Reviews of Days Out - NorthHantsMum

Review 2016: Danebury Hillfort

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 7th September 2016 in Family, Hampshire, Reviews of Days Out 1 Comment

Last weekend we went to Danebury Hillfort for a walk and a picnic with friends.

My family used to walk the dogs at Danebury Hillfort when I was growing up, a loooong time ago, but I didn’t remember the site when we got there.

Danebury Hillfort is about 30 minutes drive from Basingstoke, just past Andover.

About

We had a BRILLIANT time exploring Danebury Hillfort.

It looks like there’s not much there but we had a great time with Miss NHM, running up the hill (her, not us!) and walking around the ramparts.

There’s a lot to see and do:

Miss NHM had fun exploring the wooden bivouac:

The views were absolutely spectacular, even on the cloudy day that we visited:

You can find out more about Danebury at the following link: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/danebury/

Tips

There are Exmoor Ponies roaming around but do not touch or feed them as they are wild ponies.

Take a picnic blanket as there is only one picnic table (used to be more but they’ve disappeared) so if another family is using the table you will either need to walk to the bench at the top of the hill opposite the car park or sit on the floor.

If it’s windy, take a kite as it’s a brilliant place to fly kites.

Food

There is no food available so you need to take your own.

Baby Facilities

Most of the paths looked ok for an off-road buggy but it would probably be better to take a sling with your little ones when walking around the ramparts.

Facilities

There are toilets in the car park at the top of the hill.

There are lots of signs up around Danebury Hillfort, explaining the historical significance of the site:

Parking

When you arrive at Danebury Hillfort, don’t park in the car park at the bottom of the hill. Keep driving up the hill and there is a much larger car park at the top. It also has public toilets.

Prices

FREE!!!

Even the parking is Free!!!

Rating out of 5

We give Danebury Hillfort 5 out of 5 because we LOVED the place.

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe.

Review 2016: Chineham Splash Park

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 9th August 2016 in Basingstoke, Family, NorthHantsMum Community, Outings, Picnic's, Reviews, Reviews of Days Out, Spring, Summer, Swimming, Things to Do 3 Comments

Thank you very much to one of the NHM Writers, Karen, for this fab review!

Thank you also to Michelle for the pictures!

About

Chineham Splash Park is a new, free water activity open between 10:00 and 19:00 until september. It is situated in Chineham park and also boasts a large field with a half pipe and outdoor trail gym.

When we attended we arrived before 10:00 and the park was already filling up with excited children and parents with picnic blankets.

Once 10:00 finally came around someone pressed the activation button and it was only moments before all the shrieking children were soaking wet and running around in the water jets.

Facilities and Food

There has also been a portacabin toilet that was added to the splash park in the past week. However, the park unfortunately lacks any other facilities but the Popley Spotlight centre are happy for people to pop in and use the toilets and they also sell refreshments. Bare in mind that is a 5 minute walk away so if there’s only one adult in your group you’ll probably end up packing away your things.

You might want flipflops or sandals for wet children to wear as well as extra towels or clothes to put on over wet swimming costumes for the trips to the toilets. Don’t forget your swimming costumes, towels and swim nappies as well as sun protection.

The area has several picnic benches but they are unshaded in the morning so bring a picnic rug or blanket and head under the trees.

Parking

There are around 20 parking spaces at the park and others in residential streets a bit further away

Tips

Our top tips are to consider bringing the buggy (or a shopping trolley) to load everything in for trips to the toilet, don’t forget your own potty to avoid a few and arrive early before it fills up.

Older excited children might be a bit daunting for the little ones so bring a towel for yourself so you can encourage them in (and cool off) and a carrier if you have a baby.

If the water isn’t working, don’t leave, the council advise that if its been on constantly for a long time sometimes the reservoir will need 30 minutes to refill.

Rating

We enjoyed the splash park so it scores a 5/5 from the Johnson family.

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter,Google+,Facebook Page, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there!

Review 2016: Beggarwood

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 1st June 2016 in Basingstoke, Outings, Reviews of Days Out, Walks 0 Comment

I’ve been driving past Beggarwood for years and meaning to look in and see what is on offer.

Sue and I went (we met through the “NHM shift parents” group) with our two little ones in November last year and we had a fab time!

Review 2016: Beggarwood

About

I remember when Beggarwood was waste land. It’s not actually that long ago that the area became a housing estate, maybe 10 years ago?

