Stanwick Lakes — Attraction in Irthlingborough

Absolutely fantastic. Pre-arrival: the information on their website is very detailed. Specially the parking arrangements. For anyone that like to know as much as they can before arriving to a place, this is perfect. And I wish more places did the same. Accessible information was well detailed.

Arrival and parking: Straight forward parking with number plate reader at the entrance, no need to pay more than you need to. Good sized car park with loose stones. There are disabled parking bays near the pay machines and next to a paved path.

Food and drinks: The cafe is next to the car park. We had lunch after we arrived. Good sized kids portions, and quality ingredients. Coffees were good.

Walking route: We decided to do the purple "nature ramble" route, and wanted to take the shortcut. Unfortunately the shortcut was closed off, so we took the yellow "adventure trail" route. It was slightly further to walk in total and at the limit of the groups capability, but it was a good, easy trail.

Most wheelchairs would be able to do the route, some ultra light powered wheelchairs might struggle occasionally with the loose stone surface or give an uncomfortable ride.

Bird watching: Some fantastic and well maintained bird hides. Just bare in mind that young families will visit the area and kids aren't the quietest of people.

Playground: The water area is amazing. Our boys loved it. Definitely take a spare set of clothes and a towel. This is great for parent with reduced mobility, but can stand, to play with their kids.

Overall: And absolutely fantastic place to visit. Great for people that love the outdoors. A great place for birdwatchers, but bare in mind it does get busy on...

We've been a handful of times, and each visit has been different. This time, we came out of the visitor's centre and turned left at the kid's adventure play park. The path is nice enough itself, but the people we encountered, not so much. Still, we pressed on and eventually came to an old road leading to Irthlingborough, where we turned around (put off by massive concrete barriers blocking the old bridge and evidence of a burnt-out car!). We headed back along the same track, spotting wildlife where possible. We decided to eat in the cafe at the visitor's centre, but there were no suitable savoury snacks for vegetarians/vegans, aside from a 'bacon' roll. We had this last time we visited, and it was dismal - overcooked vegan bacon in a dry roll with no spread or sauce or anything! So, we avoided this and had cake instead. My wife has a scone, which was dry and hard, and almost inedible. We won't be eating here again. If we do return to Stanwick, we'll bring a picnic and head in the opposite direction, which is a much nicer walk. But much we can do about miserable/loud/obnoxious people and their equally obnoxious kids, but...

Lovely lakeside with a very useful playground including water features especially in these hot days!Fully equipped for changing a baby in the same place as the clean toilets with a simple baby changing table placed in there.I hope the full water system will be switched on soon but today assured us that we will be back soon!, Barbeque site is properly built up away from the playground and they advised to look after the people around you not to disturb with your smoke,so they built a BBQ site next to the lake with a petfect view to the lake.I fell in love with the place as do my children!Bufet service is excellent up until 7pm and flexible to the top! 5stars for the lovely lady there today!theres a whole lot to walk around too wich we cannot do as the little ones decided to stick around the playground water entertainment so do i.You cam take your dog for a walk appropriately positioned bins for all kinds of purposes.Happily recommend this lakeside with or without family!Update(12.05.2024): they built an extraordinary equipment made out of wood for the children aged from7-12 but my children loved it too even if they are...