Quite simply - a beautiful country park that is led and managed well, perfect for walkers, runners, cyclists, families (young and old), golfers, train enthusiasts and nature lovers.

First - I will add this is a working Forest led and managed by forestry England - meaning that it is a place of work with continual management of the land you will explore. The paths are well maintained and there are multiple walks that are accessible to all. I will repeat this - ACCESSIBLE TO ALL - regardless of skill and level.

I took the family as we wanted to try Go Ape (paid extra for this service and have left a different review for the experience) - whilst they climbed I took a short walk around to get a feel for the place. The visitor centre is the hub of activity, complete with cafe/restaurant, gift shop, ice cream stand, water refill station, toilets, dog wash station, cycle hire, Segway hire and the Go Ape playgrounds. There were multiple staff here and with so many families descending on the space I decided to walk off and find some solace.

20 minutes walking took me atop a hill in a heavily forested section of the park. The Lookout. It had a beautiful view of the horizon and had no people there. It was peaceful and a nice spot to lunch for later.

I returned, collected family and took them on a walk starting on the play trail, where there were dozens of unique and bespoke playground/climbing frames that really do capture the imagination. My personal favourite was the Hawk House - it was huge!

The play trail is designed for young families to wonder the woods, therefore it was quite busy - no cyclists or fitness enthusiasts here.

We decided to bypass the last part of the play trail, ascending into the tree top walk and then veered Northward to the Lookout for lunch. When doing so I noticed we were walking another family route which required the purchasing of a kids story book themed guide to follow. Ignoring this, we beelined straight to the top where we found the Lookout again completely empty. We had a peaceful lunch away from the noisy kids on play trail and soaked up the natural atmosphere.

We continued the walk now on the yellow trail that eventually took us out of the woods onto heathland. Here we bombarded by all sorts of butterflies and flying insects. My son also spotted a new species of fungi I hadn’t logged on iNaturist - great find!

This part of the walk also took us alongside a beautiful stream and through a well maintained golf course. Eventually we came to another part of a walking trail designed for those that require a sturdy footpath for their walking habits. This path led to another visitor centre at the other end of park - where we boarded a quaint miniature steam train - bought some ice cream - and railroad all the way back to the beginning visitor centre, disembarking in yet another huge park. Alas, there were many parents and families here, so we decided to move on.

All in all, this was a great day with so much to see and do. In total we were in the park for just under 5 hours - which cost £12.50 in parking. Not a bad price for entry I think and if it contributes to the upkeep of such parks and promotes more of them in this country I’ll happily pay the price.

We will return.