The park itself is HUGE! There’s an awful lot there to see and do, a lot more than I had realised.

It would be a great place to have a picnic in the summer and take a cricket or rounders set to play with the children.

There is a bike and scooter area with ramps to ride on.

The play park is really big and has lots of different equipment which is suitable for children of all ages.

We walked down to the bottom of the park and the children spent AGES in the maze (below).

Sue and I had a lovely chat whilst sat on the bench watching them.

There are also a couple of areas with fitness equipment in, but I forgot to take pictures of those!

Tips

Park in the Co-op car park. We couldn’t work out if there was anywhere else to park!

Also, there is supposed to be an ampitheatre, but we couldn’t find it! lol.

The paths are suitable for bikes and scooters, but be warned that there are some big hills.

Food

We nipped to the Co-op to buy some snacks whilst we were there.

Baby Facilities

The majority of paths are suitable for pushchairs.

Parking

We parked in the free car park for the Co-op and the nursery.

However, if you know of somewhere better to park, please let me know!

Prices

FREE!

Rating out of 5

We had a lovely couple of hours exploring Beggarwood.

Review 2016: Whitchurch Silk Mill

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 26th May 2016 in Reviews of Days Out 0 Comment

The team at Whitchurch Silk Mill very kindly invited me to visit the silk mill to see what was available for families.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I had no idea what the Silk Mill was about.

I went in October last year and would like to apologise to the team for not publishing this post sooner!

About

Whitchurch Silk Mill

Whitchurch Silk Mill is just outside of Whitchurch and about 20 minutes drive from Basingstoke.

It is the oldest silk mill in the UK still in its original building. I had no idea how historic the Silk Mill building was, it’s over 200 years old!

Seeing the silk looms and how they were set up was really good because it gave you a sense of what it must have been like to work with the looms.

I also learnt that silk from the mill has helped to create clothes for some major films, like Back to the Future III and the BBC’s “Tess of the D’Ubervilles!

Carpenters workshop

First I had a look round the Carpenters workshop which was great because there were a couple of exhibits on hand for children to play with, one called “ring my bell engineering” where you had to put the gears and bell together.

If I show that to Miss NHM and Mr NHM (he’s an engineer) I may never get them out of the workshop! lol.

There was also a video which you could choose to play which explained more about the carpenters workshop and had subtitles available if needed.

Outside the Mill

The site on which the Silk Mill rests is absolutely beautiful. The grounds are very well looked after and it’s a wonderful place to wander round.

It’s the perfect place for a picnic, as long as you keep an eye on your toddlers near the edge of the water ;-). (You can avoid the water if you need too, the river is only to one side of the site).

I saw a Heron on the river whilst I was here (It’s at the end of the river in the picture above!)

Outside the Mill there are lovely big wooden tables and chairs that you can use if you don’t want to sit on the ground.

It was very peaceful being next to the river as it’s a very quiet area.

There are lots of duck on the river at the front of the mill and lots of fish in the river.

Silk Mill Process

I had no idea how fascinating the process was. I was given a tour of the mill by Lisa, one of the team at the Silk Mill and she was absolutely lovely and very knowledgeable.

(You don’t need to have a tour as there is enough information throughout the mill which explains the process but it was nice to have special treatment :-D.)

We started on the warping and winding floor which is the start of the process. Lisa showed me how it all worked and I learnt that silk comes from silk worms in China.

The silk has to be swiftly wound onto the bobbins. The picture below shows some of the boxes of bobbins that were available that day.

The oldest hand loom is from the 1830’s.

Reed – someone has to pull through the reeds individually, up too 500!!

Some more things I learnt:

Creel – each bobbin has to go in the order of the pattern.
Warp thread – length ways thread
Warping mill – covered in thread
Beamed off onto a beana in the right orde

Activities for Children

I completely forgot to take a picture of the cute silk moth toys that are set up throughout the mill as a trail that you can follow them around the mill as they explain the process. I thought this was a really cute idea!

We also spent some time in the cafe and I was so impressed to see how much effort the team had made to keep children busy/occupied/out of trouble!

There was a whole area dedicated to children with bean bags, tables, paper, colouring pens and more.

It’s obvious that the team at Whitchurch Silk Mill believe in the importance of children learning about the mill and it’s history in a fun environment.

