Beacon Wood Country Park

Beacon Wood Country Park is a welcoming green space well suited to traditional fun loving families, with plenty of space for bat and ball games etc., shady picnic areas and a variety of trails running around intriguing old clay pits (which are in the interesting process of returning to their natural state, a great additional learning experience if you point it out).

All this alongside a wide mix of flora and fauna plus a pond, dotted with accessible wildlife information points to you can squeeze the educational value out of it all!

Now a Site of Nature Conservation Interest, the park's outer reaches are a brilliant place to learn most of the UK's native trees all in one trip, like oak, ash and sweet chestnut under which bluebells, dog's mercury, wood anemone and the delightfully named stinking iris grow as a bonus.

Seasonal ponds in the lower part of the old pit create perfect breeding grounds for colourful dragonflies as well as newts and frogs so this is a magical spot to visit with eagle eyed children. Green woodpeckers, sparrow hawks, foxs, squirrels, butterflies and fly agaric fungi can be also seen if you take the time to look, so all in all it's a woodsy kids' dream day trip!