Kids
Adventurous play at Bedgebury
MANY fond childhood memories include running through the woods with a stick, building dens and climbing trees. Since its installation in spring 2006, thousands of
children have come to Bedgebury to explore such delights at the adventure play trail. There are 12 individual play areas tucked away among the trees inside a half-mile perimeter track. The trail is specially-designed to encourage young
explorers to relive the adventures and challenges faced by the intrepid Victorian plant hunters who brought back some of our most exotic trees and shrubs from the farthest corners of the planet. The imposing shipwreck, or pirate ship, is the first
port of call for most youthful adventurers - created in honour of eminent botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who was almost lost at sea during one of his expeditions. The boardwalk then takes you through chestnut coppice and past a pirate captain's chair to the native village, which is full of slides, wobbly bridges and musical sculptures.
As you penetrate deeper into the interior, you stumble across the giant spider and its webs, the huge rope swing, the mighty tree house, the butterfly climbing wall, the mysterious statue head and tom-tom drums, the tree stump and tunnels and the dragonfly slide. Eventually you reach the latest installation - a brand new adventure trail obstacle course, built last summer with generous support from the Friends of Bedgebury. At a time when it is all
too easy for children to stay indoors in front of a TV or computer screen, Bedgebury offers the chance to get up close and personal with nature. As well as the formal play equipment, everywhere you look there are homemade camps and fallen trees that fertile imaginations have converted into spacecraft, racing cars and galleons. Without losing their
sense of adventure and independence, children of all abilities can access new pathways and much of the equipment. Bedgebury is open
all year and costs just £8.50 for a car-load of adventurers. Come and create your own adventure in a world of trees.
Mid Kent Living 17
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