Avenham park and gardens

We ventured a bit further afield recently when Andy had some time off work and did a bit of exploring in Lancashire at Avenham Park. I used to live in Preston but had never been to this park, I was really surprised by how big and beautiful it was.

Planning your visit to Avenham Park

Avenham Park is at the South end of Preston, and is only an hours drive from Halifax. You can also catch the train, and then the park is a 10-15 walk from the station. There are toilets and a cafe, but there are also lots of lovely picnic spots if you want to pack a lunch and go for the day.

Landscaped gardens by the river

We spent a good while wandering along the riverbank at the bottom of the park – the views are lovely and Olivia enjoyed looking at the water and spotting lots of birds. along the riverside there are also lovely landscaped gardens, a fountain and lots of old steps and terraces to climb on.

Toddler adventure playground

We found a really lovely adventure playground just north of the river, next to the cafe. It was nice and quiet as it was late afternoon, and Olivia loved playing on the climbing rope structure and running round and round the willow tree tunnel.

There is also a Japanese water garden, which kids would love exploring, but unfortunately the water was all off due to the extremely dry weather we have been having. I definitely want to visit again after summer when the water will hopefully be back on.

Avenham Park is a beautiful spot, with lots of hidden places to explore, and several different play areas. It makes a good place for a full day out with kids of all ages, so especially great for the summer holidays!

St Ives Park in Bingley – an awesome adventure playground

We love finding new parks and playgrounds to explore – and especially in the summer holidays. We went along to St Ives to check our their huge adventure playground and had an amazing time.

Planning your trip to St Ives

St Ives park is near Bingley, around half an hours drive from Halifax. There is a huge car park with plenty of spaces, and you can also get buses up there from the centre of Bingley. There’s a lovely little cafe with outside seating, lots of space for picnicking, and an ice cream van next to the play park.

Exploring St Ives estate

You can do some lovely walks around the grounds, and there is lots to see with horses to visit, a lovely lake to walk around, and hidden little gardens to explore. You can easily get a buggy around the main parts, or you can off-road with a carrier  or older legs if you want to explore the nearby moorland and cliffs.

Adventure playground at St Ives

 

The star of the show for Olivia was definitely the adventure playground. It has so much to do for all ages, and she particularly loved the tall wooden castle towers with slides, the climbing walls, the tyre swings and the lovely musical playground area with squeaking planks and a musical tile set you can walk on.

After exploring the park we had ice creams on the grass and found this beautiful carved wooden chair to perch on.

Have you been to St Ives? Which is your favourite bit?

Hebden Bridge park and the Park Life Cafe

I have been meaning to blog about this place for a while now. We LOVE going to Hebden Bridge park, and often have breakfast or lunch in the lovely Park Life Cafe, which has tables outside and suits my little Toddlebeast down to the ground as she can scramble and run around whilst I enjoy a coffee in the sun.

Planning your trip to Hebden Bridge

Hebden can get very busy, especially on weekends or during holidays, as it is a popular destination for tourists. However, I’ve found that if you arrive in the morning, there is always a bit of space in the car park near the train station. There’s a path that goes directly from the car park down into the park, so it is super convenient.

Enjoying the playpark in Hebden Bridge

The playground area is great fun for all ages. There are dedicated climbing frames and swings for younger ones, and a really amazing wooden climbing structure for older ones with a huge tube slide. Can’t wait for Olivia to be old enough to scramble up there! There’s also a pirate ship and a water play area with lots of equipment for pouring and splashing in the summer.

Exploring the garden area in Hebden Bridge

In the bigger bit of the park there is a skate park which is great for older ones, and also an outdoor gym area which toddlers love climbing and jumping around. There’s also a huge field for playing ball games or spreading out for a picnic, and you can easily get onto the canal to spot some boats and ducks too.

Food and drink at the Park Life Cafe

The cafe is in the middle of the park, and has outside seating that looks onto a grass play area with some lovely wooden blocks scattered around for climbing and sitting on. They do brilliant coffee and the food is yummy, with lots of choice and a great range of vegetarian and vegan food too. The staff are very friendly and also very patient and welcoming around young children.

Toddlebeast checks out Wellhome park in Brighouse

With Spring just around the corner we have started checking out some of the local parks we have overlooked in the past. We had never been to Wellhome Park before, but had heard good things about the climbing frames and spacious garden bits. We went along to check it out on a sunny days a couple of weeks ago.

Planning your visit to Wellhome Park

Situated just outside Brighouse centre, the park is easy to get to by bus and also has plenty of on road parking round the edge. We took snacks with us today, but there is a cute looking cafe with an outside seating area which we might try out next time.

Exploring the Wellhome Park playgrounds

The play equipment at the park is brilliant – there is a smaller climbing frame for younger children, which Olivia enjoyed as soon as we got there, with some baby and standard swings right next to it. However, her favourite bit was definitely the area for older children, which has an amazing climbing structure, and lots of unusual touches like rope climbing and trapeze bars.

