Fun at the Fair!
Tags: out and about, park, wicksteed park.
Late on Saturday morning we found ourselves at a bit of a loose end in Kettering (Northamptonshire) with an increasingly hungry and bored toddler on our hands. A quick google of “kettering parks” and I discovered we were just 10 minutes drive away from Wicksteed Park, a “family theme park” aimed at toddler ages upwards.
We quickly hopped in the car and headed over and, after a quick pitstop for a bottle of water and some cash, we were soon parked up and headed into the park for lunch. There is no entry fee for Wicksteed Park; instead there is a parking charge of up to £6 depending on the day, and then you can purchase ride tokens or wristbands once inside, to use on the variety of rides. Most of these were aimed at older children (we’re talking 4-10 year olds here though, not teenagers), but we did get a few tickets so that we could go on the few things Georgie was allowed on.
As well as a variety of rides, the park has one of the biggest and best adventure playgrounds I have ever seen… and it’s all free! The local kids are so lucky to be able to walk over to that place as their local park and get into that playpark for free! They also had plenty of places to buy food, ice cream & drinks, as well as a sweet shop (that we weren’t too impressed with) and a gift shop.
Once we had eaten our jacket potato lunches we headed down to the “Wicksteed Railway” and had a go on the little train. Georgie adored it, especially when it went around and over the lake. She sat on her Daddy’s lap and stared happily out of the side of the carriage taking it all in.
After this James took her on the carousel in one of the carriages – her first fairground ride! It started with confusion, then she was just sitting and looking about, but towards the end of the ride she was up on Daddy’s knee and clapping happily as they went round – so cute! Can you spot her in this video?
I took her own the little tea cup ride, which was hilarious as I had to squeeze my expanding bump into the cup, and then Georgie kept trying to climb on top of the rotating handle thing in the middle. She did seem to like it spinning round and round though, and wasn’t in a hurry to get off it at the end. A visit to the playground to buy ice creams and go on the swings and one of the smaller “climbing frames” and we packed our tired out toddler back into the car and headed home.
I think the park is definitely worth visiting for locals and anyone who doesn’t have to drive too far to get there. During the summer holidays I would have killed to have a place like that within walking distance, to take my increasingly bored toddler to, so I hope the local mums make use of that playground, it’s simply fantastic!
