palace walls) too which overlook the moat and the countryside beyond.
Freedom!The South Garden – a perfect picnic spotExploring the “African Savannah” in the South Garden
Summer holiday fun – Crafty Cats and Nature Ninjas As well as the usual attractions, the palace put on some lovely holiday activities for children big and small (these occur in half terms, Easter and summer holidays). On Tuesdays it’s Crafty Cats which takes place in the palace itself (the Undercroft) and invites children to, you guessed it, get crafty – gluing, colouring and snipping to create anything from a unicorn (Legends and Folklore week) and a Tudor Rose (um, Tudor week) to taking part in their very own scrap heap challenge.
Here’s one we made earlier…
Nature Ninjas, on the other hand, takes place in the community garden on Thursdays and encourages kids to embrace nature and the world around them. Children can try their hand at sowing seeds or flower pressing and do a spot of pond dipping. The pond is teeming with wildlife – we saw dragonflies, plenty of tadpoles and even a newt!
The Little Big One loved making her own flower pressPond dippingMeeting the resident tadpoles
Annual membership can seem pricey – it’s around £30 for an individual and £52 for a couple (kids under 5 are free). But at £8.95 a go for entry you only need to go a handful of times a year for it to be worth it. If you look at it like that, our membership probably paid for itself within two weeks! Well, as I’ve mentioned, we do quite like the place.
On Tuesday our brave Little Big One made her first acquaintance with a reptile. Not just any old reptile. A python, no less. She actually held the python in her tiny hands (albeit with a trained animal handler holding her hands to take the weight. It was her hands that were making contact though). Oh and she stroked a bearded dragon (so did the Not So Tiny One, though she’s never really one to pass up on the chance to do something daring).
This all happened at Hestercombe gardens near Taunton. A lovely place at the best of times, I’m sure, but a great place to visit in the school holidays. Their summer programme is fabulous! We visited on one of their Terrific Tuesdays and had the joy of attending a Really Wild Show where we were acquainted with the aforementioned beasts. The show brought us face to face with some very curious creatures – as well as the python and bearded dragon, we met a lizard that can lick it’s own eyeball and a tarantula. The show was fascinating, fun and very informative (the Really Wild Learning team do birthday parties by the way).
After the show we wandered over to the Orangerie where there were more animals for us to meet – three lovely alpacas. Freshly confident from her heroics with the snake, the Little Big One hand fed one particularly hungry alpaca and we petted them for a while. Personally this was more up my street than the reptiles, but of course, I didn’t let on!
The Orangerie was also host to some arts and crafts activities, all with an animal theme. We made a paper chain snake (easier to handle than the real thing) and a floaty fish wand.
Once our activities were complete the girls whiled away a big chunk of time in the little play park – accessible without a ticket (it’s just before the main entrance). There’s a picnic area here too, although it’s not covered (which isn’t ideal in the rain, as we found out). Annoyingly you’re not allowed to eat picnics in the gardens (I can only assume this is because of concerns over littering) so this designated picnic spot is the only place you can (openly) eat your own food. The cafe serves a great hot chocolate though.
As we were busy enjoying all the fun that was laid on, it didn’t leave us with much time to enjoy the rest of the gardens, aside from a very quick peak at the formal garden (which isn’t accessible by pram, unfortunately. Too many steps). This seems to be a recurrent theme here at Hestercombe – lots of steps and uneven ground makes using a pram a little tricky. However, the Georgian landscaped gardens do look beautiful with many attractions to see including a waterfall, a Chinese bridge, a mill pond and a watermill. The mill pond and watermill can be seen from the accessible route which is marked on the visitor’s map. But many of the other attractions, including the waterfall, are harder to get to so next time I’m taking a backpack carrier for the little ones so that we can enjoy the full tour.
I would certainly suggest visiting in the holidays if you can – Terrific Tuesdays are on for the rest of August with the timetable as follows:
But at £6.25 for a Bishop’s Palace member adult ticket (as a partner garden, BP members receive half price entry – it works the other way too), I’ll definitely be returning outside of the school holidays. Kids under 5 go free.
