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Sarah in front of Corfe Castle[/caption]
We recently went on holiday to Dorset (a long blog post is on its way!). Here is one of the days which my son, Robert, who's 14, enjoyed the most and which he would highly recommend. It begins with Corfe Castle.
As regular readers of this blog will know, I am a history buff and love castles. Corfe Castle (a National Trust Property), which is located on the Isle of Purbeck, between Wareham and Swanage, is spectacular! It was built by William the Conquerer and has a long, magnificent history, not least the story of how the Royalists in the castle tried to hold out against the Roundheads during the English Civil War of the 17th century.
Corfe Castle is also the name of the very pretty village in which the castle is located and it's gorgeous to walk around - and to have an ice-cream or cream tea (or both!).
Let Robert tell you more:
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle, or the ruins of Corfe castle, is a great place to go. Not only is it visually stunning, with great views of the architecture from the bottom of the hill and great views of the surrounding area on top – it is also a historic landmark with lots of boards to read and find out about what happened at the castle.
There are also lots of activities for kids of all ages.
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Robert helps to hold up the ruins![/caption]
Dorset Adventure Park
After our visit to Corfe Castle, we moved onto Dorset Adventure Park, which is only about 5 minutes away. Our hour in the water there felt much longer – it was one of the most fun activities of the holiday and Mum and Dad really enjoyed it as well, even though they were in the water for most of it!
Once kitted in our wetsuits and life jackets we walked to the first lake, called Castle Lake, because you can see Corfe Castle from the water, where we spent half an hour running, jumping and falling off obstacles. There were narrow poles to climb over, large hills to climb, and trampolines and other singular obstacles floating in the water. Everything is inflatable and if you fall off you have to swim to nearest entry point or attempt to climb back on where someone pulls you up by the life jacket. After Mum and Dad fell off multiple times before clearing the first obstacle I ended my fits of laughter and ran off on my own.
The next lake, the Woodland Lake, was even better – it had air bags, monkey bars and bigger slides, to name a few. There was also a tightrope with ropes to cling onto hovering above the water which I attempted many times but could not clear the third. At least I attempted it though, unlike my Mum and Dad!
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You can just see the Castle Lake and inflatables in this picture - in front of Corfe Castle[/caption]
There were about 10-15 obstacles or so in each lake and it never got boring.
If going with someone other than your parents you could race around the track or if you are really courageous you could hold battles where you try to push off your opponents.
The Adventure park was great to visit although it only takes up about two hours of your day. Corfe Castle was just a few minutes away so you could create a nice day out visiting the two.
We don't have any great pics of the water park because we had to put away our clothes and phone/camera!
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The castle ruins are really spectacular[/caption]
Need to know:
Corfe Castle is a National Trust property, and so free for National Trust members. Otherwise it has different costs for peak and off-peak times. The summer is peak time and it costs £10 for adults, £5 for children or £25 for a family ticket.
There are loads of activities over the summer for families, so do check out their website.
Dorset Adventure Park is open every day in the school holiday and costs £15 a person. You can also hire wetsuits and shoes, or bring your own.
Disclosure: We received free entry into Dorset Adventure Park in order to write about it. However, all the opinions in this blog post are our own and no one else had any input into them.
For more about Dorset, see the Visit Dorset website
Don't miss our post on what to do in Dorset - also written by Robert!
Read more:
A great day out at Thorpe Park (by Robert)
Cakes, a castle and cathedral, what to do in Lincoln
A visit to majestic Casa Loma, in TorontoLabels: Blog, castles, Corfe Castle, days out in England, days out in the UK, days out with kids, Dorset, family holiday in Dorset, Family Holidays, history, UK