I have just had one of the best days out with the kids ever and it only cost £2. It was great for the following reasons:

1. It was cheap (meaning we can do this often);
2. The kids didn’t whinge once and had a great time;
3. It wore them out completely;
4. It was very educational;
5. It was an outdoor and healthy day;
6. I thoroughly enjoyed it myself too, rather than just enjoyed their pleasure in a childish activity (which is what I normally do).

So what did we do?

Well as the title probably suggests we went to Trosley Country Park, just by Trottiscliffe and Vigo. Parking for the day is £1 (half the budget gone!) and for a further £1 we invested in an orienteering course around the park. The £1 gets you a map, instructions, a plastic protector wallet and SEVEN different courses to try. Obviously we only did one today, so we’ve still got six trips left without any more expense (other than the car parking).

Trosley Country Park is run and maintained by Kent County Council (KCC) – much as I find myself normally slagging off KCC (think Highways department here), I have to congratulate them on a fantastic service. The park is accessible to all (including young Travis in his pushchair), puts on loads of events throughout the year, has lots of fun ‘trim trail’ equipment as you go round, and to top it all off is slap bang in the middle of some of the most beautiful countryside… all this and practically on my doorstep.

When you arrive there is a visitors centre with a log fire burning away to keep it heated (presumably this doesn’t run in the summer!) and some really friendly staff that run a cafe in the centre. Obviously you don’t have to spend any money at all to walk around the park and there are several maps and plans of different suggested walks of varying difficulty. Personally though, spending that additional £1 on the orienteering course meant that I could easily keep the kids occupied (in looking for our next marker) while I enjoyed the tranquility and beauty of the place.

For more information call 01732 823570, click on this link, or pop into the Tourist Information office in town and pick up a leaflet.