Fun in the sun at Fineshade Woods with the Gruffalo Spotter App

Wasn’t the weather last weekend just stunning? A bit of sunshine can work wonders and I think almost all of us were out there in some form to make the most of us weren’t we? We had already arranged to meet friends at Fineshade Woods, which is a forestry commission forest near to where we live, and were quite pleased to be able to go there in the sunshine as we’ve only ever been on rainy or cold days before!

The biggest difference was obviously how busy it was, still we were there early enough that we managed to park and met our friends. First up was a little play on the fab play area near the visitors centre.PhotoGrid_1491833272213

Then we headed off onto their newest trail, the Gruffalo trail! They had a Gruffalo trail here previously which ended with a sculpture, but I knew this one was all about the latest app, the Gruffalo Spotter, so I had downloaded it prior to arrival. We headed off down the trail and could immediately see the difference a sunny Sunday made, as it was busy! The kids loved spotting all the signs along the way even though we sometimes had to wait a bit to get close to some of them.PhotoGrid_1491833054674

The app itself is based on an augmented reality. You scan some of the signs and then the characters from the book come to life on your device. It’s kinda cool… But I’m not that convinced I have to admit. On a bright sunny day it was tricky to see the screen… And we only had phones rather than a tablet which I guess may be better.PhotoGrid_1491832908962

But for small children, I don’t think they really got why things were on my screen but weren’t really there. Trying to get them to pose for photos was tricky too as they were standing next to a sign and didn’t really get why. Monkey grasped it a bit but LM didn’t have a clue what was going on really! It didn’t help that it was a busy day as sometimes we had to wait to get to one of the signs, which the little ones really didn’t see the point of!

Then, the worst bit for us was that the final one, with the Gruffalo… Just didn’t work. I tried a few times and restarted the app but just nothing. I don’t think we were the only ones either so it was a shame. By that point the kids were pretty hungry anyway we easily distracted them and headed to the cafe.

I don’t think the app and the downsides detracted from our enjoyment of the trail… But actually I don’t think they enhanced it either. We all loved running around and playing in the woods and looking out for clues. The images we saw and pics we took gave us a bit of a giggle but I just think that actually for my kids at least, that they would have liked something tangible they could see, more than something on a screen. It also meant I was behind my screen a lot trying to get it to work, rather than being present and joining in the fun with them.

Like I say, we had a really lovely day. Catching up with great friends and having a fun outdoor adventure in lovely woods on a gorgeous day. I’m just not sure I’d bother with the app next time!PhotoGrid_1491833176426

Have you tried the Gruffalo Spotter app? What did you think? Am I being overly negative about it or did you think the same?

 

The Stick Man trail at Fineshade Woods

Last weekend we finally visited somewhere I have wanted to visit for ages, Fineshade Woods, to do the Stick Man trail. Fineshade is about 20 mins from where we live and yet we had never been, bonkers!  So with the sun shining we donned our wellies and headed off for a walk through the woods to rectify that. PhotoGrid_1456145605528

Stick Man is one of Monkey’s favourite books so he was dead excited to follow the trail. He excitedly ran to each of the signs and was excited by every picture from the book. Hubs also used the opportunity to help with Monkey’s reading by helping him read the signs, which Monkey found great fun. PhotoGrid_1456146479242

He also loved doing the activities at each point. I thought they were great too, building nests and towers and dens out of sticks! It was nice seeing those left over by others too and the kids had a fab time playing in a den left behind by previous explorers! PhotoGrid_1456146353976

For her part LM adored exploring the woods and yep the mud. She was straight in to any muddy puddle she could find and was so happy! (She got covered though as you can imagine!) PhotoGrid_1456146566144

On the whole we had a lovely time and lots of fun as a family. Then when LM’s welly got stuck in the mud and she stepped out of it covering her leg in mud we took as it a good time to end our visit and head to the lovely top lodge cafe for a hot drink and yummy food. PhotoGrid_1456147571918

There are some fantastic play areas at Fineshade too and though we had to cut short our visit because of a very muddy LM we look back to returning soon!

What you should know about visiting Fineshade Woods. 

Fineshade is easily accessible and well signposted from the A47 between Peterborough and Uppingham.

Pay & Display parking is in operation, £1 for an hour or £3 for the day,  coins only at the moment so don’t get caught out!

You don’t need an activity pack to complete the Stick Man trail but it does add to the fun. The pack cost £3 and is available from the cafe where the staff are so friendly and helpful.

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Dalby Forest, Yorkshire

While we were on our holidays in Yorkshire at the end of April (yes I know that it was a while ago) as well as visiting castles, seaside and abbeys I wanted to explore some of the natural loveliness of the North York Moors too, which were on our doorstep.

So on a slightly greyer morning we headed on up into the moors. Literally, up, as there was a huge incline on the road from where we were staying (near Thirsk) up into the moors, the scenery was amazing with forests and moors and cliffs. I had seen some information about Dalby Forest online and thought it looked like a great place to go and explore the scenery.

There are numerous trails suitable for all abilities, from accessible routes for buggies and wheelchairs, to more adventurous walks and mountain biking routes. The forest is huge too with so many different parts to it, and we really barely touched the surface on our visit.

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We started off at the visitor centre to buy a trail map and look at a couple of accessible routes. I really wanted to do a walk that made the most of the amazing scenery and views, but it was a very grey misty morning so as there was not really any chance of seeing the gorgeous views we started off on an accessible track near to the visitors centre (The Ellerburn red trail).

Taken with Lumia Selfie

I’m afraid to say this was a mistake, as the first leg of this track was a bit dull. It was definitely accessible but there wasn’t really anything there. I was hugely excited about exploring the forest and I didn’t really feel this route allowed that. It all went a bit to pot as I got confused and took a turning that wasn’t a turning and we ended up on a very inaccessible bit of track and had to carry the buggy back up a slope. I was in a foul mood and LM was getting grizzly so we headed back to the visitor centre. I think the second  bit of this track was much prettier and we probably should have carried on… but we didn’t so hey ho!

Back at the visitor centre we enjoyed a lovely little picnic and Monkey had a whale of a time on their amazing play-area – which is huge and fantastic with different areas for all ages.

dalby playarea

With LM asleep and the mist burnt off by the sun we headed to the trail I had originally wanted to go on (the Crosscliff view trial) in the hope of seeing some views. Straight away it had the feel I was hoping for surrounded by gorgeous woodland with the sunlight dappling through the leaves. While still accessible, it was a bumpier track, though LM still managed to sleep through it in the buggy.

We reached a viewpoint and were not disappointed with gorgeous views over the forest out towards the coast.

crosscliff view trailUnfortunately we had by this point realised we had left some of LM’s milk at the cottage…. so had to head back to the car to find a shop where we could buy some ready made formula before she woke up!

So our visit to Dalby Forest was shorter than planned but it is beautiful.  It is £7 to park there for the day so all I would say is choose your trail with care as you want to make the most of the time you are there, and I wouldn’t recommend the Ellerburn red trail particularly as there wasn’t much to see on the initial leg of the trail. The playpark is brilliant and there are others in different areas of the forest too.

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