Walking round the Wellhome Park gardens

As well as brilliant play areas, the park has extensive garden areas you can walk round. There is a river running through the grassy area which was lovely for exploring, and I really liked the huge old tree trunks dotted around – we all enjoyed climbing and jumping off those.

There is also a great area for teaching cycling, with a painted on road, and a couple of little paths leading up into some woodland. We are looking forward to coming back to explore again soon, there is plenty to keep young children occupied over a morning or afternoon.

Exploring Greenhead Park with a toddler

We are making the most of the slightly improved weather this half term by getting out and about to some parks we haven’t been to since last year. Today we went to Greenhead Park in Huddersfield and had a brilliant morning exploring the ponds, trying all the different swings and clambering on the climbing frames.

Planning your visit to Greenhead Park

Greenhead Park is about 5-10 minutes walk from the main bus or train station, and there is plenty of free parking on the road surrounding the park. In the summer we found it got very busy for parking after around 9.30, but we always found a spot and never had to walk far. There are several gates to the park dotted around the edges so you can get in from any side.

Exploring the ponds and feeding the birds

There are two big areas of water in the park, one which is a pond for ducks and water birds, and the other is a paddling pool in summer but gets taken over by the birds in the winter. The cafe at the bottom of the park sells pellets to feed to the ducks and birds, for 20p a bag. We got two bags today as they are pretty small and Olivia really loves feeding them to the birds.

Playing in the main park for younger children

Greenhead Park has a brilliant big play park that is perfect for younger children, There is a climbing frame and swings, but also some really unusual lovely touches like a tunnel with an Astroturf roof to climb, a set of beautiful wooden and metal musical instruments to play, and an awesome big rope climbing structure. Olivia loves it all but especially likes to balance precariously on the grass roof!

Checking out the bigger adventure playground

For the first time since we have been coming here Olivia decided she was big enough for the adventure playground for older children! It was really fun to explore this with her and a great chance for me to trust in her to know her own ability and show me what she felt capable of doing. There is a huge wooden climbing structure with a big tube slide which we went on together, a big round swing which you can climb on and some different style swings which go really high and fast – perfect for this little adrenaline monkey!

Warming up and snacks at Greenhead Park

There are two main cafes at the park, one at the top and one at the bottom. I prefer the one at the bottom, it tends to be quieter, has more space and the food is much nicer. That said, some of the staff are a bit grumpy! We still had a lovely cup of tea there this morning when we wanted to warm up, and the young girl working on the counter was lovely with Olivia, letting her choose and pay for her bird food. We took a picnic for lunchtime and there are lots of benches to choose from around the park.

Have you been to Greenhead Park before? What is your favourite bit to explore? I always love to hear about other parks you love which we should try out.

Manor Heath park in the winter

I don’t know about you but we are really ready to get outside and enjoy some fresh air after the rubbish weather we have had recently! Olivia loves being outside but hates being cold, so we have invested in some awesome warm all in ones and thermal gloves and socks in a bid to make sure we spend more time outside in the run up to spring. One of our favourite outdoor places to go is Manor Heath Park in Halifax, and we went recently on an unexpectedly sunny afternoon.

Planning your visit to Manor Heath Park

The park is easiest to get to by car, but you could get a bus to King Cross and walk down from there in about 5/10 minutes. There is a small car park at the top of the park but also lots of on street parking all the way around. The park is free to get in but the butterfly house is £1 per child.

Exploring Manor Heath Park playground

The play areas are really great, with something for all ages. The main park has a range of climbing frames, slides, baby swings, a big netted swing, a playhouse structure and a roundabout. There are also some lovely touches like some talking/listening tubes which allow children (or grownups!) to talk to each other across the playpark.

Mucking about in the water play at Manor Heath Park

A brilliant feature at Manor Heath is the water play area – in the summer there are buttons to press to make the water flow and then all kinds of troughs and sluices etc to get them children involved in directing, building up and releasing the water in different areas. It really is fascinating and a great way to learn and play at the same time. In the winter though, the water is turned off to avoid ice. Even so, Olivia loves running around and climbing over the troughs, plus what toddler doesn’t love poking a stick around some muddy rainwater for a while?!

Meeting some animals down at Manor Heath Park!

If the winter air gets a bit too fresh after a while and you need to warm up, you can head to the butterfly house for £1 per child. This small tropical conservatory has meandering paths to run along, an amazing array of tropical plants and some fish, terrapins, butterflies and occasionally quails to say hello to. Olivia loves it in here and calls it the ‘turtle house’. It is a lovely way to warm up and explore a different environment.

Are there any particular parks that you enjoy going to in the colder months? Bonus points if they have somewhere indoors to warm up when needed and a place to have a sheltered picnic!