If this smiley hot chocolate face doesn’t sell it to you, I don’t know what will…
The summer holidays are upon us and with this balmy weather here to stay (*crosses fingers hopefully) I thought I’d do a little round up of our favourite places to swim. I’ve included some indoor and outdoor options, to suit all weathers (*faces facts and notes that said balmy weather probably isn’t here to stay).
Please note: These are all official leisure venues. Although I quite like the idea of wild swimming, if I’m honest, it’s the last thing I fancy doing with a toddler and a pre-schooler in tow (*shudders at the thought). Maybe in five year’s time I’ll do a wild swimming blog post… watch this space.
Wells Cathedral School, Wells
One of our favourite regular groups to go to is Sing and Swim at Wells Cathedral School. The drop-in class features a music and dance session (run by the school’s dance teacher) followed by a general swim in the school’s lovely pool. The pool is housed in a glass atrium and the water is usually pretty warm so on a sunny day it can feel like you’re in the South of France. Sadly, the group only runs during term-time and the public school holidays are particularly drawn-out. However, last summer I realised that the lovely people at WCS keep the pool open during the summer holidays! Result. The pool’s opening hours are sporadic (they rely on having lifeguards available and sometimes there are last minute cancellations so it’s worth checking again on the day) but all times are listed on the school’s website. At the moment timetables are up for the next fortnight, with new dates being added each week.
Cost: Adults £4, Under 18s £2 and under 5s free
Shepton Mallet Lido, Shepton Mallet
One of two lidos, or outdoor pools, within close proximity of Wells. Shepton Lido is smaller, quieter and, in my opinion, more relaxing (if you can say that when you have two kids in tow). By that I mean that everything is in one place so you can easily keep tabs on two children that will undoubtedly want to be doing different things at the same time. There’s a full-size pool and a children’s pool; a very small splash park with a few fountains; a mini play area and some picnic benches. There are some pretty basic changing facilities at the far end and there’s also a place to buy snacks. The water temperature is a little on the cool side but on a baking hot day it’s the right side of refreshing. Speaking of baking hot days, there’s very limited shade by the poolside so come prepared to make your own!
Cost: Adults £5.50, juniors £3.75, under 5s free
Greenbank Outdoor Pool, Street
At the other end of the scale of outdoor pools is Greenbank, which is Shepton on steroids. It has a huge pool with an adjoining kids pool (that is also pretty big and has a great slide that you’ll have to fight to get the little ones off). It has an equally large splash park with another great slide (it’s fast so probably not one for the really little ones); and there’s a ton of green space around the pool so you can make yourselves comfortable and settle in for the day. The changing rooms are bigger and cleaner too. The best thing about the pool is the temperature: it’s over 30 degrees and the children’s pool, particularly, feels like you’re in a bath, bliss. Greenbank is open from May to September and during the school holidays (from July 20) the pool opens from 12-6:30pm. A word of warning – it does get very busy and you’ll probably need to queue if you want to get in there early, but the queues usually go down pretty quickly and it’s worth it, honestly. Another thing I’d say is that everything is quite spread out so if, like me, you have more than one pre-school aged child in tow, you might want to take reinforcements and go with a friend!
Cost: Adults £5.70, Child (age 2-17) £4.70, under 2s free
Cheddar Woods Resort and Spa, Cheddar
Cheddar Woods is a holiday resort on the far side of Cheddar with an indoor swimming pool that is open to the public. Being a spa destination, the changing rooms feel pretty plush and the pool is lovely and clean. There’s a full-size pool and a children’s pool, adjacent to eachother. The pool is open to the public every day but do check the website for timetables as you’ll need to go for the general swim if you’re taking the family. Once you’ve been for a swim, you could head to the cafe or give the kids a run around in the park (which you can see from the cafe’s veranda).
The Parent Play List 