Timber is a brand new festival, which took place in the National Forest in Derbyshire on July 6-8th. I won a family ticket with Forest Holidays and the sun was shining so we just couldn’t say no!
Campsite
We arrived Friday about 7pm – the campsite was just a 5 minute walk from the car park. Luckily it was downhill.
There were proper loos and clean showers – woohoo!!
It was really more like a cool campsite than a festival campsite!
What else did we love?
The giant moon….
The vibe…
There was a really chilled out, relaxed feel to the whole weekend. As the site was fairly small in size you could wander and amble along and just see what was happening. We didn’t get a programme so there was no rush to see anything.
Activities…
The boys had fun challenging themselves on the climbing wall.
Swinging in the trees….
This is a Skypod – a bed that hangs in the trees! It was actually someone’s bed that they let us have a go in. It was pretty close to the ground but could be hoisted up to swing high in the trees. I want one!
Food…
The food available was incredible but I don’t seem to have any photos of it – I guess because it was eaten so quickly! There were good choices and quality and I loved how everything had been considered with sustainability in mind with no plastic packaging where it could be avoided.
Music and stories around the campfire…
On Saturday night we had a lovely evening chilling out around the campfire.
Forest education…
I had heard about the book Lost Words before because I had used in in a Forest Schools supply teaching assignment I had been on. Here poems and images from the book were integrated into the forest environment. I also caught the author speaking in one of the tents which was interesting. I do love the magpie image – this was one the kids in my class had a go at recreating.
Lots of other things we loved include the human beat box guy (A-Mazing!), rolling down the hill and I joined Greenpeace! There were also wood fired hot tubs which I definitely want to try next year!
Tickets for Timber 2019 are now available at the super early bird price. Don’t miss out it was a brilliant festival for all the family!
Check our Wanderustfamily’s blog post all about Timber festival. So pleased to hear they also had a brilliant time!
Go Ape at Thetford Forest is the home to the original Go Ape and we were invited to try out their Tree Top Juniors course, which is aimed at children aged 6-12 years (children aged 4 or 5 can join in as long as they are accompanied by an adult).
Now the boys have done the course at our local Forestry Commission site, Sherwood Pines, quite a few times. The first time when Noah was just 4!
The Juniors course consists of rope crossings, obstacles and canopy exploring!
There is one big loop that you can choose to go on some paths that are trickier than others which is great for buildng confidence.
The route ends with the zip slide – woohoo!
For a price of £18 children are equipped with all the gear and sent off the have fun in the trees for up to an hour. This usually gives them enough time to go around the course at least once. We managed to go around twice.
The instructors are all very helpful and friendly. The children are strapped to a harness that even if they were to slip would hold them safe.
It was a great way to spend an hour amongst the beautiful forests.
Next time I get the feeling we will be coerced into the “big” one which us adults have done once before and are still recovering from! Once children are ten years old they can go on the Tree Top Adventure with an adult. Argh!!
On New Year’s Day we visited the beautiful Sherwood Pines to fill our lungs with fresh air and burn off the festive indulgence. Here is what we got up to..
Lots of rain equals lots of puddles!
Climbing and getting adventuourous..
Testing out the new bike he got for his birthday.. there some brilliant bike tracks!
A good pair of boots are essential with all the muddy weather. You want something that will keep their feet nice and dry (and hence warm!) as well as look good.
These boots from Brantano wellies selection fit the bill and are really easy to clean (as well as wear). At only £22 they are on our wish list for this winter!
As a Center Parcs family blogger we were invited to try a weekend at one of their parks. We have been to Sherwood Forest a couple of times before (if only for the divine Aqua Sana!) and knew without doubt this was the one we wanted to revisit. It is only around 30 minutes from us but feels like a million miles away.
We love an inset (or insect as our 5yo calls them) day and having two together with a weekend sandwiched in the middle, in glorious June was a treat too good to miss. Isn’t it great when the stars collide like this and things just fall into place!?
Forests are a magical place and there is certainly something in the air at Sherwood Forest that just makes you feel so relaxed you can literally hear your muscles breathe a sigh of relief and your cares and stresses float away. I just love it!