New “app”

The Mill have an app – you’ll find it in your app store, it is free to download. Just search for Whitchurch Silk Mill.

This was put together by the EDGE Project supported by the Heritage Lottery. You can download it at home or using the Mill’s free wifi.

Tips

No flash photography, for obvious reasons.

They have a lovely shop which is stocked with lots of lovely gifts, so would be perfect to buy that unique gift for a special person.

The shop is open Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holidays from 10.30am to 5pm.

There are activity packs that you can borrow from the shop, the silk worm packs, which have activities for you to do with your children as you walk through the mill.

Each bag has a board to follow around the mill which have lots of different activities to help keep your children busy!

They have a very active community at the mill and there are all sorts of events taking place with lots of events being suitable for children.

Food

There is a cafe (upstairs) and it’s really large for the size of the site and is big enough for school groups.

They have lovely home made cakes, lots of different types of drinks and even a book library!

I was also really impressed to see that sandwiches are made to order on site and the team make a concerted effort to use local products as much as possible, e.g. Jude’s ice cream…YUM!

Facilities

There is a stair lift for those in wheelchairs which has instructions on how to use.

Group tours are available but need to be booked in advance.

There is also an Exhibition space and demo’s from experts of all types use this space.

There are also workshops available if you would like to learn more about weaving at the Mill.

Baby Facilities

The actual mill isn’t very practical for pushchairs, so take your little one in a sling, or carry them around. However, you can park your pushchair at the entrance to the mill under the main stairs if you need to take your pushchair with you. This is a covered area so your pushchair won’t get wet.

There are baby changing facilities in the toilets in the shop.

High chairs are also available in the cafe.

Parking

There is disabled parking right outside the entrance to the mill.

Regular parking is across the little river in the Library car park and is free.

I need to warn you that it isn’t the “best” of car parks and can very full quite quickly, however, there are free car parks in the town which are just a few minutes walk away.

At busy times staff are on hand to help out with parking.

Prices

Adults: £4.50

Children: £2.50

Family tickets are available, for 2 adults and 3 children: £10

The cafe is free to use and so are the grounds.

The Mill is open throughout the year and opening times are Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm. They are closed on Mondays (except Bank Holidays)

Rating out of 5

It was fascinating to walk around and understand how the textile industry used to work.

I had no idea that we had such a historic site that was still in use, so close to my home!

I had a very interesting couple of hours looking round and seeing all that was available.

It’s obvious that the silk mill is a hub for the local community as there are so many local events that take place on the site. I know they also have a lot of brownie, scout and guide groups who visit and I can imagine that the home-schooling community would love the place!

I was also impressed with the amount of technology on site, including the TV screens that you could use to investigate more about the different processes.

What really impressed me the most about the Silk Mill was the little details. There has clearly been a LOT of thought that has gone into keeping children and their parents engaged whilst educating them at the same time.

I actually can’t wait to take Mr NHM and Miss NHM along to see the mill as I think they will both really enjoy it.

I know I did! :-D.

Disclaimer: This post is a review of Whitchurch Silk Mill. My tour of the site was supplied free of charge for the purposes of the review. I was not expected to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.

Review 2016: Museum of Army Flying

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 18th May 2016 in Reviews of Days Out 0 Comment

I’ve been wanting to go to the Museum of Army Flying for ages so when Karen asked me if she could send me her review of the museum, I jumped at the chance!

I’m definitely adding this to our list of things to do this year after reading Karen’s review! Thank you Karen! 😀

Review 2016: Museum of Army Flying

Museum of Army Flying

If you’re reading this then you are most likely a parent. In which case it’s quite likely that you have put ‘rainy day out in Hampshire’ into a search engine. I did that this Easter holiday, which is how I found out about the Museum of Army Flying.

It’s about 40 mins drive from Basingstoke, just past Andover on the A303. I had no idea what to expect, and didn’t know how long it would entertain my 18 month old and 5 year old.

About

We got there and you could see the army airfield next door. We watched a small aircraft take off and fly quite low around us.

The reception staff were helpful and explained all of the activities that would be suitable for small children. They had a variety of quizzes for different age groups similair to Milestones.

We chose to keep it simple, and look for the 6 pilot teddy bears hidden around the museum.

As it was school holidays, they had some aeroplane themed craft activities on offer in the middle of the day. These were staffed by a very helpful young lady who took lots of time to help my 5 year old make a glider, whilst my 18 month old enjoyed running up and down and colouring in Aeroplane pictures with crayons.

