Tatton Park - NT

Living in the Midlands we are extremely lucky with our location as most attractions are not too far from us.  This is the same for National Trust places.  Using the app we often look for new places near to us, and about 50 minutes away is Tatton Park.  Tatton park is deer park just on the outskirts of Manchester.

The drive into Tatton park is just what we expect from a National Trust place, open fields, large lakes, garden buildings and deer.  Although Tatton Park is owned by the National Trust it is managed by Cheshire Council and , therefore, there are additional charges for National Trust members for the farm and for parking.

We chose Tatton Park as there are plenty of things to do onsite including the gardens, a maze, the mansion, a park, grounds to walk around and farm.

Firstly, we visited the gardens and the maze, spending around an hour. The gardens like most National Trusts are beautifully maintained.  There are secret gardens behind walls, lakes and ponds to walk around, a Japanese styled garden area and a maze to explore.  Although the weather was warm but cloudy, the gardens were not busy and they were extremely peaceful considering it was in the school holidays.


After a walk around the gardens we decided to head over to the cafe for some lunch. As it was a last minute plan we hadn't packed a picnic so for a change we were going to eat on site.  The cafe was busy but we did not have to queue for long.  It offered a selection of sandwiches and hot food including jacket potatoes.  Most sandwiches were around £4 and the hot meals around the £8 mark which we though was a bit steep, but having no choice we order a Jacket Potato and Tuna, two portions of chicken strips with chips and beans and 3 soft drinks = £29. As we normally take our own lunch we didn't realise that these place charge so much for food.  However, we did think that the jacket potato and tuna was reasonable at £5 seen as it was quite large.

After Lunch the mansion was open so we decided to have a wander through the house. As always the staff are informative and keen to tell you all about the different rooms and artefacts inside them.  The husband was impressed by the house as he thought that it felt homely and I have to agree.  The rooms felt lived in and not like they were for show.

After all the 'adult' stuff Titch was keen to play on the park so that was where we headed.  The park was large and although it was busy, Titch managed to get on all the equipment he wanted.

If you are looking for a day out for all the family I would definitely recommend Tatton Park, I would just take your own food rather than buying from the Cafe.


Information:

Address
Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 6QN

Prices for gardens and house:
National Trust Members:  Free
Non Members: http://www.tattonpark.org.uk/visit/attraction-and-park-entry-prices.aspx

Clip n' Climb

So the holidays are here and now we have the challenge of filling 6 weeks with of activities to keep Titch entertained.  One of the main things that we have to consider having a child with ADHD is giving him opportunity to get out all his energy.  We often go to parks or areas where he can run around.  Titch particularly enjoys physical activities and loves climbing, jumping, spinning and hanging upside down - like most kids.

Recently there has been an increase in our local area of play centres, climbing walls and trampolining parks, so we decided to take Titch and two of his friends to a local climbing centre called Clip n' Climb.

Cost: £12 each for 60 minute session and an extra £2.50 if you want to do the vertical slide.

You need to arrive 15 minutes before your visit and the children are given a safety talk before they then enter the climbing arena.  Parents are allowed to join their children in the arena as long as they also attend the safety talk.  If you do not wish to go into the arena there is a small cafe up stairs where you can watch the children climb.

On arrival we were impressed with the variety of walls that they had on offer, and some looked pretty challenging.  As Titch and his friends are older enough we did not go on the safety talk and inside watched from the viewing gallery.

For the whole 60 minutes the children are freely allowed to climb using the safety harnesses that they were shown to use. There were plenty of staff members around to help children who were struggling and support those who were less confident.  One of Titch's friends went a little too high for her liking and couldn't get down. One staff member climbed up to her and with some encouragement she came down safely.  This then encouraged her to try it again and this time she came down all on her own.

Although half way through the 60 minutes another group joined the arena, it did not feel full or over crowded,and the children only had short waits between climbs. Additional staff were also added to the arena at this point so that there was a good ratio of staff to children.

Clip 'n climb was definitely worth the money for the hour that they children spent there. They came out exhausted and ready for some lunch and couldn't stop talking about it all the way home.  Not only did it give them their daily exercise but it also helped develop their confidence.

A bit of fruit

As a child I always remember the days out with my parents in the summer, and I try to give my child the same opportunities that my parents gave to me.

Today we chose fruit picking.  It is something that I remember doing every year when I was little, whether this be at a fruit farm or in fields near to my grandparents house.

There are quite a few fruit farmers near to us but many have suffered this year due to the warm weather that we had been having.

Fruit picking is something that can be enjoyed by the whole family no matter the age.  Today we were after strawberries, Blackberries and raspberries as these are our favourite fruit.


The first farm that we went to didn't have any strawberries but we stayed anyway to pick the raspberries.  Titch loved this, trying to find the berries that weren't too ripe but also ensuring that they were ready to be picked.

After picking raspberries we decided to try a different farm as Titch was keen to pick strawberries.

Here they also had a Strawberry shortage ,but we were able to pick some.  I was definitely the strawberry picking champion though, filling my tub full of larger berries where as Titch found well titchy ones.

Whilst here we also picked blackberries and tayberries which we had never tried before.

Fresh fruit on a sunny day with some ice cream and meringue was well deserved after.