Westonbirt Arboretum

Westonbirt Arboretum (Review)

April 24, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 14 Comments

There is a sign that I have passed on the M4 more times than I care to remember. I've always thought, 'Oh we must visit there in the Autumn, it must be beautiful then.' or 'I bet The Boy would love to explore there.' but it's not been a real possibility as we've always been on the way to somewhere or rushing back home after a tiring day out. When we lived in Reading for three years, we passed the sign on our monthly return home and I thought then it must be amazing to visit there, and that was in 2001!

Finally we had the opportunity to explore the mystery behind the sign for Westonbirt Arboretum when we headed down for our Butlin's Ambassadors holiday at the end of March. I arranged for us to visit Westonbirt the day before our holiday started and we decided to stay overnight in Basingstoke as it would ensure we weren't rushing.

Westonbirt Arboretum is well signposted from junction 18 of the M4 and takes a further twenty-ish minutes to reach beyond the motorway. There is a pay kiosk upon entry to the main drive, and then a good size car park with ample parking for all. The site is massive, far bigger than I ever imagined which seems silly to say considering it is a large forest and woodland!

Westonbirt arboretum

The circle above shows the main reception area with Westonbirth Restaurant, forest shop, visitor services, education centre, toilets and an excellent play area for children. To the right of this circle is the Old Arboretum, and to the left are the collections (Japanese Maple, Oak, Cherry collections) alongside the longer paths and trails. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore this section because what I haven't said is that it was -3°C that day.

Yes, that is a minus symbol.

Even though we are hardy explorers and were all togged up in everything we owned, it was the type of cold that chilled to the bone. Nonetheless we persevered and did explore the Old Arboretum and the children's play area. First of all though, we were invited to sample the wares of the Westonbirt Restaurant.

The restaurant has recently seen a changeover, at the time the manager and chef had only been there a manner of weeks, and is an incredibly pleasant and trendy venue with huge wooden tables, floor to ceiling windows (with frosted leaf patterns embossed on) which overlook the site and provide a light and airy place to eat.

Westonbirt restaurant

The Boy had a child's version of the 'Calcot fishcakes' which is usually served with tartar sauce and a mixed leaf salad, but for him they served it with tomato sauce and a pot of fresh peas. This couldn't have been a better dish for him to have if the chef had been a fly on the wall in our house! The Boy loves salmon and mixed with the dill, it smelt and looked delicious (and this from a vegetarian) and he wolfed the lot down.

Mr. TBaM had the 'The Cotswolds Platter' which was a much nicer version of a ploughman's than I've ever seen. Served on a wooden platter (as all the meals were) it included Woodchester ham, a local pork pie and double Gloucester cheese and was served with homemade chutney and Hobbs House bread and butter. The quality of the items were excellent and very filling, he really enjoyed the taste of everything, especially the cheese (different to the standard orange Gloucester cheese in the supermarkets) and he said everything worked really well together.

I was served with a delicious Spring vegetable risotto with fresh asparagus and parmesan. I'm a sucker for a good risotto and this was definitely one of them; the arborio rice had just the right level of crunch to it, the asparagus was very fresh along with the other Spring vegetables, and it was very creamy.

Full of sustenance we set off to brave the cold and explore the beautiful woodland park. First off was the 'Exploratree' adventure and interactive playground for under fives.

Exploratree Westonbirt Arboretum

Designed to completely encourage children to explore the forest, there are crawl tunnels, a wooden tree house, play saws (made from wood, no sharp edges) and trees which are perfect for climbing in with their low level branches. We spent a good half an hour here with The Boy playing with all the different parts and exploring and discussing why there were saws and what they were used for.

There are a few interactive elements to the Exploratree park as well:

exploratree westonbirt arboretum 1

The wooden tree wall is interactive and encourages the children to question and observe the wildlife in the trees, while there's also a fantastic xylophone made from wooden planks.

After a while we needed to charge around and practise our climbing so we went to explore the Old Arboretum.

westonbirt arboretum

We only managed a small section of this part of the Arboretum as The Boy was actually starting to cry and turn as blue as his suit with cold (-3°C remember?) and so we had to turn back unfortunately.

