I had spotted Longbarn park whilst driving along Birchwood way and we visited a few days later. It's a nicely kept park with a big pond and green areas. It looks like it has an active 'Friends' group and they are certainly keeping it to a high level of tidiness. The planters are a nice touch with flowers. We didn't have a proper explore as Little Park Explorer was complaining about her legs being tired about 2 minutes after we got out of the car.
The playpark itself is in the middle of the grass area but accessed by a tarmac path. Just outside the gated area is a multi sports goal with football goal, basketball hoop and cricket stumps. Next time we'll bring a ball!
The playpark itself was bright and inviting and we had it to ourselves (just after 9am on a surprisingly cold half term Thursday).
There is a nice variety of different equipment, including the highest tower we've seen so far, musical accessories, and 4 different types of swings. As with all the parks in the local area half the swings have been taken down but still lots of choice and lots of opportunity if it was busy. The equipment was in good condition. The roundabout was easily pushed by a 3.5yr old and the musical chime bars still had their beaters attached.
One nice touch is the level of detail on the floor. A big pond painting went down well - for some reason we always end up playing 'duck and fish' which involves running between the ducks and fish painted on the floor on some parks. A more unusual feature for this park is a little race track with hop, jump and run sections. It's perfectly sized for an adult following the instructions to have to put a bit of effort in against a 3yr old who isn't!
Parking: We struggled a bit to find the best way in. There was space for us to park on road at Meadow Lane. Be cautious driving down Nook lane - there is very little space to turn around at the end if someone has already parked down there.
Toilets: None in the park but we went to Birchwood shopping centre afterwards to warm up with a coffee and a chocolate babyccino and used them there.
Active transport: It's located on the Birchwood to Sankey way cycle path, but I didn't notice any cycle parking
Comments