There was a small ball pit and some other connecting tube style toys in a playroom which kept both occupied for quite a while, they had a few books and a box of lego too.

A welcome sight was the padded chairs for grown ups and the room being quite enclosed, which made it easier to relax knowing that the youngest was less likely to be able to do a runner.

As for the actual museum, it was vast. There were two large aeroplane hangers full of examples of helicopters, gliders and aeroplanes from the military throughout their flying history – right up to a bit about Iraq and Afghanistan.

There were examples of uniforms, videos to watch, a mock up of a 1940s house where my 5 year old was interested to hear about food rationing.

In the far corner of the museum was an old helicopter that the children can climb into. There was a rack of dressing up clothes for any aspiring pint sized pilots and some big piece helicopter jigsaws placed on a low hight table with smaller chairs.

There were also a few military themed shooting games dotted around. Aimed at older children and adults, these cost £1 per go.

Food

The Café was upstairs (there is a lift for pushchairs) and is open to the public as it is accessible without entering the museum.

There was a childrens’ menu, but it only had hot food, so my children shared a ham sandwich and a packet of crisps.

I had a bacon and brie pannini, we also ordered two soft drinks. This came to about £9.

There were plenty of high chairs.

The café had big windows overlooking the airfield, but we didn’t see many aircraft. I don’t know if that was due to the rainy day, or just their schedules, but it would have been a great view had the air strip been busy.

The café seemed well used by passers by, and there was a whole table of police and then a group of paramedics came in – which was a talking point with the children over lunch!

The teddy bears were actually quite challenging to find around the museum, but 5 year old was keen to put her year R writing skills to use.

This gave me the opportunity to chat to a few other parents about their location, which broke up the day of just talking to small people.

5 year old handed in the quiz at the end and was allowed to choose a glider or an aeroplane colouring book as her prize.

Facilities

There are benches at the edge of the car park if you want to watch the aircraft outside for a while.

The Museum is over two floors and there is a lift.

There was a wheelchair user at the museum at the same time as us, she appeared to access all of the museum without difficulty.

Disabled toilet was big enough to fit 2 children, 1 adult and a buggy at the same time.

Baby Facilities

Ample amount of high chairs in the café.

Acessible toilets include a baby change unit – which had a mat on and some nappy bags to use.

Parking

Parking is free and right outside the museum.

Prices

Tickets were a little more expensive than advertised on their website – £12 adult and £7 for children 5 and over.

I was asked if I could gift aid this, and in return they made my ticket an annual pass.

Rating out of 5

We arrived at about 11am and left shortly before 4.30pm.

The whole place really captured my 5 year olds’ interest – although I wasn’t really prepared for so many questions about WW2, and explaining conflict in Europe.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the whole day was.

The variety of activities, interpsersed with the play area and the opportunity to sit down made the day a very manageable and pleasant one.

Totally worth the entrance fee, and unusually quiet for such a great place in my opinion. We give the museum five out of five!

We will be making the most of our anuual pass and making a further visit this year!

Review 2015: Bucklebury Farm Park

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 3rd July 2015 in Reviews of Days Out 1 Comment

Thank you very much to today’s “NHM Secret Reviewer” who has done a great job below!

Review: Bucklebury Farm Park

Review of Bucklebury Farm Park, Bucklebury, Reading, RG7 6RR

Bucklebury Farm Park is a lovely farm and play park in the village of Bucklebury.

It has a Deer Park, Farm Animals, Indoor Play, Pedal Go Kart track, Tractor rides, Woody’s Cafe & Tea Room, Outdoor refreshments, Adventure Playground, The Wild Walk, Be A Farmer Club, Den Building.

Outdoor Play

There is a lovely wood chipped outdoor children’s play area at the bottom of the main field. It has a large wooden fort, lots of wooden structures such as a fire engine & train for children to climb & play in, some old tractors plus the usual swings etc. There is also a smaller play area for younger babies & toddlers.

In the main field there is a zip wire suitable for older children, some wooden agility structures and a playhouse. There is a large bouncing pillow (although it wasn’t open when we went) along with a go kart track & a trike track.

The Go Karts are only really suitable for older children (& adults) unless you prop your child in front of you & have a go.

The trike track is good fun for younger children and my 4 year old was very happy pedalling his younger sister (2.5yrs old) around on the back of the trike.