We will be returning to Westonbirt Arboretum in the next month or so to take advantage of temperatures in the positive double figures. Especially because I also wanted to explore the nature play trails hidden amongst the trees of the Old Arboretum and Silk Wood (aimed at 5-11 year olds), where the children can build explorers' dens, balance and clamber over fallen logs, and plan expeditions in a tree fort. I particularly want to find the mystical troll bridge!

Westonbirt has four excellent seasonal play booklets with a multitude of activities to encourage natural play like weaving sticks and treasures together, an insect treasure hunt and many more wonderful ideas. There are also a host of family events coming up over the next few months like Bug World, Forest Folk and Tree Potions.

Entry into Westonbirt is £8 for adults and £3 for children aged 5-18, under fives go free (between March – September) and there is half price entry on Wednesdays in April and May 2013. This is a really reasonable price for entry into somewhere which could easily occupy a whole day, and the half-price entry would be perfect to help children complete the Fifty Things To Do Before You're 11 & ¾. (They also have a Quality Badge awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom)

Now we've been once, I'm not sure why we took so long to get there! We'll definitely be visiting what must surely be a jewel in the Forestry Commission's crown?

We received free entry into the Arboretum and a meal at the Westonbirt Restuarant in order to complete this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased as always.

Days 83-89 of Project 365

March 30, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 38 Comments

83-89 of 365

30th march 2013

83. Look Mummy! (We left for our Butlin's Ambassadors' holidays a day early to break up the journey, and called into Westonbirt Arboretum on the way – more on that in another post. It's an amazing Forestry Commission site, but dear God it was cold. We braved -3°C to explore the play area and some of the old arboretum, and The Boy really showed his growing ability and confidence at tree climbing!)

84. View (Checking into our hotel room in The Ocean Hotel, we discovered that we had a gorgeous view from the fourth floor over the resort. The Boy has been out on the balcony at any and every opportunity this week to catch a glimpse of his beloved helter-skelter.)

85. Plopping (A day trip to Brighton, which was an opportunity that I couldn't let pass when down this way. I've wanted to visit the West Pier for a long time and I find the condition of it so very sad. How it's been allowed to lapse into such a terrible state of disrepair over the past thirty years, is beyond me. Our seaside heritage is one of the things that makes Britain special, to see such a beautiful example of Victorian architecture destroyed is shocking. The remaining pier was a let-down, and so we spent a good amount of time 'plopping' on the beach, having already enjoyed the wonders of the Royal Pavilion.)

86. Round and round (We had passed a walled park several times this week, peeking over the top was a zip-wire and wooden climbing frame. A quick Google showed it to be Hotham Park, which we visited on Wednesday afternoon. The park was amazing, and for most of the hour or so we were there, we had it to ourselves. I even had a go on the zip-wire myself; a first! The Boy found a very different swing to those we are used to, and really enjoyed spinning around watching the sky swirling.)

87. I Can Cook! (This is one of the shows that we've been looking forward to all week. The Boy is completely captivated by Katy's antics on CBeebies and, even though this show wasn't presented by her, he couldn't wait to see today's show. I had to sit him at the front with all the other children, and then join the adults at the back. That was until I heard a frantic 'mummy!' being screamed from the front when the character 'Naughty Salt' was being chased by 'Lucy' around the audience. The Boy hates naughtiness of any description, and it really upset him. Another frantic 'MUMMY!!!' and I'd managed to scoop up his little sobbing body. Apologies to the three parents whose fingers I stood on en route.)

88. By the seaside (Today's photo had to be one that summed up our Butlins Ambassadors break in Bognor Regis; sunshine, deckchairs, cheerful smiles but biting winds. Hats and gloves, long johns and rosy cheeks were the order of the week, but dear God we had fun!)

89. Which ride first? (I won a competition for us to visit Legoland for the launch of the Lego Hero Factory, Build and Test Area. We've never been there with The Boy before, the only other time was actually ten years ago, well before children were thought of, and we commented on the time that it was a pointless place without them. Today we got to try many of the rides that we'd seen then, and how they had expanded the park. Freezing conditions meant that we lasted from 9.30-4.00 but gave up early to head home after a tiring week. The Boy adored the park and the rides were a good length for him to enjoy them, he loved looking over the park map to see where he'd been or which he was going on.)

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