Our accommodation was in a three bedroomed Woodland Lodge situated on the edge of the park. Previously when we have visited we have been closer to the water and had incredibly tame ducks and geese visiting us so it was a lovely change to have more of a woodland position with squirrel and rabbit visitors! One friendly squirrel even took a little visit into our open patio doors. I hasten to add this was when the kids were out (it kept a safe distance until things were a little quieter without them!).
The lodge itself was stylish, comfortable and practical. We had one double and two twin bedrooms with wardrobe storage space and very comfortable beds. There was one bathroom with shower and a fully equipped kitchen including dishwasher and microwave. We particularly loved the huge chalk board in the living area and the relaxing corner sofa in the lounge area.
Obviously a holiday at Center Parcs isn’t just about chilling out in the lodge. There are stacks of activities to try and places to explore. It is the perfect place to try out something you have never done before and have some fun as a family away from the day to day distractions.
Outside of the changeover days (Friday and Monday) cars must be parked in the main car park and are permitted from driving around the park making it a safe place to ride bikes and walk around without the noise and rush of every day life. This has to be one of my favourite things about Center Parcs!
We don’t often go on family bike rides so our Center Parcs break provided the perfect opportunity to try out this “first”. I have to say it was brilliant and we loved zipping about on the bikes. The boys were very security conscious and loved locking up their “wheels”.
You can see from our video at the top of this blog post we had a brilliant time trying out some of the activities! There are so many to choose from and when the boys are a bit older we will have even more choice!
Junior Quad Bikes – this is for 6-11 year olds and offers a fully supervised opportunity to fulfil any dreams of riding a real quad bike. Perfect for an adventure loving child!
Segways – these are suitable for 12+ and great fun. It is surprisingly easy to get the hang of the technique and a lovely way to explore the park.
Aqua jet skis – these took place in a separate pool away from the main Swimming Paradise and are aimed at 3-7 year olds. Great fun and thoroughly recommended for any water baby!
Climbing Wall – this 20ft indoor wall was located in the sports hall. I can’t help singing “Spiderman, Spiderman does whatever a spider can..” when I watch it.
As well as the activities that are available Center Parcs have some brilliant adventure parks for children of all ages. They are largely made from natural materials and so fit in with the ambience and are a great place to hang out.
Yet another highlight of our holiday was a family meal (along with my sister and niece!) to Rajinda Pradesh, the delicious Indian Restaurant in the village.
The boys do enjoy Indian food that I cook but it is clearly not in the same league as that from a restaurant. Rajinda Pradesh offer a kids banquet consisting of starter of onion bahji or chicken tikka, a main of korma or tikka massala with rice and naan bread and dessert. It was the perfect introduction to restaurant food for little ones. They loved it!
The adults too had a delicious meal (with cocktails!) and it was a brilliant way to unwind and have family fun without the washing up afterwards! I particuarly enjoyed my deconstructed lemon meringue pie. Yummy!
To top off an amazing family weekend Noah won a sweetie hamper from the Treats shops for a colouring competition – well done Noah!
Thank you so much to Lizzie at Center Parcs, all the Shiny Red Team and Tots 100 for giving us this awesome opportunity to have a fabulous weekend.
Disclosure: We were chosen as Center Parcs Family Bloggers. If you would like to join the team, click here for more details of the monthly challenges.
This year The Gruffalo celebrates the 15th birthday. The Classic children’s bedtime story hero is a tweenager!
From Friday 15 April (which falls in the Easter holidays for most of us) the Forestry Commission is running Gruffalo activity trails through until September. You can join mouse, owl, fox and snake in hunting out the fearsome Gruffalo. More details can be found here and I would throughly recommend signing up to keep posted about all the news and events that are happening, especially if you have children who are big fans.
Of course The Gruff (as we like to call him) isn’t the first Julia Donaldson character to have their own trail in the forest, Stickman was seen there last December. The trail really brought the book to life and was a fabulous experience. We will certainly be reporting back from our awesome local Forestry commission site, Sherwood Pines when we visit over the school holidays.