Indoor Play

Just inside the main entrance there is a large indoor play area with wavy slides & drop slides. When the rain came our little ones had great fun for a further hour or so, going up & down the slides repeatedly. The wave slides had woven mats that you had to sit on to go down the slide which they both loved.

Our eldest did have a look at the drop slide but decided not to go down when he got to the top…personally I don’t blame him as I wouldn’t go down it myself even now (yes I am a big scaredy cat) however there were other children of a similar age who did (& some parents too!).

There is also a double decker bus in the main field which is kitted out as a soft play area. Again my little ones both loved this and were the perfect age for it.

Every time we went to another part of the park they kept asking to go back on the bus and would run to it whenever we went past. I can imagine it gets very busy but there weren’t many people in the park the day we went as the weather had been particularly bad.

Animal Petting

There is a small animal petting area called Bob’s Barn which holds animal petting sessions at various times throughout the day (you can find out when these are on the board in reception). The children got to hold Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, a Chicken & a Tortoise. The staff were very friendly and helpful with young children and they really enjoyed holding the Guinea Pigs.

Tractor Rides

The tractor ride was really enjoyable and lasted about half an hour. You got onto the tractor trailer just past the adventure playground and were then taken on a trip up and around the Deer Park stopping midway to feed the Deer. The driver was very knowledgeable about the different types of deer and came round everyone to see if they had any questions. Each side of the tractor was given a large bucket of food to feed to the Deer which both my little ones loved doing. Best of all the tractor ride is included in your admission price!

Walks

There is a nature trail and the Wild Walk both of which take you through wooded areas with the chance of seeing Deer. The Wild Walk has a picnic area and a tower you can climb that looks onto the Deer park. We didn’t do these walks as our children were worn out from running around the play area and walking around the park and we hadn’t taken the pushchair in for our youngest so she’d already walked quite a long way over the course of the day.

Refreshments

Woody’s Café & Tea rooms is open 8.30am -5pm. We didn’t visit the café as we were at a party so had food & drinks provided but I poked my head in and the café looked lovely & charming.

I have heard from many people that the food is exceptionally good and that they make the trip to the café even when not visiting the park (it is open to both visitors & non-visitors). All the food is homemade and freshly prepared from locally sourced ingredients.

There is also the Little Green Food Wagon just outside the indoor play area which sold snacks such as bacon rolls at reasonable prices.

Picnic Areas

Of course the cheapest option is to take your own picnic and there was an abundance of outside space to enjoy a picnic if the weather is kind. There were also plenty of picnic tables around the park. There is a sheltered picnic area which can be used if it hasn’t been booked for a party. Filled children’s lunchboxes are available from the kiosk for £4.50 and you can also book a hamper in advance.

Toilets & Baby Changing Facilities

The toilet building is rustic but clean & adequate. I didn’t see any separate baby changing facilities however there was a large worktop surface in the ladies perfect for changing babies, just make sure you have your own changing mat with you. I didn’t spot the disabled toilet so unsure if these had proper baby changing facilities in.

Opening hours, Prices & Parking

The farm park and Woody’s Cafe are open daily for the 2015 season from Sunday 1st February until Wednesday 23rd December…Opening hours from early spring to late autumn are 9.30am until 6:00pm (last admission 5:00pm) and during November and December (until 23rd) between 9.30am-5pm.

Woody’s Cafe is open daily from 1st February to 23rd December from 8.30am-5pm (last orders 4.30pm).

Admission is pretty expensive in my opinion, as seems to be the case for all of these kind of attractions, however if you are going as a family of four then the family ticket is more reasonable.

Admission for 2015:

· Adults – £9.45

· Children & Seniors – £8.45

· Children under 2 years – FREE

· Family Tickets (2 Adults and 2 Children) – £32.50

· Disabled – £7

· Carer accompanying disabled visitor – £7

There is plenty of free parking onsite.

Summary

This is a really lovely place to visit for a day out. There were plenty of activities to keep our little ones entertained despite the weather not being the best & we would definitely visit again.

Rating

4.5 out of 5 – Only due to the price & the fact I felt it could do with some additional toilet facilities.

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum on Twitter,Google+,Facebook Page, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there!

Review 2015: Frensham Common

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 9th June 2015 in Reviews of Days Out 1 Comment

Yay! It’s the first secret review of the year on NorthHantsMum.

