Dorset Adventure Park and Corfe Castle in Dorset

[caption id="attachment_4483" align="alignnone" width="1200"] 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.

[caption id="attachment_4484" align="alignnone" width="1200"] 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!

[caption id="attachment_4485" align="alignnone" width="1200"] 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!

[caption id="attachment_4486" align="alignnone" width="1200"] 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 Toronto

A family holiday at Sandy Balls in beautiful Dorset (June 2003)

[caption id="attachment_1150" align="aligncenter" width="726"] Jess loved the sand at Southbourne Beach[/caption]

My daughter squealed with delight as the waves rushed over her legs. I'd never heard her so excited before. She was having the time of her life.

I honestly hadn't expected too much from our week's holiday at Sandy Balls.

With a name like that, it sounded more like a Carry On film than a week's vacation. I was wrong. Sandy Balls far exceeded my expectations. It couldn't have fitted the concept of a family friendly holiday any better.

It's hard to know what to do for a holiday once you have children. Old favourites -quiet hotel,beautiful beach and good night life - go out of the window. You want facilities, especially safe ones, on tap, a pleasant room to spend all those holiday evenings baby-sitting and, if at all possible, the luxury of not having to share quarters with your offspring.

It should also not be too expensive. Once you have a child,money magically becomes tighter.

Sandy Balls,deep in the New Forest, came up trumps on all those counts and more. Within 120 acres of parkland are about 80 lodges and 50 caravans, with plenty of room for campers. The resort can hold a maximum of around 5,500 visitors in peak season -and offers an abundance of activities for children.

So named because of the dome shaped sand and gravel outcrops on the western boundary of the holiday centre, Sandy Balls is about five minutes drive from the delightful town of Fordingbridge (which has its own lovely park,complete with duck pond).It's a great location because there's a multitude of daily excursions available within 40 minutes'drive.

My young daughter's squeals came from a trip we took to the seaside at glorious, Southbourne in Dorset. A winner of various clean beach awards,it was indeed beautifully clean -and remarkably empty.

After building sand castles for a while, we ventured down to the sea,and 16- month old Jessica couldn't contain her excitement.

She was also delighted with a trip to Exbury Gardens,enjoying the different flowers she saw and the ducks and swans by the ponds. Even more exciting was the trip in the steam train that we took around the grounds. This was a holiday of new experiences, which also included stroking a two day-old chick at the Long Down activity farm (near Winchester), not to mention encountering pigs and goats and being thrilled by the multitude of horses and foals ambling around the New Forest.

Cleverly holidaying with my parents, who provided in built baby-sitting, my husband and I made a few trips without our baby. Salisbury (just 20 minutes away by car) was gorgeous and we also made a trip to Romsey, for a fascinating afternoon at Lord Mountbatten's historic home, Broadlands.

Even with all these days out, there were still so many other places we didn't visit. We could have gone out every day, but we didn't,because we also wanted to relax a little and to enjoy facilities within Sandy Balls itself.

They include a toddlers'play area,adventure playground and an activity room for older children. The surrounding land is lovely to walk around and more swans and ducks sail by on the River Avon.

There is also a huge activity field, just perfect for running around or for playing cricket and football. Being on the active side, Jessica also enjoyed her dips in the two baby swimming pools, while I grabbed the opportunity to swim in the adults' pool.

Braver souls than us will tackle the large outdoor pool and on-site gym. And we didn't even manage to fit in a game of table tennis nor a trip to the local stables. One afternoon we did hire bicycles from the site's cycle centre. We could have put Jessica in a trailer,but instead she sat in a child seat and happily sang her way around Fordingbridge. We were exhausted, but she loved it.

There is a range of accommodation, offered at various prices,in Sandy Balls. We stayed in one of the plushest of the lodges, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The bedrooms were small and - unless you book an upgrade - you make your own beds and take your own towels and tea towels.

However, lodges are well designed and equipped. Video and TV made our babysitting much easier, while our decking balcony at the front,easily closed off by two gates, was in use each morning as our little tornado hurled a ball about and ran up and down with glee.

Sandy Balls has numerous smaller lodges,as well as caravan sites and space for camping too. At peak times, I suspect it may become very crowded indeed,but when we visited in June, it was great. All in all, Sandy Balls was perfect for a family holiday. It even had its own Spar supermarket on site for when you run out of milk or fancy an ice-cream.

It was not the most luxurious holiday I've ever had, but I don't really want that now I've got a child, and it had everything you need for a enjoyable family break.

(This article was written in 2003 and was published in more than 20 regional newspapers via the Press Association. Sandy Balls is still going strong.)

A family holiday at Sandy Balls in beautiful Dorset (June 2003)

My daughter squealed with delight as the waves rushed over her legs. I'd never heard her so excited before. She was having the time of her life.

I honestly hadn't expected too much from our week's holiday at Sandy Balls.

With a name like that, it sounded more like a Carry On film than a week's vacation. I was wrong. Sandy Balls far exceeded my expectations. It couldn't have fitted the concept of a family friendly holiday any better.

It's hard to know what to do for a holiday once you have children. Old favourites -quiet hotel,beautiful beach and good night life - go out of the window. You want facilities, especially safe ones, on tap, a pleasant room to spend all those holiday evenings baby-sitting and, if at all possible, the luxury of not having to share quarters with your offspring.

It should also not be too expensive. Once you have a child,money magically becomes tighter.

Sandy Balls,deep in the New Forest, came up trumps on all those counts and more. Within 120 acres of parkland are about 80 lodges and 50 caravans, with plenty of room for campers. The resort can hold a maximum of around 5,500 visitors in peak season -and offers an abundance of activities for children.


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