Saturday 7 June is another date for your diary as it sees the Gruffalo birthday party picnic so that sounds like it is bound to be fun (check your local site as this may be a bookable event)! Why not take along a Gruffalo inspired picnic? Mummy Mishaps has some fabulous ideas!
In June The Forestry will also be unveiling the 15 giant wooden Gruffalo sculptures at selected sites (Sherwood Pines is one of them – hurrah!) for families to hunt out amongst the forest. I envisage this will fill the forests with shrieks of “I’ve found one!” echoing through the trees (I am surely not the only one with loud children!?).
As big camping fans I am also looking forward to visiting one (at least!) of the Forestry Commissions camping in the forest sites where you can also find Gruffalo activity trails. I love the idea of camping in the forest and waking up to beautiful woodland walks every day.
Then once the summer fun has quietened down the Gruffalo’s Child trails start on 3rd October and run until the end of January 2015. Wowsers, we are so spoilt!
So, as we are all no more than one hour from our local Forestry Commission site, there is no excuse to get out in your beautiful woodlands and enjoy some forestry fun!
Disclosure: This is a guest post written by Center Parcs but all photography is my own and copyright of this website.
The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe with only 12% of the nation covered in forests.
This is a marked improvement on the all time low of 5% at the turn of the twentieth century, though there is still more we can do to protect our woodlands. Center Parcs have invested a lot of time to make their forest holidays the best option for UK short breaks. Jean Henkens, environmental activist and chief botanist at Center Parcs, flies around the world rescuing near extinct species of plant to re-home them in safety at one of the UK’s four Center Parcs locations. This just goes to show how seriously they take this environmental venture. They have put together a list of the eight most important reasons why we should respect and love the wooded land we were gifted with. They are:
1. Forests enrich the soil – Forests carry out the important role of keeping our soil nice and rich, an essential ingredient for both successful farming and gardening. Not only are they a hub of wildlife such as worms that act as nature’s very own little ploughs. As they chew through the mud they churn it up leaving fertile soil behind. The increase in animals living in these areas leads to an increase in animals dying in these areas; as they slowly decompose into the ground they restore many natural properties and ingredients to the soil. A similar effect of decay can be seen on a much larger scale in trees, during the yearly cycle of deciduous trees. In the spring time trees grow shoots that become leaves and eventually fall off in the autumn. These leaves decay and essentially melt into the ground and in turn become a key source of sustenance for the trees as they come out of hibernation in the spring.
2. Forests regulate water quality – Forests are of great importance to the water cycle that keeps our green and pleasant land well watered throughout the year. This may sound, to some sun worshippers, like the perfect reason to chop them all down, but they are vital for the delicate balance of nature. Even at the level of 12% forest cover, the UK’s remaining trees are straining to keep all our gardens nice and green. They also act as a natural filter for the water that is eventually supplied to our home. Water is sucked up from the ground through roots and then is evaporated through the leaves into the atmosphere, forming rain clouds. So not only do they keep our gardens watered, they also keep a lot of the ‘nasties’ found in our water out of our taps, giving us clean and delicious water to drink.
3. Forests preserve biodiversity – A lot of the wildlife native to the UK runs the risk of extinction at the hands of urbanization. The responsibility rests solely on us to maintain this wildlife the best we can. Many of the native species are at their most comfortable in a wooded environment, particularly the dormouse that lives solely in woodland with a thick canopy. Other than this little creature deer, hedgehogs, weasels and the beloved stoat are in their element in the forest. Mother nature has worked tirelessly for millennia to bring us all these wonderful creatures; it would be a massive shame for humanity to do away with them in the blink of an eye.
4. Forests actively absorb harmful CO2 – Global warming is a buzzword at present and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It is set to dominate national and international discourse in the years to come, as we search to find a viable replacement for fossil fuels. In a time of such crisis it seems, to simple old me at least, that the last thing we want to be doing is chopping down more trees. They act as a barrier towards this looming problem. Much like a sponge, trees soak up a lot of CO2 and convert it into friendly oxygen particles.
