Today we were invited to the incredible new adventure playground Tumblestone Hollow at Stonor Park and we LOVED it! Stonor Park was the first place we visited our of lockdown last year and the grounds are so beautiful. The addition of Tumblestone Hollow makes it the perfect family day out.
We were gifted tickets for the purpose of this review.
Tumblestone Hollow
The incredible new adventure playground opened today and has been 18 months in the making. It’s been designed for four to twelve-year-olds however Ashley is just under 3 and loved it! There are climbing nets, look-out decks, high level walkways and bridges, all connected by a quirky central tower – it’s an incredible playground! Ashley of course needed help getting around, but we were having great fun helping her!
There’s also a large sandpit toddler play area with a small slide, a water pump, toddler swings, a tunnel and more so little ones definitely won’t be short of things to do!
There are 3 brilliant slides (2 of which we went down with her) and a smaller toddler slide. It was great watching all the kids flying down these slides having the best time!
Stonor Park have spent £250,000 on Tumblestone Hollow and you can tell, it’s huge! The magical playground also has a new children’s book to go with it – The Legend of Tumblestone Hollow. The book is all about the magical children that live in the playground. I read it to Ashley last night before we visited which made her so excited to go.
The Legend of Tumblestone Hollow’ is available from the Visitor Centre at Stonor and costs £5.99.
They have restricted the numbers and I felt like they’d really got it right today. There was a great atmosphere with families having fun without it being too busy.
Stonor Park Gardens
The gardens at Stonor Park are beautiful! They aren’t huge so are great for little legs to wander round. We first went last year when Ashley had just turned 2 and she wandered round on her own no problem. There are a couple of ponds which she loved looking at the fish. At the moment the gardens are covered in spring flowers, with huge patches of daffodils and beautiful blossom trees.
Slightly later in the season you’ll get to see the whole garden in bloom. Here’s a few photos from when we visited at the end of May last year so you can see.
Food and Drink
You can either take your own picnic or enjoy a wood-fired pizza or burgers or hot dogs from the shepherd huts inside Tumblestone Hollow . There are giant wooden benches surrounding the playground and in the parkland next to the car park. Alternatively take a blanket and enjoy a picnic in the beautiful grounds that surround Stonor Park. You might even be lucky enough to see some of the deer running around!
Best bits: The new playground is brilliant! They’ve done a fantastic job on it and I love that it’s all made from sustainably sourced wood. Ashley had so much fun in it and would happily have stayed all day if we’d let her!
Worst bits: It’s hard to find fault with it but it would be good if there were a few more bits for toddlers to play on if they are there with older siblings.
Cost: Weekend, bank holiday and school holiday prices: adults (over 16) £9, children over 105cm £11.50, children 92cm to 105cm £9.50, children under 92cm go free.
Discounted tickets are available for weekdays during school term time.
Tickets: All tickets must be pre-booked via the website, www.stonor.com which
Pram friendly: Yes (ish). You can get a pram round all of it but Tumblestone Hollow is on quite a steep hill so it is a bit of a slog getting the pram up there.
Bike & scooter friendly: No
Location & parking: Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Free parking onsite.
Sat nav: RG9 6HF
Baby in Bucks Top Tips
If your little one can walk, ditch the buggy and let them wander around. You’ll enjoy the gardens more without your buggy and they aren’t huge.
Get your order in early if you are having pizza to avoid long queues at peak lunchtime.
If you are ever just visiting the gardens (and not Tumblestone Hollow) then you can get 2 for 1 entry using the Garden’s World 2 for 1 card which you can get in May’s issue.