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!