5. The effects of logging and deforestation – As humanity chops down more and more trees it becomes harder and harder for the environment to deal with the effects of industrialisation and urbanisation. Chopping down trees would, to my eyes at least, be the wrong way to go. What makes deforestation seem even more short-sighted is that not only are we damaging our chances of rectifying the situation we are in fact making the situation far worse. Logging, combustion and decomposition of trees adds up to 20% of the world’s yearly CO2production. That, if you can believe it, is as much as cars, lorries, trains, planes and boats combined.
6. The forest is a veritable pharmacist – The forest is the source of much of the medicine we rely on today to keep us living longer, happier lives. Plant extracts form the basis of a lot of the modern medicine we use today. If we are serious about eradicating one of humanity’s biggest killers, cancer, we must get serious about our relationship with woodland. A majority of the earlier stage medicines prescribed to cancer sufferers are from extracts of plants.
7. Worldwide forest levels are rapidly diminishing – The rate of deforestation at home has slowed somewhat since the beginning of last century but we as an island are a mere drop in the ocean. We do, though, still need wood. The buck is passed to developing nations to fill our quota of wood and in return receive a healthy sum of money. Logging is an easy way to earn a quick buck. As such, globally 15,000km2 of tropical forest is destroyed each year. That is the equivalent area of England and Wales.
8. We have already created almost irreparable damage – In little over 500 years humanity has irreparably damaged the forest environment and undone a lot of nature’s tireless work. At this current moment time, if we were to stop deforestation and naturally let it grow back, it would take 100 million years. That is an almost unthinkable amount of time and makes our few thousand years on this planet seem a mere flicker in the grander scheme of things.
I hope these eight points highlight just a few of the reasons the forest is essential to the continued success of life on earth. The power is in our hands to avoid the disappearance of yet more trees, we just need to wake up and smell the coffee.
What are your motivations for saving the forest? How can we do this?
Today is National Play Day, an annual event held on the first Wednesday in August, which doubles as a celebration of children’s right to play and a campaign highlighting the importance of play in children’s lives. This is something I am passionate about encouraging and is very close to my heart. Bewilderwood originates from a story written by Tom Blofeld and has grown into a fantastic outdoor, forest based fun theme park. It is located close to Norwich in North Norfolk and when we were camping in the area we knew this was going to be our Number One place to visit! We love forests and having outdoor fun but this takes things to a whole new level – set amongst the forest – high in the trees! It is also a place adults can join in the fun, playing with their children! Even though it was raining when we were there it felt like we were sheltered from the downpours by the tree top cover. When you get into the park (car parking is free) you have the choice of walking or getting a boat ride from the entrance into the main area. There was a thirty minute queue for the boat so we decided to walk through the forest on wooden decking, looking at the little houses built into the trees, that set the scene for the adventure. We went back later to do the boat trip which was definitely worth doing. We hadn’t read the stories and didn’t know any of the characters before going to the park but it didn’t take long to pick up the woodland creatures that inhabited Bewilderwood and the kids were soon immersed in their world. After a play in one of the treetop play areas we took part in the storytime which the kids loved and could be involved in. Noah at 4 years old loved dressing up and going on stage but surprisingly Ethan who is 6 was happy to just watch. This provided a great overview of the story and we learnt more about Mildred the Crocklebog, Swampy and the Thornyclod Spider to name a few. The play areas are big enough and build for adults to join in too so it was great to play along with the kids. The slides were actually quite fast and a bit scarey but the kids absolutely loved them! As well as slides there were zip slides for the daring (Ethan loved these) and also a zipslide inspired slide for younger children with a child’s swing as the harness. So Noah was in his element here as he didn’t really fancy the full experience! This is a theme park with a difference. It is fairly small in size which is a definite advantage. It was small enough to feel cosy and not too overwhelming but big enough to feel like you can easily fill the whole day and still want to go back for more. I would say the ideal age range for it would be 4+ and there isn’t really an age limit as adults can join in with the playing. No reason for mum to be left standing holding the coats here! The park is really well thought out and the clever details are fantastic such as the Thornyclod spider’s tree full of shoes (for all his feet!). As well as the rope bridges and slides there was a great maze which led to steps up to more slides. I raced the kids to the centre and, even though they had their dad to help them, am pleased to report I won so this possibly proves girls are indeed best! We also took part in a parade where the children were involved in choosing an intrument and then following the leader (locomotion style) around the forest where familiar book characters appeared as puppet to say hello! This went down really well and was great fun to cheer up the drizzly day. You could also make your own crown for the parade from the craft activities available. The staff at Bewilderwood really deserve a mention as everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful which is more than can be said for some other popular theme parks! There are three places to get food from. The Munch Bar sells hot food – jacket potatoes, sausage sandwiches and stew as well as sandwiches, cakes and drinks. The Cosy Cabin and Snack Shack mainly sold drinks and cold snacks and sandwiches. It cost around £3 for a sandwich and £4 for a jacket potato with a filling so it is reasonably priced. There is also a picnic area if you take your own food. It was a damp drizzly day when we were there so we opted for jacket potatoes and chocolate muffins and they were really delicious. We had a wonderful day out and will definitely be returning here in future years to get more fun from it playing together. When we were leaving we bought a CD of the stories to listen to in the car (narrated by the author) so next time I think the boys will have an even more magical time as the story is brought to life for them to play in!
