A good playpark is like gold dust when you’ve got small children. For me, the boxes it needs to tick are:
- Enough equipment to keep a 3 and 7 year old simultaneously occupied
- Somewhere to sit and watch them
- A cafe nearby serving decent coffees, hot chocs in the winter and icecreams in the summer
- Picnic benches for packed lunches
- Walks nearby incase we’re feeling adventurous or have brought the dog
The brand new playpark at Allensford Country Park ticks all those boxes.
Playground
The new playground is great, with plenty for preschool and bigger kids, I’d say up to 10 year olds would be very happy. It’s enclosed with push gates which is ideal to stop little ones escaping and running towards the car park. There’s also a zip wire and rope swing outside the enclosed bit which are fun at any age (I always love a zip wire!)
The cafe at Allensford is called ‘Café @ Inn on the park’ (what a mouthful) and is next to the playpark. It serves a wide range of hot and cold food (the waffles look good on their Facebook page).
There’s a hatch where you can grab an icecream or hot choc to take to the park or you can sit inside which we did for the first time today. The cafe is dog friendly with a separate seating area for those with pooches and they serve dog ice cream for canine companions.
Allensford Park Car parks
There are two car parks, one at each end of Allensford. They’re both free and there’s plenty spaces (the postcode is DH8 9BA for both). Allensford Park is fairly easy to get to, just off the A68.
Toilets
The brand new public toilets next to the playpark are due to open 1st March, so not long to wait! If you’re using the cafe they have a toilet.
Allensford Park Walks
There are several walks that start at Allensford. There’s a lovely little one along the river to the old blast furnace https://landofoakandiron.org.uk/allensford-blast-furnace/
Another takes you to a waterfall and you can also get onto the Derwent Walk and Heritage Trail from Allensford (although on the day we visited begin Feb 2022 this was blocked off due to storm damage).
Paddling at Allensford Park
Allensford is great for a splodge all year round (in wellies in the colder months!) as it’s quite shallow and easily accessible from a little beach area. My kids love the little path along the river which involves clambering over tree roots and trying not to fall into the water!
Dogs at Allensgreen Park
There is a lot of space to walk the dog and throw balls over fields and into the River Derwent which has a little beach and is pretty shallow here. There are dog poo bins dotted about and you’ll see several other dog walkers but there’s so much space that you can keep your distance if you want to.
Picnics and BBQs
There are loads of picnic benches at either end of Allensford (there are also two car parks) and also plenty of bins, which is key. Plenty of people have BBQs there in the summer, it’s a lovely place to get the family or friends together.
Seasonal events
Every holiday (Easter, Halloween, Christmas) there’s a trail at Allensford - you pay £2 and get a sheet to fill in with related pictures to find dotted around the park. At the end your child gets a hot chocolate and haribos for completing it. It’s a lovely little add-on activity and we enjoyed the Halloween trail in 2021.
If the weather takes a turn for the worse, check out these rainy day ideas in Consett.
Good review but nothing on disabilities - my daughter has a wheelchair so would be good to know about access and blue badge spaces
ReplyDeleteHello, if you look on the parking website, there will be info about blue badge spaces. Our reviewers are not wheelchair users so can't share their experience with that but the photos will give you an idea of the terrain.
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