BeWILDerwood

In an age where nothing less than a Ben 10 cartoon will grab the attention of children it's quite refreshing to visit to a self titled "adventure park" getting them excited instead. That's not to say that BeWILDerwood (that's going to get so boring to write soon) didn't have its fair share of merchandise, because it did. But it was good clean fun too, and seemed to make that more of a priority than any kind of moneyspinning activity.



The main activity on offer were a bunch of kid-friendly tree-set mini obstacle courses - so slides, rope swings and bridges, monkey bars, zip slides and the like. Also available were arts and crafts, den building, live and interactive story telling and a group dance session - there was even a day long competition where spotting six differently coloured boots would win you a badge (not that anyone checked the answers at the end).

But the real genius of the place wasn't how accessible and fun it was for the kids, but how adults were encouraged to participate too. None of the courses were "too small" for grown ups (and were even scary enough for some), and all were encouraged to get involved with the other activities too; I even got my own badge. In short, we got just as much value bringing the kids to BeWILDerwood as they did being brought there and the place was well worth the tenner or so entry.

I would say BeWILDerwood is definitely a hidden gem and well worth seeking out if you ever happen to be in the area with children.