We have only ever been to Stockeld Park at Christmas, so were pleased to be able to go during their Summer Adventure. We have been missing out, it was fabulous!
Skating
There is so much do! We started off with roller skating (this changes to ice skating in the winter). It’s a large rink and helmets, elbow and knee pads are included. The roller skating was so popular with my two that we skated again after lunch and then once more before we went home. What’s nice about it being included in the price is that you can return again and again. More importantly if you have unsure little ones it does not matter if they refuse once at the rink side. (Because I have been there before trying to cajole them into taking part in something they desperately wanted to do BEFORE you’d paid. Then desperately NOT wanting to do it AFTER when you can’t get your money back!)
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Yew Tree Maze
We then headed over to the Yew Tree Maze. This is a hedge maze built in a hexagonal shape. As a child I loved mazes but the few that I found myself in were so easy to find your way out of, they were barely worth doing. The Maze at Stockeld Park however is a proper maze and you can get lost. This would have been the most exciting thing ever for me when a child. As an adult…hmm, not so much it turns out!
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The thing that I loved most about the Maze, and about Stockeld Park as a whole is the quirky bits. Voices talking to you from the hedge, or random statues that the children like to sit on. There are musical instruments in the maze and two, yes, two TARDIS. Sadly they were not bigger on the inside, but you could stand in one and talk to your husband in the other. Particularly useful if your husband is annoying as you would be unlikely ever to find him again afterwards.
Ooh, and at Halloween and Christmas they light the maze up with a thousand twinkly lights. I am a huge unadulterated fairy light fan so that’s guaranteed my return trip!
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Extras
Everything is included except two ‘pay extra’ items. You need to pay extra for the electric scooters, and the Buccaneer Boats. The scooters are £5 each and are like mini Segways. The boats are £6 per boat. The scooters looked great fun it has to be said.
Inflatables and Go Karts
There is an outdoor inflatables area with a giant bouncy pillow and an enormous bouncy slide that my children adored. Shouts of ‘CANNONBALL!’ abounded as Master T hurled himself down it with no care for his poor mother’s nerves!
Just near the inflatables is a go kart track, again very popular with my terrible twosome. You can go on as a single rider or as a duo, so nice for littler ones too as they can have a grown up with them.
Enchanted Forest
The activity you need to plan the most time for is the Enchanted Forest. It starts innocuously enough with a gate very like the one to the Maze, but is in reality half the park with lots to see and do. You follow the walk around and come to the first in a series of playground areas. There are several themed play areas with climbing frames, slides and swings.
The new Spider’s Lair area just opened the weekend we visited and was excellently thought out. It has rope walkways and bridges between towers to scurry along. The crowning glory as far as my children were concerned though was the dual zip line. They love zip lines anyway, but to have one where you can race against your sibling, oh, magnificent.
What is there to eat?
There is a Woodland Café with lots of seating and nice private booths. Check out the antler chandeliers, I loved those!
The café offers adult and children’s meals, fish and chips, sausage and chips that sort of thing. If I was returning I think I would take a picnic and save my pennies for the impressive looking cakes on the cake stand. Within the café there is an indoor play area with a bouncy pillow and a bouncy castle as well as imaginative play for the little ones and table football.
We had an absolutely lovely day at Stockeld Park, it’s one not to be missed over the Summer Holidays.
Summer Prices 2016
• Entry Price: £13 per person
• Family Ticket: £46 for a family of 4
Family tickets give entry to 2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children.
• Under 2s & Car Parking: Free of charge
Stockeld Park kindly invited us to visit to review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.
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