Joining in with The Gallery where the theme this week is Play, Free Range Summer and Country Kids.
Disclaimer: We received free admission to the park but all views and opinions are unbiased and our own.
You don’t have to do it as a team – most of the other parcipants were couples or a parent with child/ren.
You are very safely secured to the trees/structure BUT it is totally your responsibility t0 make sure you are. It all kicks off with an excellent training session.
Hence you double and triple check the harness and ropes before making the leap.
On the tricky balancing bridges, swinging across as far as you can is a fantastic tip (given to me by a co-Go Aper who was aping around with his teenagers.)
On the zipwires you will definitely land on your bottom at least once (or everytime in my case!).
The scariest thing by a mile was the Tarzan swing. I didn’t think I could do this, but I did!
It would be nice to have someone on the ground taking pictures of your bravery! If you do take a camera it has to be physically attached to you so it doesn’t get accidentally dropped on anyone from a great height.
You definitely shouldn’t wear a skirt! Also don’t wear your best anything as it will get pretty trashed!
You feel so pleased with yourself at the end that you actually survived it!
Book a treat for afterwards! We went to Aqua Sana at Center Parcs which was a fabulous way to unwind after such an adrenalin boost 🙂
I would definitely recommend it to anyone as it was good fun. I am now looking at doing the Go Ape Tree Top Junior with the kids!
We were lucky enough to be invited along to one of the Bushcraft days organised and run at our fantastic Forestry Commission rangers at our favorite location – Sherwood Pines. We love Sherwood Pines and have shared our fun experiences here and here and here. There is so much to do for adults and children alike, and it is such a fantastic environment, you can’t help but enjoy yourself.
Anyway, the Bushcraft day kicked off on an overcast but dry late May day at 10am with a little map reading practice. Our group was made up of around 15 people; mums, dads, grandparents and children aged from 6 to around 14 years of age. The kids were all given a map of the forest and had to work out the best way to get to the camp where we would spend the day. They soon worked out, with a little assistance, where everything was and pointed the map in the right direction. As we were walking to the camp Karina and Emily, our fabulous rangers, pointed out things of the map to indicate we were going the right way.
Along the route we talked about the day ahead. We were told to look out for footprints in the sand which may be made by a deer as there are some that live in the forest (but are very shy!). We also saw some tadpoles in one of the ponds. When I say tadpoles I mean hundreds of tadpoles! There are going to be quite a few baby frogs hopping around that pond in the next few weeks.
After around a twenty minute walk we arrived at the camp. This area has been especially made up for Bushcraft days and is brilliantly designed for all the excellent activities Sherwood Pines offers. There is a main seating area with a firepit, a clay oven (which Karina made herself!) that is used for baking pizzas, a yurt, a wood chopping area, a craft area, a composting toilet and the den building area.
The day started off in the den building area! The group were divided into teams which started off as two teams of boys v girls and turned into three teams as the boys went off in different directions! I think they were so excited and so brimming with ideas they could all have easily made their own den! Here are some tips for den building that Karina gave us. Very soon there were some fantastic creations springing up and lots of excited chatter echoing throughout the woodland.
