Buckinghamshire

Wendover Woods Play Trail

August 5, 2022 by Penny Leave a Comment

Finding an outdoor activity that will suit kids with ages between 3 and 12 can be a bit of a challenge, but a day out at Wendover Woods in the Chilterns really does tick all boxes. We went with the simple aim of getting out of the house and into some fresh air, but a visit to the Play Trail and then subsequent ice creams from the cafe resulted in three happy, slightly grubby and tired children being bundled into the car at the end of the day with smiles on their faces.

What is the Play Trail?

Wendover Woods has so much to offer visitors of any age, but what exactly is the Play Trail? Well, it’s as the name suggests somewhat; a trail through the woods, with numerous stop off points where there are various pieces of play equipment. There are two different trail lengths a short one of just 600m and a longer trail of 1km. You will miss some of the play opportunities if you take the shorter route, but it makes the whole trail more accessible for those with little legs who stubbornly refuse to go in a pushchair for the whole walk. All parents have been there at some point!

In the left foreground of the picture is a sign showing the start of the Play Trail at Wendover Woods, including a plan of the trail showing the long and short routes. In the distance on the right of the picture is a path leading into the woods and you can see another sign - which is part of the Superworm trail.

The trail itself if reasonably flat and accessible with any sturdy pushchair. When wet there is likely to be mud in some parts. Some of the play areas involve slopes, in particular the Wendover Woods Hollow Fort. A single kilometre may not sound like very far round, but I think it’s actually a perfect length for children of all ages. If they stop at all the pieces of play equipment (as most children will insist on doing) then it can actually take a while to go round, even more so if you have a snack break (or several!) on route too.

A three year old girl wearing a yellow t-shirt and navy shorts and a forest superhero face mask. She is in a wooden playground and is hold ing a metal chain that is attached to a rubber bucket. She looks like she is hauling the bucket up using the chain.

Finding Superworm

A smiling three year old with blonde hair stood in front of a sign for the Superworm trail. She is wearing a yellow t-shirt and navy shorts.

When we visited (August 2022) the play trail was also hosting a Superworm trail. Children were invited to find Superworm and his friends at various points on the trail and at six different points the children could also do a rubbing of an animal or plant.

A paper bag sitting on a tree stump. The bag is the Superworm Trail Pack from Foresty England and it has a picture of Superworm on it that children can colour in.

The information centre near the car park sells activity packs for £3.50 each and as well as including a trail activity book, children also get a woodland superhero mask, stickers and some fact filled postcards about some of the animals on the trail. Most importantly the pack also contains a pencil and a wax crayon for doing the rubbings as you go round. It’s not compulsory to buy a pack, but it is nice if you want an extra activity for the kids as you go round.

A close up of a smiling three year old girl with blonde hair and wearing a yellow t-shirt. On her face is a paper forest superhero mask that she got in her Superworm trail activity pack.

What else is there to do at Wendover Woods?

With walking trails for people of all abilities, as well as cycle routes and numerous playgrounds, Wendover Woods provides plenty of free activities for all the family. In the woods around the main visitor facilities and on the play trail you can find loads of dens which are popular with all children. Some have slightly formal foundations, whilst others are just built from what people have found around them. All of them provide a huge amount of fun.

A smiling three year old girl wearing a yellow t-shirt, navy shorts and a forest superhero face mask sitting on a log in a wooden den.

Next to the main car park is a large Go Ape centre and for those of you that prefer to run rather than walk there is a weekly Park Run at 9am on a Saturday morning too.

For Gruffalo fans there is also a large Gruffalo statue, but be warned that at the time of writing this is fenced off as the Gruffalo is due to retire soon and although a replacement is planned staff told me that there’s just one man who makes there and therefore it takes a while to replace it.

There are plenty of picnic tables dotted around the site and normally you can also book a BBQ spot – although these are currently closed due to the dangerously dry conditions this summer.

Near the information kiosk there are also a couple of outdoor table tennis tables that are free to use. We found bats on the tables and balls in little orange ball holders at each underneath the playing surface.

Facilities at Wendover Woods

The main facilities area at Wendover Woods had a makeover a few years back and there is now a much larger car park and a new building hosting a large toilet block and a good sized cafe with both indoor and outdoor seating.

The car park now works on an ANPR system and you need to pay before you leave at one of the machines next to the information point, or via an app on your phone.

A smiling three year old girl wearing a yellow t-shirt and navy shorts. She also has on a paper "forest Superhero" face mask. She is stood on a wobbly bridge with netting on both sides of her.

Looking for something else nearby?

Why not take a look at other places we’ve visited in Buckinghamshire, or neighbouring Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Riding an upcycled D-stock from Ridgmont to Bletchley – the Martson Vale Line

May 27, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

The idea of needing to recycle and upcycle is everywhere at the moment. And understandably so. What not everyone realises though is that it’s not just things at home that can be recycled. Have you ever thought about recycling a train? Those people at Vivarail have. That’s exactly what they’ve done with their new Class 230s. They’re upcycled D-stock trains that previously used to run on the London Underground.

Upcycled trains

It’s really a fascinating bit of engineering where they have been converted from electric trains that take power from a third rail into diesel two car units.

The Marston Vale line, a community rail partnership run by London Northwestern that goes between Bedford and Bletchley, has three of these two car units (one to go in each direction, and a spare). I’m pretty sure any London Underground fan wants to go and ride them, just as much as they do the Island Line vintage trains down on the Isle of Wight.

