days out with kids Archives - Page 8 of 9

An Autumn Day Out at Marwell Zoo

October 31, 2016

My kids love the zoo and one of our favourites is Marwell Wildlife in Hampshire, just a 45 minutes from home. We haven’t visited for … Read more

My Top 5 places to visit in Birmingham with Kids

September 29, 2016

Birmingham is the largest and most populous British city outside London and is famous for its network of canals, many of which radiate from Sherborne … Read more

Moors Valley Railyway 30th Birthday Gala

February 9, 2022September 23, 2016

Last weekend we were invited to the 30th Birthday Gala for Moors Valley Railway.

It wasn’t until the event that I discovered that its origins went back to 1980 when Jim Haylock set up a miniature railway at Tucktonia Miniature Theme Park in Christchurch – somewhere I have very fond memories of visiting as a child.

The miniature railway then moved to the Old Kings Dairy Farm at Moors Valley five years later and opened to the public on 26th July 1986.

Moors Valley Country Park is somewhere we have visited regularly since my eldest children were small as there is so much to do for all ages and it remains a firm favourite with all the family.

Sebastian is train mad, so every visit we have to take a trip on the railway which is a recreation in miniature of a traditional British Railway complete with stations, locomotives, rolling stock, bridges, tunnel, signal boxes, carriage sheds and engineering workshops – in fact the Moors Valley Railway is the south’s longest, fully signalled narrow gauge 7¹/4 steam railway with the main ride being a mile long.

For the Gala celebrations not only did we get taken on a very special loop of the Moors Valley Railway, but we got to look behind the scenes too.

In its 30th Moors Valley Railway has carried over 3 million passengers, over 100,000 each year. A typical train consists of a barrier wagon, 11 coaches and a guards van and can carry around 65 passengers.

The workshop was fascinating as it is a true main line in miniature and has seen the construction of over 20 steam and two diesel locomotives, many of which were out on display.

Of course the day wasn’t all about the trains as the kids were keen to explore the other things the park has to offer.

Moors Valley is somewhere I always recommend to visitors to Hampshire and Dorset as there is just so much to do with over 1000 acres to explore. There is forest trails (nature, play and story), kids parks, cycle tracks, an 18 hole golf course, fishing, the railway and picnic areas plus Go Ape, the award-winning tree-top adventure course with Tarzan swings, zip wires and Segways to try your hand at.

The Rangers also arrange over 300 special events throughout the year, ranging from nature walks, fishing lessons and off-road cycling to miniature railway events, art and photographic exhibitions and golf coaching. For children at the moment there is the Young Ranger challenge which involves 40 exciting challenges to complete and Joanne from CharlieMoos and her family have been busily ticking them off.

After burning some energy off in the park, we, and the CharlieMoos crew tried our hand at some Go Ape fun. Keep your eyes peeled for a post coming soon ………….

Special events at Moors Valley coming up soon are:

6th November 2016 – Tank Engine Day

10th/11th and 17th/18th December – Santa Specials

All New VertiGO at Drayton Manor

July 12, 2016

Isaac is fast following his Dad and big brothers footsteps in becoming a bit of an adrenalin junkie, so when I told him that we were visiting the new High Ropes attraction at Drayton Manor he was very excited.

We set off from a beautifully sunny Bournemouth on Saturday morning full of excitement about what was to come, until just 15 minutes from Drayton Manor when the heavens literally opened. We feared torrential rain might scupper our plans, but thankfully after waiting the storm out for half an hour or so, the rain stopped and it was time to climb.

VertiGO is situated just down the hill from the theme park’s on-site hotel, and you don’t even need tickets to the park to be able to try it out. From afar the VertiGo High Rope Adventure looks like a giant climbing frame, only one where adults and children can climb safely whilst attached to a special harness. Unlike some high ropes courses there is no clipping on and clipping off making it a seamless experience

After watching a short safety video, those that were climbing were geared up in safety harnesses. Hubby and Isaac were taking the VertiGO challenge whereas Eliza and Sebastian were testing out VertiGO Tots, which allows younger climbers the chance to test their balance and agility on a low-level course. Hubby and Isaac were the first to go.

