Hinchingbrooke Country Park blossoms with new adventure area

08/05/2022

Hinchingbrooke Country Park covers 150 acres of open grasslands, mature woodland and lakes. It is a great place to visit for families, nature spotters, dog walkers and those who wish to enjoy the great outdoors. Since 2018 Hinchingbrooke Country Park has held the Green Flag Award, recognising and rewarding the best parks and green spaces internationally. There is an excellent mix of play areas, a cafe, hard-surfaced and muddy paths, secluded woodlands and wildflower meadows, all within a short walk. The park has a wealth of wildlife, whether you are armed with a camera or binoculars! All three species of British woodpecker can be seen here, along with nuthatch and marsh tit, or you may be lucky enough to spot an otter or a kingfisher. In the summer of 2021, eibe play was invited to tender for the installation of four separate play zones around the park, designed to encourage visitors to discover other areas of the park and represent elements of the nature found within the park. After conducting an initial in-depth consultation with the park's teams, eibe play understood what was required from the play points the Park Mangers wanted to have installed. When designing any play space, eibe play strives to offer a variety of play value for children of all ages and abilities and, wherever possible, allow good access for children in wheelchairs and prams. The first play zone we designed for the park is a sensory zone for toddlers to early juniors and those in wheelchairs. A curved, hardstanding path leads throughout it, and on either side, you will nature-themed play panels and climbing insects.

The play panels can be used by all abilities and provide a fun play point that offers puzzle solving and discovery. Alongside these, we have included musical elements such as musical chimes and a rain wheel to add to the sensory aspect of this play zone. Alongside this are a climbing cricket and snail, another great sensory and role play element within this play space. Around a two-minute walk from the Sensory Play Zone, you will come across Grasslands, the second play zone within the park. This fantastic play zone offers climbing for children aged five and over, with various challenging crossings and ascents onto the multiple towers. This play feature has been designed to look like natural grassland and also contains natural carved grassland features to add to the theming. This fantastic climbing unit has been installed onto a natural-looking bonded mulch surface. Take a ten-minute walk, and you will stumble across our third play zone, Wetlands. This play zone includes our brand new Robina Play Duck. A fantastic feature that offers climbing, role play and discovery. Flanked by two play panels, this item is a must-have for any country park! The last area within the play park is our Squirrels Dray toddler zone. This play zone has been designed for children up to five years old and is an introduction to climbing and swinging, promoting essential development skills at a young age, such as balancing and upper body strength. With the added theming elements of our carved wooden squirrels on top of the posts and also the squirrel spring rockers, this offers a fantastic play offering to the younger visitors of the park.
A successful installation period led us to open these play zones in time for the start of the summer holidays in 2022, and as the first stage was so successful, the council have designed to add further items to each play zone with work to start in mid-Aug 2022.