Monday 14 January 2013

Exlporing Nature whatever the weather! #weloveforests



As you will know we love to get outside and play in the fresh air, so after spending quite a lot of time indoors over the festive period due to all of us being  poorly, we decided to have a break from watching movies and playing Car's Monopoly or Junior Scrabble and blow away those cobwebs with an adventure in the forest! So on the Saturday morning after Christmas we had an early start and made the 40 minute drive to Delamere Forest in Cheshire.

I grew up in Merseyside and have many fond memories of days out at Delamere, from running around playing chase with my cousins in summer months to lovely forest walks hunting for pinecones in the Autumn and of course going to choose our Christmas Tree in their winter wonderland in December!

We had visited Delamere with Ben when he was quite a bit younger but this would be Elizabeth's first adventure in the Cheshire woodland!


We timed it well and arrived at the Linmore Visitors Centre just as the cafe was opening! So we went inside to order breakfast and some hot drinks to warm us up and give us some energy for the day's adventures!

The cafe serves local food at reasonable prices and has a lovely rustic feel to it, a really nice start to our day out.





After filling our tummies we wrapped back up in our scarves and coats and set out on a walk in to the forest. There's been quite heavy rain over the previous few days and some of the forest had experienced flooding so  we were advised against walking up Old Pale Hill, which was a shame as I remember some pretty amazing views, but to be honest we probably wouldn't have seen much with the weather the way it was.

 


Despite the rain we were still able to have a lovely walk around the forest and we had some great adventures, from splashing in enormous muddy puddles (which both Ben and Elizabeth though was hilarious) and meeting some cows, to becoming detectives and having a 'treasure hunt', spotting different types of trees with the help of the Forestry Commision's Free Fantastic Forests booklets, which gave us some great 'clues' to look out for!




Big outdoor spaces like Delamere are ideal for budget days out with young children, whatever the weather, as long as you wrap up warm and pop on your wellies there's plenty to do all year round! Open every day and the only costs are car parking and if you want to buy food and drink (you could always bring a picnic and a flask to save even more!) You can also purchase a Discovery Pass which as well as supporting your local forest, will give you free parking for a year and discounts on food during the week.



As for activities, for older children Delemere has Go Ape, cycling trails and cycle hire and an orienteering course so plenty to keep them active. With younger children the only limits are their imagination! From playing detectives to treasure hunts, collecting leaves and spotting trees, building mini homes for their wildlife friends or even playing 'leaf snap' with siblings, there is much to discover, not to mention just running around in the fresh air or jumping in muddy puddles!





We had a lovely morning out that certainly blew away those cobwebs and felt really refreshing after being stuck indoors for a while, we can't wait for our next visit to the forest! Where's your favourite place for outdoor fun?

We were sent one year's discovery pass in exchance for a post about our visit but all opinions our are own.


I've linked this post up with #Countrykids over at Coombe Mill , click the badge below to check out more outdoor adventures...
Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

5 comments:

  1. looks like a great day out, I do love the national forests they really are good fun days out :)

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  2. We reviewed our local forestry commission site at Cardinham last year and I have seen many similar posts from the forestry commission fellow bloggers on Country Kids. There is a good deal of work goes into making their sites look so natural, easy to explore and well kept. I am really impressed with the consistency of facilities between all the forests and the adventure packs are great. Looked like it made for a fun day out for you too and a perfect way to blow away the Christmas bugs. Thank you for linking up.

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  3. You did the right thing in getting there early. We went after lunch and the cafe was rammed with walkers inside and dog owners outside :D It is a lovely place to explore the forest with little ones.

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  4. OOh this sounds lovely and not far from me so would love to visit :-)
    xx

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  5. I love family days out like this, perfect fun for the whole family! :)

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