It is safe to say that Isaac has no fear! There are two levels to VertiGo, a lower and an upper level with various rope challenges and instead of gradually building up to the challenge but doing the lower level first, Isaac was straight up the top. They had 30 minutes to navigate the course at their leisure and they must have tried every single route in that time – no circuit is the same.

The zip wire was the firm favourite of the day though and they headed back to both the high one and low one time and time again.

Whilst the boys raced around the high ropes, it was my job to supervise the little ones on VertiGO Tots. Like Hubby and Isaac they were put in harnesses before being allowed onto the course which puts agility to the test with rope bridges and balance beams. We have done a similar course before at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Eliza was off, zooming around without a care in the world.

In fact Eliza tried to make it more interesting by swinging on the harness which isn’t allowed – I think she would have preferred the bigger course but she didn’t want to do it. Sebastian on the other hand was a little more cautious and demanded I hold his hand as he started off.

The course is designed so that you can pop in and out and help your child as you go by lifting barriers, which is great for more cautious children like Sebby. Once he realised he couldn’t fall, he was off and although not running around like his sister, was happily tackling the rope bridges and walkways. He only lasted about 10 minutes though as he wasn’t keen on wearing the harness.

To do the VertiGo course children must be 1.2m (4ft) or taller to climb without adult supervision and those between 1m and 1.2m must be accompanied by a responsible paying adult and stay within arm’s length at all times. The maximum individual weight for VertiGo is 21 stone (136kg).

For VertiGo Tots children must be aged two and above and no taller than 1.2m (4ft). Participants must have a responsible adult with them.

Entry to VertiGO is not included in the price of an admission ticket to Drayton Manor and I recommend you buy your tickets online before your visit as it costs from £3 for VertiGO tots and from £5 for VertiGO.

It’s easier to go down a hill but the view is much better at the top!!

February 9, 2022October 29, 2015

This week is half term and typically Sebastian has come down with the lurgy so we had to spend two days indoors, which is most unlike us. By Wednesday we were all going a little stir crazy, but as Sebby still wasn’t quite himself we decided that it would be safer to take him somewhere quiet where he could not share his bug.

Badbury Rings is an Iron Age Hill Fort set just up the road from us, just outside Wimborne in east Dorset. The site dates from around 800 BC and was in use until the Roman occupation of 43 AD. It is a site of historical importance, but more importantly for the children it is somewhere where they can run and play and hide and seek to their hearts content.

We arrived just after lunch to an almost empty free car park and set about putting on welly boots as the last couple of days had been very wet. Cue an almighty meltdown from Sebastian who didn’t want to wear his wellies so after a 10 minute stand off I relented and let him wear his shoes and suddenly my happy boy reappeared.

Badbury Rings is a high point in the local landscape and provides excellent views in all directions. Isaac, Eliza and Sebastian enjoyed climbing the fortifications to see what they could see around them.

We headed into the woods at the centre of the fort, but as they were shaded it was quite boggy in places, so we decided that playing on the rings was a much more sensible idea as the ground was much drier.

Sebby brought his binoculars with him so we were playing a game of what we could see. From the rear of Bradbury Rings we spotted Kingston Lacey House and the town of Wimborne. We saw a Buzzard flying high on its search for food and a Chinook helicopter that has been around for days, apparently on a training exercise. Isaac brought his sonic screwdriver along and him and Eliza were playing Doctor and his assistant – even the Tardis dropped in for a visit at one point.

We spent a good hour and a half exploring Badbury Rings, walking up and down the forts and finding mini beasts. Getting fresh air did Sebby the world of good and he seemed much chirpier afterwards and actually ate his dinner which he hasn’t done all week.