Thank you very much to one of our secret reviewers who has done a fantastic job reviewing Frensham Common below!

Review 2015: Frensham Common

We visited Frensham Common near Farnham last Sunday with myself, the husband and the monkey. A really great childhood memory for me was a family day out here in the sand so I was excited to take my Son. There is Frensham Great pond and Frensham Little pond and this review is on the Great Pond.

The reason for choosing to visit Frensham is that the Monkey wanted to go the beach but quite frankly we didn’t have time for an hour in the car each way as I needed to be at home doing boring stuff to “reset” the house before starting off our working week again. Frensham was the best compromise with the beach area on the shore of the lake plus I owed NHM a review on this :-).

It’s only about 30 minutes’ drive from Basingstoke. You drive through the main Farnham high street area and out the back.

When we drove into the car park there were plenty of spaces in a wooded area. If you park at the front of the car park you have a good view of the lake.

If you are visiting here you need to pack for a beach visit with swim suits for the kids, towels, spare clothes, toys, picnic, wind breaker etc. We’d brought along a bucket and spade so our Monkey could dig happily in the sand and if he is happy we are happy.

On the shore of the lake it’s ideal for sand castle building as the sand was quite damp so moulded nicely plus we could build a good moat. We stayed on the larger beach area for most of our visit, on the smaller beach area on the same stretch we noticed a white froth on the lake shore when we went on our walk and nobody was using this area at all.

What we liked here was the family feel. There were lots of families sitting on picnic rugs having their lunch with the kids running backwards and forwards to the water.

If you haven’t brought your picnic along there was a kiosk that sold everything you would need including bucket, spades and balls.

There were no whippy ice creams but there were soft scoop ice creams at £1.60 each and lollies.

Lattes available as well as plenty of hot food choices all cooked to order plus picnic tables to sit at. We only tried out a portion of chips which were good chunky ones.

We did go on a walk eventually when we could prise our monkey away from the beach. There are 7 miles of footpaths for walkers in the area.

Unfortunately we only had time for a short walk but the countryside was really pretty and we’d like to try it again.

Baby changing & toilets

When we were outside the toilets they didn’t smell very nice but when inside they smelt ok. There was 1 flap down baby changer unit in the wash basin areas of both the Ladies and the Gents.

Buggy access

Only certain areas are suitable for buggies and your buggy would need to have good suspension to do some of the walks on offer.

Play area

There was no play area with swings, slides etc. We think they could easily fit this in as it looks like they have the space to do this.

Car parking

There is a car park charge at weekends and bank holidays of £4 per car. This only applies between Easter and the end of September. National Trust members and blue badge holders are free to park at all times. In peak Summer months expect the car park to be full by noon. You can’t park on the country lane outside due to access for emergency vehicles.

Getting there

The post code for your sat nav is GU10 2QB. The post code sends you to a lane and not necessarily the car park so they advise you to look at a map before you set off.

All in all it worked out as a cheap day out for us.

We have visited in off peak and it wasn’t busy at all but I’ve heard this place is heaving in the Summer months so visit soon if you want to give it a try.

You can download a visitors leaflet on the area at: https://www.waverley.gov.uk/news/article/354/advice_for_visitors_to_frensham_great_pond_and_common

If you want to find out more about Frensham Little Pond visit http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/frensham-little-pond/

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there!

Review 2015: Centreparc’s – Sherwood Forest

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 4th June 2015 in Reviews of Days Out, Travel 1 Comment

We went to Centreparc’s at Sherwood Forest in March of this year and I made a couple of notes about things to remember in case we are lucky enough to go again.

They might be useful to you and, after a NHM Reader contacted me asking me if I had any recommendations after our holiday at Centreparc’s, I thought I would add them as a post.

Several of these notes will also be relevant to other Centreparc’s in the UK.

