Just before the kids bugger back off to school they found a love for their bikes and bike tracks. They specifically only like pump tracks that have tarmac and not the gravel kind. On our way home from one in Leighton Buzzard I saw Tiddenfoot waterside park and thought we’d go check it out.
Tiddenfoot Waterside Park
Normally when we head out that way it’s to visit Rushmere county park (my favourite place). Since the virus all I have heard about it disrespectful twats swamping the place and making a mess so we haven’t been for months. Now Tiddentoot waterside park is no Rushmere but the boys had a lovely wander round anyway.
I thought the sat nav had sent me into the arse end of nowhere but don’t worry. Keep going through the residential area and you’ll get there in the end. There is a car park whoop. However its not the biggest and was a bit busy. There were spaces but I’m shite at parking so I chose road side instead.
If you have train mad kids like mine then there’s a pretty decent spot to watch them zooming by in the distance. You can hear them the whole way round but only caught a glimpse a couple of times.
Take a photo of the map when you get there. Not tat you’ll get lost is a big arse circle around a lake. There are around 4 or 5 play sections. I wont say play areas because they’re more like balance beams and climbing bits rather than the slide and swing type of play area.
Exploring Tiddenfoot Waterside Park
That being said we still missed a few haha. They were placed fairly evenly out though which is always a great way to keep the whinging ball bags moving. I decided to let them take their bike and scooter. Which of course meant I ended up dragging both of the buggers round after around 5 mins.
Its still a pretty descent spot to take the bikes though and I’m pretty sure there were some routes going away from the water too which could make the ride a bit bigger. The boys had already tired themselves out on the bike track though so will have to leave further exploration for another day.
Walking round and it was actually really quiet and peaceful. There were a few fisherman about which i tried to get the kids to whisper for. Yeah like that worked! we managed to find a spot next to the lake to have a proper nose. The water was crystal clear. The boys wanted to go in but the signs said not swimming. Not sure if that applies to paddling too but I didn’t want to piss anyone off.
There were a fair few ducks knocking about. Had I known I’d have taken the bread with me. Yes we’re a bread feeding family I think it’s going to be an ongoing debate to be honest. One min were killing them with bread next we’re killing swans by not feeding them bread so fuck it we’re sticking to bread.
Wildlife Spotting Round The Lake
If you’re not keen on bugs then maybe avoid it here. We saw dragonflies bigger than an actual fucking dragon. Seriously cool though. Managed to get a photo of one and it looked like it had a face haha kept me amused anyway.
There was a bird hide too although we had shit all idea what we were looking at to be fair. We saw some ducks, A white bird and a taller white bird. There were a fair few bird watchers knocking about too though so maybe they were rare birds who knows.
Once we did the full loop we decided to head to the fence by the field with the ponies in. The ponies were super friendly and this spot was a great spot to watch the trains by too. I think we must have stayed a good half hour there to be honest. Hey if the kids are happy then I’m happy.
There were paths the whole way round too so it’s great for pushchairs, bikes, scooters and wheelchairs too. There were some steps down at one point so me and Elliot had a quick nosey and saw a sign about swim being shut because of covid. This was by the lake side so i wonder if they normally have open swims! one to look out for anyway.
Tiddenfoot Waterside Park Stats:
Distance from Bicester: 45 mins
Sat nav: Tiddenfoot Lake, Leighton Buzzard LU7 2AE Click to load sat nav
Wheelchair friendly: Yes
Equipment upkeep: 8/10
Cleanliness: 8/10
Facilities: No facilities
Age range: All ages
Safety: 8/10
Fun factor: 9/10
Dog friendly: Yes
Pushchair Friendly: Yes
Bikes and Scooters: Yes
Conclusion
The boys had a great time exploring Tiddenfoot waterside park. Its not the biggest walk but there’s enough to keep them busy for a couple of hours. You could do more if you went off and explored the area more. Its right next to the canal too.
I’m not sure if we would go out of our way to re visit but thats because we’ve been once already. The areas that the kids could play in were a great idea and kept them going because they were looking for the next one.
I would say its a great space for the kids to try their bikes out too. The lake itself is stunning and made some great photos as i pissed about with the reflections of the sky. Still cant believe how clear that water was and not a single trolly in sight!
