I’ll get straight in there. Padbury play park is not a destination park. This is a have shit all else to do but want to kill some time before the kids go to bed park. It’s simply not worth the drive out there (Nearly half hour). The drive there is a pretty drive through lots of villages. Padbury village itself is lovely! Chocolate box cottages. However This is a local village for local people ( I hope some people get my league of gentlemen joke)
Parking
Parking’s a bit crap there was no road side spaces so we swung round and parked in the deserted pub which was closed down. Not sure if you’re supposed to do that so don’t take my word for it. We walked down the street and instantly felt the eyes on us. This is obviously a close knit community it was like when a deciduous rain forest tribe come into contact with the outside world for the first time (minus the spear throwing and willy’s hanging out) so when they see a bunch like us come rocking up in our banger they probably thought we were pikeys coming to scope the village for our next encampment. Calm your tits love they’re all still in Bicester.
Play Park
This park is completely enclosed! Whoop pretty large enclosure too so your little animals can feel like they have the freedom to roam without becoming roadkill for the Jags and Landrovers.
1st thing the kids ran to were the huge feck off concrete tunnels (I have a suspicion they used to be old sewerage pipes in their former life) got some pretty cool photos of the kids in there too. Thank God neither of them smashed their heads into them, concussion with a side of death anyone?
Husband then went over to this wooden thing with a chain. We couldn’t figure out what it was supposed to be but I’m guessing it was supposed to be a snail. My imagination and photo however said giant wooden cock. Wobbly as hell though so not very sturdy for the kids to ride on (wow that sounds awful)
Equipment
They have an wobbly bridge not a wobbly suspension bridge this ones close to the ground and bigger me it’s wobbly I nearly stacked it. Hold your kids hands until they get used to it…..or let them try it for themselves while you film the results. You’ve been framed £200 you’re welcome.
The zip wire according to Clark is pretty slow which is lucky as it’s in close quarters with the other bits. So when your toddler does run into the line of fire you can rest assured their little heads will get twatted slower therefore increasing the chance of survival.
They have a cool net swing, a tyre spinny swinger, a lovely little toddler frame with the only slide in the park (bit shit) they did have a cool horse thing like the rockets from the old days. This one unlike the rocket in kings Sutton does actually move! So you don’t look like a twat trying to make a stationary rocket move!
They also had this gallows/ships last thing in the middle of the playground which I’m assuming used to be a skinny swing thing when it was working but unless I’m missing something it seemed to be broken.
Main attraction
The main attraction for this park would be the climbing frame with the cargo net. It’s pretty cool especially if your kids like climbing. Unfortunately Elliot is the climber out of our two and he’s the one most likely to break when he falls. After climbing to the top in the split second your not looking and decide diving into solid ground head first is the quickest way down. On that note the safety flooring is the rubber kind under the grass (my least favorite face catching kind) there’s plenty of space here for ball game and picnic with benches so you can kill an hour or two if you really wanted to.
Padbury Park Stats :
Distance from Bicester: 24 mins
Sat nav:29 Main St, Padbury, Buckingham MK18 2AY Click for directions
Accessibility: Accessible by car. No idea about busses but probably not worth it.
Wheelchair friendly: Not great
Equipment upkeep: 6/10 broken equipment and wobbly cock
Cleanliness: 9/10
Facilities: 3/10 No toilets that I could see. Butchers next door or you fancy a snack on raw meat?
Age range: All ages
Safety: 5/10 concrete and kids don’t play well together
Fun factor: 6/10
Dogs allowed: No
Bottom line. It’s a nice park but I wouldn’t bother with the drive again. I’d be happy if this was a park in my village I’d be there most days with the kids. If you’re out that way then have a nose. However you won’t lose any sleep and your kids won’t hate you if they never go.
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