Review 2015: Centreparc’s – Sherwood Forest

Arrive for 2pm. You have to queue for 30mins on the drive into the site anyway. They open the barrier at 2.30pm ish, so you can get into your apartment early. However, you can arrive from 10am, so if you can get there earlier and don’t mind leaving your things in the car, then this could also be a good plan.
Go swimming as soon as you arrive. Don’t even unpack. Just dump your stuff in your accommodation, park the car in the car park and go swimming. It’s the quietest it will be during your stay.
Dining in is free delivery on Mon and Fri. £2.75 delivery for the rest of the week.
We took our slow cooker with us. Great to come home, after a busy day, to a cheap, cooked meal with limited effort in the morning.
The Pancake house gets packed so get there before 11.30am or after 1pm
Most restaurants are heaving from 11.30am to 1pm and you have to wait at least half an hour. You couldn’t reserve tables when we went because people were reserving them and then not turning up. All literature says you can reserve, so check when you get there.
Scooter – very handy but bring a lock for it.
Don’t over book yourselves like we did (something every morning and afternoon. You need some time to relax!)
Pottery was wicked and we have something to keep as a memory but it’s really early in the morning!!! Plus quite expensive. Was worth it though as it was a lovely family activity to do together.
Need £1 for swimming lockers which you get back. We had a locker each, with coats, bags and shoes.
Twlight spa was awesome. We organised babysitting through Centreparcs at £6.50 an hour. Miss NHM loved the girl who came to sit for her.
Geo caching was a brilliant way to explore the site. It takes two hours and is 5k though. All on road so you can use the pushchair.
Very set up for children. Every restaurant on site has a microwave for heating food, a soft play area and parent/ toddler and baby changing rooms. The staff are very used to dealing with families with young children.

Review 2015: Sir Harald Hillier Gardens

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 17th February 2015 in Reviews of Days Out

Sir Harald Hillier Gardens, Romsey nr Southampton

Review 2015: Sir Harald Hillier Gardens

The first time I went to Sir Harald Hillier Gardens was when Miss NHM was 4 months old.

It was so fab but I didn’t get to really experience it because Miss NHM was too young.

However, we went back in October 2014 to meet up with friends and had a fantastic day. Miss NHM was three and a half when we visited so she loved all the different areas that we visited.

Unfortunately the weather was appalling that day, it rained for most of the time we were there, but that meant it was really quiet and we still had a brilliant time.

You are probably aware that I’ve been championing the “Save the Culture All Passport“. This was one of the places that you could visit under the scheme. I really hope they don’t lose out on families visiting because they can no longer afford to visit.

Play

The Gardens are HUGE! There are so many different areas to explore. I’m just going to post the pictures up and you can see all of the different areas to visit.

You can’t really tell from the rubbish picture, but this is a maze made out of bamboo. It even had a seat in the middle. We had much fun playing in the maze!

This is a stream that Miss NHM wanted to go paddling in. It was a cold October day. She wasn’t impressed when we said no! lol.

As you walk to the end of the garden there is a long ramp and you walk past a waterfall. Lovely part of the gardens

This is the restaurant at the other end of the gardens from the entrance. Unfortunately the restaurant is closed in winter but it’s open in summer.

As you can see, there are lots of picnic benches outside the restaurant.

My favourite tree in the gardens :-D.

You can just see the tree art in the picture below. Miss NHM was fascinated with this!

This is the children’s area. There are different sensory areas. The picture below shows the ponds which had different types of pond life in.

Miss NHM enjoyed standing on top of these. I wasn’t sure that was what she was supposed to be doing!!!

This is the education centre, where the indoor activities take place. It’s next to the entrance.

This is a picture of the restaurant. As you can see there is also outside seating for summer days.

The views were spectacular.

There are lots of sculptures dotted around the gardens. We loved this one, near the entrance.

The treehouse is by far my favourite place in the Gardens.

Tips

Take welly’s on a rainy day as it can get very muddy. We recommend an umbrella too.

Harald Hillier Gardens has lots and lots of activities for children so we recommend checking the website out before you go, to see what activities are on.

Dogs are not allowed in the gardens.

Food

I’m just going to let the pictures do the talking 😀

The food was excellent and really good value for money.

I was very impressed with the children’s meal which had some nice healthy options available and a free seed tray. Wow, I sound old! lol.

Facilities

There are toilets at the main entrance, the main restaurant and at the other end of the gardens.

There are covered places near the main restaurant to park pushchairs and wheelchairs.

Baby Facilities

There were baby changing facilities in each of the separate toilets.

Parking

Is free and there is lots of it.

