Football and fun at St George's Park, Staffordshire

We love travel and we're all big football fans too, so a trip to St George's Park sounded like a good fit for us! And you know what? It was. We all had a great time. Let Robert, aged 11, tell you more....

St George’s Park is in Staffordshire and is the English Football training ground, home to all 20 of our national teams. The site was bought by FA in 2001 but the actual project only started in 2005. It took fifteen months and £105 million to build St George’s Park and so everyone would be happy it is located right in the middle of the country. The whole site is 330 acres in size although only 130 acres are currently in use (there’s space for a golf course so the players will enjoy staying there even more in future!)

[kad_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_AyKod7WCc&t=3s" width=200 height=100 ]

 

The Hilton hotel is connected to St George’s and is where all the players stay. It’s not just English footballers who stay there though, as foreign teams might come when they are playing an English side. Most of the Premier League teams have stayed and Barcelona have been there on two occasions. There are eleven executive rooms used mainly by managers and important club staff and the England team stayed there at the beginning of November, ahead of the World Cup qualifier game against Scotland and the friendly against Spain.

When we went to St Georges Park, the Australian Rugby Team were there, which shows that it’s not just footballers who come and stay. During the Rugby World Cup last year both the Irish and Argentinian teams rested at the Hilton.

[caption id="attachment_3496" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert and Harry Kane![/caption]

We were given a tour around the site and were shown some really cool things like an autograph wall which had been signed by countless famous people. Geoff Hurst was the first to sign his name and the list now includes Messi, Suarez, Gerrard, David Cameron and Ollie Murs plus loads of other footballers and celebrities.

Throughout our tour we saw some of the thirteen full size pitches that were scattered about. There was an exact replica of the pitch at Wembley Stadium which was 96 percent real grass and only four percent artificial. There was also a full size indoor pitch which cost £1m and is made of elite fibre. The indoor pitch is temperature controlled and can be watered although it is artificial. When we came, the England under 16’s were playing on this pitch.

[caption id="attachment_3497" align="alignnone" width="1200"] All of us by the Wembley replica pitch[/caption]

England has so many different football teams, including a men’s and women’s team, under 21’s, under 16’s plus a team for the blind and a team for the disabled. There are quite a few others which I haven’t yet mentioned like the English Futsal team who play Futsal, a game with a smaller teams and a smaller pitch. They train in the blue indoor Futsal hall which was paid for by St George’s main sponsor Nike and can also be used for basketball and netball. There are also a number of other pitches including a 3G pitch and one made of elite fibresand.

[caption id="attachment_3493" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The changing rooms were all named after players (or people connected to football!)[/caption]

On our tour around St George’s, which opened in October 2012, we were shown all the training equipment that players would use. There is a massive gym full of cross trainers and weights as well as three normal pools, a plunge pool and an underwater treadmill which cost a quarter of a million pounds. We were shown inside the human performance lab and I was amazed by all the machinery inside like the treadmill that takes away gravity from your legs. The room is mainly used for testing players’ ability but can also be used for player medicals.

[caption id="attachment_3494" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The state of the art underwater treadmill[/caption]

St George’s Park is home to top physios who treat the top players, although members of the public can also come as part of their medical treatment.

There are seven changing rooms on site and we were let into the under 21’s changing room and the senior team’s one where all the top English players like Harry Kane, Deli Alli and Eric Dier would have changed into their kit or had an ice bath after a game.

I loved going on the tour and learning about English football and England’s national training ground. Our rooms in the Hilton Hotel were lovely too, there was a great swimming pool we enjoyed using, and overall I had a great day.

Sarah adds: We all enjoyed our St George's tour and also staying at the Hilton. We had interconnecting rooms (always brilliant for families) and the pool area was large and really lovely. It is a huge hotel which is football themed - the bar is called Crossbar and there is a Centre Circle coffee lounge! We were particularly impressed by the excellent breakfast where there was lots of choice. It's a good place to stay if you're in the area as it's quiet and very convenient for Drayton Manor (read Robert's piece here) and the National Memorial Arboretum (read my piece here).

