Great Notley Country Park — Attraction in Braintree

The ideal place for a day's outing with the family! The only issue we have is the cost of parking. It is now automated with CCTV, so you have to buy a ticket from the machine by entering your reg number. Forget, and it will still let you out but you get a fine in the post. It's not cheap, starting at £3 (some would argue this is good value for a day trip, but not if you plan on going regularly).

For the venue though, it's got a bit of everything. It has two massive fields for picnics, ball games and kite flying; one of these often becomes a car park in the summer but hardly affects things. There is also a lot of other green space throughout the park, intermingled with fun obstacle course activities. There are high ropes, balance beams, trust games and huge swings - not the best for toddler, but it means the teenagers aren't bored - or the dads!

There are tamer attractions too, with sand pits & play areas, lots of water structures that enable you to channel/block water using different methods. Great fun to watch, and lovely seeing kids playing with new-found friends without any electronic gizmos in sight!

The park has a decent fine-gravel path throughout, so you won't need wellies even on a wet day (although some of the lesser-walked areas are prone to flooding - not a huge issue).

While all outside, the Discovery Centre is a super place to eat, hire bikes, grab flyers for local attractions and ask the park rangers any queries. The only drawback, like with most touristy places, is the cost of food. Again, as a one-off treat I doubt many would have an issue with the prices, but the lollies, drinks and snack food in the cafe are much dearer than equivalents in Tesco....which is less than a five minute walk away. On that note, Tesco also allows a 90-minute parking allowance so if it's a quick walk or cycle-ride you can always park there (pedestrians can walk straight there with no issues).

Another jewel in the crown of the GNCP is its proximity to the Flitch Way country park (a stunning path from Braintree to Bishops Stortftod, courtesy of Mr Beeching in the 60s). By negotiating just one very quiet village road, cyclists, dog walkers etc can get all the way to the GNCP. As Braintree residents, we often cycle from home via the Flitch Way with young children and it is a very safe and pleasant journey.

So, easy to access, loads to do, ample amusement for all ages (provided you're an active sort), and designed to provide a great time in the fresh air regardless of the weather You could easily stay here for the whole day....provided you can afford...

Discovery Park? Thought as this was a country park with a name like this that there may have been some broad information about wildlife or bugs or something about the country but found a cafe, a children's water feature for messing about and getting wet, a cycle path come footpath around the countryside and large Lake (fishing available but did not see any info about that) but no swimming! Lots of ducks and swans that are very hungry! Please don't feed them bread as it's not healthy for them.

Theres a seperate business called Sky Ropes where you can do some climbing about some high structure. Probably great for those seaking an adrenaline fix! Poor information on the Web site so please see the photos I took of the information that's on site. The season starts tomorrow 21st July 2018. Minimum child height is 1 metre and older children from 1.2 metre.

Sky Ropes, I'm told will need pre booking and paid separately from the park. The park is free to use but you will all need to pay for the car park. £1 for entry to half hour and up to £6.50 for the day. Remember your car registration number as you'll need to pay for your car before exiting.

We didn't use the ropes place as it wasn't open but came to get more info. No leaflets available! No bar codes to scan for the Web site and the old climbing wall (near the toilet entrance) looked a little the worse for wear and needs the foot/hand pegs putting back on before it can be used again.

The kids entertainment using the water gizmos and the other items kept them busy for a couple of hours (bring change of clothes etc!). Picnic tables were available but probably nowhere near enough when they get busy. Very little sunshade and no umbrellas to keep off the sun!

Not that many people around today so it was a great place to fly the kites. Just be sensible not to do this above people already sitting on the grass area!

A quiet stroll afterwards to feed the ducks and spot the wildlife and flowers etc took up 6 hours+ so the cafe was handy for a coffee, ice cream and cake (cake a little dry but not enough to complain about).

The are NO litter bins anywhere in the park so bring spare bags to take your rubbish away instead of leaving on the ground as some were doing!!!

Great fun. Shame the parking is so much cost otherwise we would visit quite often but...

Excavations in Great Notley revealed the remains of Iron Age and Roman settlements with a series of enclosures overlaid with a Roman development on the site of the Skyline Business Park. It is thought that there was a series of occupations on the site from the late Iron Age onwards, which included brewing, farming and the production of textiles.

Great Notley Country Park however is relatively new, having been created from the remnants of Gt Notley Village when it was developed as part of the new 'self-sustaining' garden village.

It has grown up with the community surrounding it, and is quite unique in that its wildflower meadows, lakes and other landmarks were created from scratch and over the years have grown and developed in to what you see today.

Whether you're an adventurer at heart or just want to relax and unwind in Essex's beautiful countryside, Great Notley Country Park offers the perfect day out for all the family.

Covering 100 acres of open space the park is home to Sky Ropes, the fun, family friendly high ropes adventure course as well as Essex’s longest kid’s play trail.

Jump, swing, slide, crawl and climb your way around 1.2km of fun including giant seesaws, swing scales, rope climbers, slides, forts and a large sand play area.

Looking for something a bit quieter? The park also offers some lovely areas to explore and enjoy nature including a fishing lake and wildflower meadows. It’s popular for a wide range of activities including birdwatching, walking, cycling, fishing, horse riding, football, picnics and kite-flying.

Read our summer Wildflower Walks blog to find out more about what you can spot.

Great Notley Country Park is delighted to have been awarded Green Flag status again this year as well as being nominated for the Fields in Trust Award for Best UK Park.

Eating & Drinking The café currently offers outdoor seating and takeaways, serving a range of sandwiches, snacks and drinks, with menus changing seasonally. This includes a selection of ice cream flavours, perfect for hot summer days, and coffee and hot chocolate for when you...