Prices

Under 17s Free (must be accompanied by an adult)
Adult £9.30*
Concession £8.40* (Seniors, job seekers, full-time students and people with disabilities)
Groups (10+) £7.50 per person
Guided Tours £60 standard

*Become a Gift Aid Visitor. Admission includes a voluntary donation to enable us to conserve, develop and exhibit our world renowned Gardens and plant collection. Standard entry prices Adults £8.45, Concessions £7.60

You can also become a member of the gardens, which looks very reasonably priced if you plan to visit lots: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hilliergardens/hilliers-membership.htm

Open

April–October 10am–6pm (last entry 5pm)
November–March 10am–5pm (last entry 4pm)
Open all year (except Christmas and Boxing Day)

Rating out of 5

We’ve given them 5 out of 5 as we love the gardens and if we lived closer we would be visiting all the time.

Review 2014: The Natural History Museum

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 22nd January 2015 in Reviews of Days Out, Things to Do 0 Comment

Natural History Museum, London

Review: Natural History Museum

We went to the Natural History museum last year in August, during the school holidays.

It’s been one of the places I’ve wanted to take Miss NHM for a while, but we were waiting until she was big enough so we didn’t have to take a pushchair on the underground.

We drove up to Richmond and parked in DeerPark car park (only £8 for the whole day) and caught the train into Waterloo. We then navigated the Tube with Miss NHM across to Kensington. The tube was a bit of a challenge, even with two adults. I have no idea how people navigate London and the tube with more than one child!

We had a brilliant time, but it was quite a gruelling day. I wouldn’t recommend taking two or more children on your own. You definitely need at least a “one adult to one child” ratio!

Play

As we went during the school holidays it was MANIC. We had to queue for 20 minutes just to get into the building. Luckily it was lovely weather and people seemed to be in a fairly good mood.

The reason for the queue was because you have to have your bags scanned and checked. Once your belongings have been checked over, you walk into the main lobby. It was crushed with people. As it’s free entry, LOTS of people visit during the school holidays. The picture doesn’t really do it justice as to how busy it was.

There weren’t as many skeleton exhibitions in the main lobby as there used to be. Also, there seems to be a lot more cafe’s inside.

I’ve noticed that our culture is becoming a lot like the US (I’ve spent over 10 years living and working in the US, so understand their culture well) where everything seems to revolve around food these days.

We walked up to the stairs to the top of the Natural History museum, up to the great Secoya tree.

If you have vertigo, I recommend not standing near the edge when you get to the top! lol. We spent a lot of time in the mineral and rocks room, not least because it was quiet and fairly empty.

It was pretty cool seeing the diamonds in the vault and Miss NHM loved looking at the different gems.

We then caught the lift down to the bottom of the museum so we could find the blue whale. I wanted Miss NHM to see the blue whale whilst she is still young.

However, she REALLY didn’t like this area. She freaked at the stuffed animals and couldn’t wait to get out of this section.

She has mentioned the blue whale many times since though, so he/she clearly had an impact!

I couldn’t get a better picture unfortunately because I only had my iphone on me and there were so many people it was difficult to get a good shot without people in it!

We then stumbled into the “Human body” section. I remember when this was a brand new exhibition and the highlight of coming to the Natural History Museum. It was a bit depressing to see how dated and run down it was. Clearly I am really old! lol.

We avoided the Dinosaur section because I knew if we saw T-rex Miss NHM would probably have fainted. However, we went to have a look at the exhibition near the Dinosaurs. The TV screens were amazing:

After an hour and a half, Miss NHM had had enough, so we had to leave.

Miss NHM was three and a half when we took her along. I thought she would be the perfect age, but it was a bit too much for her.

Tips

Take a picnic. Food is expensive. If you stand with your back to the front entrance there is a very quiet grassy area to the left with seats that not many people sit in.

There is also a wildlife garden in the corner but Miss NHM had had enough by this point so we didn’t get a chance to check it out.

The other side grassy area, near the Science museum was packed, so it was nice to find a bit of peace and quiet.

The earlier you can get to the museum the better. The afternoons are the busiest.

Don’t take anything with you that might set off an aeroplane scanner.

Food

There are lots of restaurants and cafe’s throughout the museum but they were London prices. Recommend taking a picnic.

Facilities

Were excellent considering how busy it was.

The toilets were confusing though. Very arty but could not work out how to get in! lol.

Baby Facilities

Mr NHM said they were in good condition.

Parking

No idea as it’s central London so we always use public transport.

Prices

FREE!!!! Although you obviously have to pay for transport into London.

Rating out of 5

4.6 out of 5. I was a bit disappointed at the exhibits that were on offer, it was just too busy and you had to queue for ages to get in.

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there!