Disclosure: We went on the St George's tour and stayed at the Hilton as part of a “Staffordsheerescape” package, courtesy of Enjoy Staffordshire, although they had no input at all into this blog post. You can find details of the St George's tours on their website and they cost £9 per person. We also visited Drayton Manor, on a package which starts at £170 for a family of four, and includes an overnight stay (hence our stay at the Hilton St George’s Park), plus admission to Drayton Manor Park and two other attractions. There’s a basket of 10 to choose from in all, including the Snow Dome and Trentham Monkey Forest – so you’ll have a fun packed time. You can see the details of the Drayton Manor package here. You can add on the tour as an extra if you like! Rooms at the Hilton vary from £90 to £110 per room per night.

The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire

[caption id="attachment_3439" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Naval Memorial[/caption]

With Armistice Day just around the corner, it seemed a perfect time to tell you about the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. It is a really beautiful and important place, sad and moving, and a really good location for a visit from the whole family. It’s also remarkably peaceful, with the Rivers Tame and Trent flowing through the site.

The Arboretum was inspired after David Childs, who set it up, visited Arlington Cemetery and the National Arboretum in Washington DC in 1988. John Major, the then Prime Minister, launched an appeal to set up the Arboretum in 1994, even though there was no land or money at the time. It was officially opened in 2001 and is a fine tribute to all the men and women who have laid down their lives for their country.

The Arboretum is set in 150 acres, with over 40,000 trees, over 300 memorials and an abundance of wildlife.

We took a buggy tour round some of the memorials and then walked around by ourselves later. The Arboretum is huge, so a buggy tour is a really good idea, especially if you are with kids, although the land train is another good option. Our guide, Maurice Dodds, used to be in the armed forces himself and he was full of information, driving us to some fascinating memorials and pointing out many more as we whizzed past.

[caption id="attachment_3441" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The memorial to Jewish servicemen and women[/caption]

It is really hard to pick out particular memorials as they are all important. However, there was something especially moving about the huge one to those killed in the fighting at Basra in the first Gulf War, as it seemed so recent, while there are many beautiful gardens and marked trees, all of which have their own stories to tell. There are memorials to postal workers and policemen and women, to those who lost their lives during the Northern Irish conflict, in Suez, in Kenya, and the Far East, to Jewish servicemen and women and to those in the special forces. There is a memorial to the Twin Towers and a memorial railway line to those who died setting up the Sumatra Railway, plus a large memorial for those who died in the Falklands, not so very long ago. And of course there are so many more, with new ones added each year, just as (sadly) new names are added to the armed services memorial. You can see a listing here.

The memorials are all very thoughtfully done. The one for the police (The Beat) is an avenue of trees made up of London planes and chestnuts – this is because the first truncheons were made from chestnut trees.

One of the most impressive is made out of glass and stone and is in memory of Naval personnel. It consists of 13 glass panels (which look like sails) representing the oceans of the world. Apparently when the sun shines on them, the tops of the panels create the shadow of a warship on the pavement surrounding them. At the far end there is a panel, in red to represent the setting sun, and it says (of course):  "At the going down of the sun, we will remember them.”

[caption id="attachment_3443" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Shot at Dawn memorial[/caption]

One of the most moving areas was definitely the Shot At Dawn Memorial which remembers those 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were shot in the First World War – whether for “cowardice”, desertion, disobeying orders or sleeping at their post. Many were under age.

The memorial is modelled on a 17-year-old, Herbert Burden, who was shot in 1915 at Ypres. His name and all the others are listed on the stakes surrounding the statue.

There is also a beautiful chapel, The Millennium Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness, which is open to people from all faiths – and none. A daily Act of Remembrance takes place each day at 11am – the only place in England where this happens.