Next up was lunchtime and the kids were so pleased with their new dens they wanted to eat their lunch inside them! Silence fell upon the camp whilst the adults enjoyed their food in peace 🙂
Ethan got the chance to chop up some wood for the afternoon session – fire building – which he was very much looking forward to!
Now Ethan is very aware of the safety issues around fire (after reading all about Frances Firefly!) and won’t even pick up a match so I was looking forward to hearing some tips on fire safety in the forest where is so crucial.
We had seen, on a recent day at Sherwood Pines, when the Vikings visited, that it is possible to create a fire without matches.
This is what we would be doing again only with slightly more modern methods – using a fire steel! I had never seen a fire steel in action so this was a first for me too. It basically works by rubbing two pieces of metal together to create a spark which you can use to set alight to something small. We used cotton wool balls to get the fire started. You then progress to wood shavings and small kindling until the fire is established. It takes lots of patience, care and experience to get a good fire going.
Here is a video of Ethan starting his first fire using a fire steel.. He makes it look easy (it isn’t!)!
We also had a go at lighting mini fires using a Kelly Kettle to boil water in. This had mixed successes but luckily the rangers were on the ball so we could have hot chocolate and then toast marshmallows in the embers.
To finish off the day we were invited to create a woodland pendant. This was a circular piece of wood on which we could draw a picture, write your name, whatever you chose in permanent pens
We returned home exhausted but happy and my little boy has so many special memories from the day. The exciting activities we did on the day aren’t perhaps things that you would do normally and really need the expertise of the fantastic rangers to get the most from it. A day such as this costs £12.50 per person, which would make a fantastic gift for a dad or grandad to enjoy with the kids. Not only is it enormous fun but it is also educational, risk taking (safely), offers a chance to bond with your adventurers and is incredibly memorable.
If you don’t think this is his thing, how about getting the special man in your life a gift that will last all year long in the form of a Forestry Commission annual pass!? This gives you free parking for the whole year plus discounts at the cafe, bike hire and more depending upon location. Or check out the Forestry Commission Forestry Shop website for their fab range of gifts and experiences, they can enjoy with their children or grandchildren?
Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets to the Bushcraft day but were under no obligation to write this post and all views and opinions are our own.
Last Thursday my lovely eldest son and I went on a Bushcraft day at Sherwood Pines organised by the Forestry Commission. On the day we learnt a lot about fire building in the forest, and most importantly how to do so safely! This is very, very important advice to ensure the preservation of our beautiful forest and protection of the wildlife, flora and fauna that live there.
Aside from the common sense measures here are some of the pointers our expert ranger Karina gave us:
When selecting sticks to use in your fire, try the “snap test” (as I like to call it!). If the stick bends it is too wet on the inside to burn. If it snaps then keep it for your fire!
The fire needs to be in a “pit” to keep it contained and reduce the chances of it spreading. This needs to be surrounded by bricks.
Ensure the area around the fire is safe and the seated area is a good distance away from the fire.
Keep a bucket of sand and butts full of rain water nearby in case of fire spread.
Ensure you have the permission of the land owner, forester etc before setting fires and tell the fire brigade what your plans are so they will be alerted to any risks.
Be organised with everything needed laid out when setting a fire. Make sure your kindling is sorted into neat piles of thin, medium and thick.
Keep the kindling long to ensure you don’t burn your fingers.
Keep kindling and other flammable substances well away from the fire area.
Keep the pile low when stacking twigs.
Around a fire get down on one knee, thus allowing yourself an easy escape move if things go wrong.
Lighting fires is best done with your hands bare (rather than gloved) but if you do need to retrieve something from a fire ensure your gloves are non flammable.
Make sure you extinguish your fire completely when you leave.
Obviously fire lighting is best left to those who are experienced in it so ideally join a group such as the Forestry Commission to ensure you are knowledgeable and safe to yourself and those around you.
Timber is a brand new festival, which took place in the National Forest in Derbyshire on July 6-8th. I won a family ticket with Forest Holidays and the sun was shining so we just couldn’t say no!
mygorgeousboys 