We visited a few days ago-on a sunny day- and the experience was magical. The park was beautifully maintained, with a gorgeous path-route around the river. It's a large, busy park, but is expanse enough that you don't feel that everyone is on top of you. It's a short walk to the town centre, so visitors can go for a shop and then have a nice scenic walk.

The playground had something for various ages and abilities. I have a 3 year old and 1.5 year old who could access a lot of the equipment, and had fun having multiple goes on things.

There's a seasonally run splash pad section to the playground (was available when we went), which of course my kids and the oldest child-at-heart had to try out. It was immaculately clean and I love these additions to playgrounds recently. These splash pads are a great draw when booking holidays, but as money is tight, why not just pop to Shrewsbury instead of forking out for a holiday to use one.

We went to the coffee kiosk attached to the playground (coffee evolution I think it was called), which had outdoor seating overlooking the river, with limited seating under an outdoor cover. The food and drinks were fairly high priced, but the quality was excellent, so this kind of trumps the price for me. There was also a smaller food van there and the Boathouse pub, just over the bridge. We didn't go to the pub, but it looked stunning and seemed very busy (a good sign).

The garden, next to the beautiful bandstand, were sublime. It was magical oasis, which my children loved to explore the paths off the main walk, feed the ducks on the pond and marvel at the colours and sounds all around. It was a pure sensory experience. There's an abundance of benches there, perfect for a rest to bask in the tranquility.

We obviously didn't try this, but boating activities are available here and there's a park run on Saturdays.

The only negative thing I can say is that the toilets were not great. I can only comment on the women's (was a men's and disabled access toilet too), but there were no toilet seats- not great for when holding your little one's over the toilet, the toilets were grubby and the baby change table was a bit dirty too (but at least it was sturdy). On the plus side, at least there were working toilets open and available. With the footfall coming through to use the toilets, I imagine it's a big upkeep for cleaning staff.

This park is perfect for kids, adults (young and old), families, dog walkers, nature lovers, fitness fans. A gem within a beautiful town.