We came across Farnborough village play park by sheer luck. At the time i was cursing my crap nav because it had again sent me into the arse end of nowhere. However all was forgiven when i spied this beauty out the corner of my eye.
Farnborough village play park
Its a bit of a mission to get to this park but if you’re already out that way then you should 100% pop in. Its North of Banbury so maybe an easy detour.
Another castle/fort and this one is another great example of how to do a playground well. Set in a lovely little village in a lovely fenced in big field.
Downside is that there is very little parking close by. Maybe with further investigation a better spot to park could be found.
Farnborough village play park equipment
The main attraction would have to be the giant wooden fort. Its fab from a distance but its magnificent when you get up close.
I’ve never seen anything like it before. If there happened to be a riot in the village This would be top of my list of places to hide.
Inside the fort you have lots of bridges and place to hide. A great spot for hide and seek. I.e send the kids to hide and you sit down for 5 mins occasionally shouting “i cant find you”
The Fort is brilliant but i would say you need to keep an eye on the 3’s and under’s depending on how capable they are with their balancing/Climbing.
Is Farnbourough village play park good for toddlers?
Threat not because the park is also a great one for smaller humans. Why? because it has a fab little toddler area too with its own little frame with a slide, tunnel and wobbly bridge. Some balancing areas and baby swings.
I’d say this is a perfect park for parents with older and younger kids. It even has plenty of benches for a picnic including a sheltered one for when you get caught in a shower.
I’ll be honest though Elliot (2) couldn’t give less of a shit about the toddler area he was all about the Castle. Cant say i blamed him either. It had a twisty slide and there’s not many kids that can resist a good spiral slide.
Not going to lie i could resist it either. I dragged my fat arse up there and had a go too. Pretty shocked it fit mind. I did have to go through the cargo tunnel though which took me ages. I have the agility of a breeze block and it didn’t help having Elliot taunting me from the other side either. Was fun though.
What else can you do in the park?
I’m pretty sure whoever designed this castle was a fan of rock climbing. If you go round the back of the Fort you’ll see that pretty much half of its walls are rock climbing walls. Much to Elliots Delight. Cue me standing behind ready to catch him.
In the park you will also find a pretty decent zip wire. Whoop Elliot’s screams gave off the impression that it was a good one.
A big circle of swings to the side of the Fort too. I love this style because the kids can all chat to each other and see each other as they swing. Not that it made a difference to us because we were the only people in the park.
Its a pretty good space for a picnic too (pub down the road if you fancy it though) and don’t forget to take a ball. There’s some well kept goal posts on the field for a good game of footie too.
Fancy a walk?
Just behind the fort Elliot noticed a gate. When i went over for a nosey i noticed it was a public footpath into the farmer fields next door. Elliot wanted to have a look and so did i.
It was a lovely little walk through the fields. I’m pretty sure the crop that was growing was beans? but knowing me it’ll probably end up being a pineapple or something.
We only did a short walk round the fields but it was lovely and Elliot did very well and made sure he didn’t stand on any of the plants.
We eventually ended up full circle back to the car.
Farnborough village play park stats:
Distance from Bicester: 28 mins
Sat nav: Farnborough Childrens Park, Main Street, Banbury OX17 1EB Click to load sat nav
Wheelchair friendly: Yes but will have uneven surfaces
Equipment upkeep: 10/10
Cleanliness: 10/10
Facilities: Pub up the road, No toilets in the park of cafe etc
Age range: All ages
Safety: 7/10
Fun factor: 10/10
Dog friendly: No
Pushchair Friendly: yes but bumpy over the grass
Bikes and Scooters: no
Conclusion
Basically I’ve done it again I’ve found another great park that the kids love and I’m fairly confident yours will too.
There’s a fair bit to do in the area too with a NT site close by (not been to it though) and not far from Banbury either.
It’s not one that i will visit a lot but that’s only because of the distance. If we lived closer it would be a regular and i will be taking Clark to have a play because he loves a good castle.
AOB
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