We decided to take a trip along part of the Marston Vale line with the kids, partly as as way of making a trip to Bletchley Park more attractive to my six year old, London Underground and train loving son. It did the trick. The idea of an upcycled D-stock, or as he put it a “recycled underground train” made it a very attractive option. We decided to start our journey at Ridgmont Station, which is conveniently located extremely close to the M1 at junction 13.

Ridgmont Station

I’d heard of Ridgmont before and wanted to go and suss the place out before a return trip with less children. It is an unstaffed station, but one with a small heritage centre and shop, as well as a well respected tea rooms. We will be back to do the place justice in the future.

The other thing that made me choose it as a place to start our journey was the convenient car park just across the tracks. It may not be large, but by the time we returned to our car we were the only ones parked there. And it was free too!

At the moment you can’t buy tickets at the station (the Heritage Centre don’t sell them, but the staff there are incredibly useful at answering any train related questions you might have) but we spotted a ticket machine under wraps on one of the platforms, so I’m guessing it’s coming soon. For now though you buy tickets on the train itself from the onboard staff. They can accept credit cards and railcards on board much as you can at any ticket office.

What’s a class 230 like?

The trains themselves look incredibly smart, and although their basic structure is recognisable from the District Line, the differences are remarkable.

Firstly, the ability to squeeze in a Diesel engine. I guess it makes you realise just how big all the electric motors originally were. The new livery looks incredibly smart though, and to those not in the know I don’t think you’d guess that you were on something up cycled.

Inside the train there are a few hints to what went before. The doors between the two units are obviously to anyone that has travelled on older underground trains. The sideways seating that is used in part of the train is also a bit of a giveaway. Elsewhere in the train though they’ve put in usual “airline” seating and even a few tables too. A far cry from what people used to put up with on the District Line.

Another nice addition is charging points. The tables and airline seats have proper three pin plugs, but the sideways seating has USB ports at the base of the arm rests. Perfect for commuters who needy to give their phone a quick burst of charge.

The other thing they’ve squeezed in is an on-train toilet. Even though I have to admit that it did seem to smell a bit on the train we were on!

The outside of them all has been very artistically decorated with images of Bletchley Park, not just the Manor House, but also the Bombe computer too. How they’ve managed it though is quite impressive. The D-stock feels a whole lot more spacious than it ever used to and you really do feel like you are travelling on more than just a two car unit.

Bletchley Park

The real purpose behind our trip was to get to Bletchley so that we could do a family trip to Bletchley Park. This amazing slice of WW2 history is located just a short walk away from Bletchley Station and is well worth a visit. Bletchley played a pivotal, very secret, role in the war and it’s only over the last 20 or so years that the full truth has come out as to what went on there. The museum itself is incredible. Full of fascinating information and making full use of modern day technology to tell the story of Bletchley Park. We feel like we only scratched the surface after a couple of hours there and we will definitely be back for a return visit. Especially since your ticket is valid for a whole 12 months. If you’re an English Heritage member you can even get 20% off the admission price. Once we’ve been back expect to see a much more detailed account of our visit here on Penny Travels.

Once our visit was over though it was back on the train to Ridgmont. It seems the Marston Vale line is actually far busier than I expected it to be, with many people using it as part of their regular commute to and from work. As a visitor though it felt well worth the trip to see just how it is possible to upcycle a train and surely it’s somewhere you just have to visit if you’re a proper London Underground fan.

Colourscape at Waddesdon Manor

May 22, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

We never need much of an excuse to visit Waddesdon Manor. This wonderful National Trust property belonged to the Rothchild family and is an amazing chateau style building packed with history and fantastic architecture. The gardens look beautiful throughout the year and to keep the children happy there is an amazing hillside playground that suits all ages. What I wasn’t expecting during a visit last year was the amazing, unique spectacle that is Colourscape.

It’s hard to explain exactly what Colourscape is, but I’ll try my best. Really though it is one of those things that you just have to experience for yourself.

What is Colourscape?

In short, Colourscape is 56 interlinked colourful chambers that visitors walk through. It’s a bit like being inside a maze of tents, but please don’t let that clumsy description put you off. The you arrived you take off your shoes and are also asked to wear a coloured cloak like garment.

As you walk through the entrance and into the first the colourful chambers your senses start to get confused. the colour of the chamber combined with the light effects m can that everything starts to take on different colours. Some of the cloak colours mean that some visitors start to bland in with the chamber they’re stood in, whilst others look like they’re wearing different colours.

Walking from chamber to chamber you start to feel a little disorientated. Have you been through this bit before? What colour is this? Being barefoot you can feel the ground under the “tent” floor beneath your feet and it reminded me of holidays. The overall feeling is somewhat magical.

In one chamber (the only one with natural light) there are a group of musicians, and their music is piped through the whole Colourscape structure, making your visit one for all the senses.

What age is Colourscape for?

In our group we had my then five year old son, my teenage step-daughter, right up to my mum in her mid-seventies. All of us absolutely loved it. I saw toddlers going around transfixed by the colours and how everything looked different. Colourscape really is for the whole family.

Over a year later we still talk about this particular visit to Waddesdon and just how magical it was. I’m delighted to see that Colourscape is returning to Waddesdon this year (25 May – 2 June 2019) and urge you to go and visit this amazing colourful world for yourself.

Colourscape – the facts

Colourscape is at Waddesdon Manor from 25 May to 2 June 2019. More details can be found here. Please note that the charge for Colourscape is on top of the standard Waddesdon entry fee (which is waived if you are a National Trust member). It is £5 for adults and £3 for children.