It all sounds very sobering, and it was, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t suitable for children – and it’s certainly educational for all ages. Near the Somme memorial there is a reconstruction of a World War One trench, which was full of young children when we visited, all listening intently to actors dressed up as soldiers telling them about their lives. There is also a brand new sensory garden and another children’s woodland area to play in too.  There is a lovely cafe and coffee shop on site, but you can also bring a picnic and there is so much space, that even with lots of visitors, you won’t feel crowded.

[caption id="attachment_3446" align="alignnone" width="1200"] In the new kids' sensory garden[/caption]

The Arboretum offers an audio tour which covers 93 of the memorials and there is also a brand new  Remembrance Centre. We would really recommend it as it is also very moving, though small, with videos, art and even a way for you to create your own memorial landscape.

The Centre gives explanations and background to the concept of remembrance and the many different ways we can remember, contains interactive displays and a booth for you to record your own memories. There is also a quite magical pathway of leaves, which turns into poppies as you walk through it. Plus visitors to the Remembrance Centre have the audio guide included in their ticket price.

[caption id="attachment_3445" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Poppies on the floor at the Remembrance Centre[/caption]

A visit can take you a few hours or a full day, but it truly is a beautiful place which makes you think. There are regular activities and talks (including a daily Shot at Dawn talk at 1.30pm) It is free to enter – although the Remembrance Centre costs £7.50 per adult and £6 for a child aged between 6 and 16. A ticket for a family of four is £20.

Jess says: I enjoyed our visit to the National Memorial Arboretum much more than I expected. Although it was sobering in places, it felt very fitting to honour the inspirational people who have given their lives serving this nation. It also felt like a celebration of their achievements, rather than a grim display. The memorials were beautiful and the stories fascinating - though scary in places. I really liked walking through the trench, and a highlight of mine was going to the exhibition and finding out about different peoples’ experiences serving the country. A main message from the exhibition was to remember all the people who have sacrificed their lives, and I think that this is very important.

A 50 minute buggy tour is £5 per person, £2 per children (5-12 years), while a volunteer-led guided walk (45 minutes) costs £3 per person.  The land train is £5 per adult and £2 per child and leaves every 30 minutes between 9.30 and 3.30pm.

Disclosure: We visited the National Memorial Arboretum as part of a trip organised by Enjoy Staffordshire. Our buggy tour and visit to the Remembrance Centre were given to us on a complimentary basis, but all our opinions are, as usual, entirely our own.

While in Staffordshire we had quite a different experience at Drayton Manor theme park - read about that here.

Drayton Manor: not just for little ones (by Robert)

Robert, aged 11, writes:

In half term we went to Staffordshire for a short holiday and on the final day of our trip we went to Drayton Manor, which is a very cool theme park. There was loads to do for all different ages. Here’s what I thought.

Scary, Exhilarating Rides

Shockwave is one of the two main roller-coasters in the park. It is one of the few attractions that go upside down and is unlike any ride I’ve ever been on. It’s actually one of only two roller-coasters in Europe in which you stand up. The carriage adapts to your height, so your feet are on the ground, before sending you on a course of fast loops and turns. I really enjoyed Shockwave althoughI felt like I was going to fall out. This is only because I was one of the smallest people in the ride and the bar didn’t go any lower.

G Force is the other big rollercoaster in the park and was one of my favourite rides. At the beginning you slowly go up a large ramp before starting a loop the loop very slowly, which means you are dangling upside down for a small amount of time. Then you rush down quickly and go through a series of turns, twists and drops, not mentioning a few more loops. G Force is very popular and was one of the only rides at Drayton Manor that I had to queue for. I did really enjoy it though and it was worth the wait.

[caption id="attachment_3426" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The terrifying Maelstrom ride![/caption]

Maelstrom is a brilliant thing to go on if you’re a thrill seeker who isn’t scared of heights. The ride swings you up and down, every time escalating until it gets to the maximum height which is around 74 ft. Whilst spinning like a pendulum you are also spinning around so at some points you are falling forwards, sometimes falling backwards and sometimes falling sideways. I loved this ride and in my opinion it was one of the best attractions in the park.

The Bounty Pirate Ship is like a less scary version of Maelstrom. It still swings you up and down but it is not as high and you don’t spin around. There are people on both sides of the boat so you still go backwards and forwards but going backwards isn’t scary at all. The further to the side you are the higher you will go, so if your child forces you to go on you can let them go at the back and you can sit in the middle where it won’t be so scary.

Air race is a very fun ride which some could find quite scary. Don’t be fooled by the colourful aeroplanes: the ride basically spins you around for the entire time, one loop the loop after another. The ride gradually gets faster and fasters until you are whizzing around. Funnily enough it didn’t make me feel queasy at all although I’m sure some people didn’t get off so lucky!

There were a few of the scarier rides that I didn’t go on. Pandemonium looked very good but was closed when we went and In Stormforce 10 you get absolutely soaked, which I couldn’t face in the British winter time. Apocalypse was the only one of the big rides I chose not to go on as I couldn’t face a 177 ft drop.

Family Rides

I didn’t go on that many of these kinds of rides that weren’t very scary but one attraction that was very scary was The Haunting. Drayton Manor’s haunted house doesn’t actually have anything that should scare anyone over the age of six yet, after going to countless places like The London Tombs and The London dungeons I was expecting a different scenario than what actually happened. At the beginning we were shown a video in which a man told us “Some people see things, some people smell things and some people feel things.” I felt that implied that people were going to touch me and from then on was very scared. The whole thing actually turned out to be some models of ghosts and a chair that moved. Although it wasn’t that scary it was very fun and would recommend going. It is quite long so we had to queue for ten minutes or so.

I didn’t find Ben 10 Ultimate Mission Coaster that great or thrilling, but all the younger kids seemed to love it. In the ride you go quite fast at the beginning before reaching the end of the track and doing most of the ride again backwards. I did quite enjoy it and is perfect for younger children as it is fast but not too scary.

I enjoyed Yogi Bears 4D adventure as you can’t beat a free trip to the cinema. There wasn’t as many special effects as in ones I’ve seen before but we were still squirted with water and I found the film funny and a good way to let my queasiness go away from all the previous rides I had been on.

There are loads of other rides in the park that I didn’t go on. If you want to find out about them go to the Drayton Manor website  

Thomas Land

[caption id="attachment_3428" align="alignnone" width="675"] If you've got younger kids, they'll love Thomas Land![/caption]

A large chunk of the theme park was taken up by attractions all about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. As you would’ve guessed I spent nearly all my time in Thomas Land going on Bertie the Bus and Harold the Helicopter. Just joking! There are loads of calm rides to go on and the toddlers and kids seemed to be having the time of their lives. We did pop in for 10 minutes or so and it was very enjoyable.

Overall,  Drayton Manor is a brilliant place to go. Most of the people who go are there for Thomas Land so most of the other rides had no queue. There was so many things to do including a zoo with monkeys and a great reptile house. I loved going and would definitely recommend it.

Drayton Manor is open from November 19th for for its "Magical Christmas season". A family ticket for the park costs £98.

Disclosure: We went to Drayton Manor as part of a "Staffordsheerescape" package, courtesy of Enjoy Staffordshire, although they had no input at all into this blog post. The Drayton Manor package starts at £170 for a family of four, and includes an overnight stay (we stayed at the fabulous Hilton St George's Park, which you will read about soon!), plus admission to Drayton Manor Park and two other attractions. There’s a basket of 10 to choose from in all, including the Snow Dome and Trentham Monkey Forest - so you'll have a fun packed time. You can see the details of the Drayton Manor package here. 

Read what I thought of:

Thorpe Park

Siam Park (the best waterpark in the world!)