Washington Wetlands Centre - Feeding birds by hand (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre (Washington))

Member Name: dad-of-three

Product:	Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre (Washington)
Date:	24/05/09 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to do for kids of all ages

Disadvantages: Visitors Centre could do with a spruce up

It has been many years since i last visited Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre, that is until earlier today. A few months ago my wife signed up for a membership card to the WWT at a cost of £5 per month so we thought it was about time we used it and as we enjoy going for walks with the children and the weather is lovely, today was that day.

The centre itself is set in 45 hectares of grassland and is open 364 days per year, (ie all days except christmas day). The opening times are 09.30 to 17.30 April to October and 09.30 to 16.30 November to March. The cost to enter the centre for a family of 2 adults and 2 children (4 to 16 years) is £18.

From what i remember the centre and park itself doe's not seem to have changed a great deal, There are still several sectioned areas where you can either interact with the wildlife or observe it from a distance. These areas include,

Close Encounters - In this area you enter through a closable gate and once inside the area there are several types of birds, mainly goose and ducks, some of which are willing to be fed by little ones directly from the hand and others that are not so willing but none were aggressive towards the little ones. Ideal for small one!

Flamingo's - There are a large colony of flamingos available to watch, from what i could see there must be about 25 or so. The distance from the birds where i was stood was about 30 foot in an un-obstructed view.

Play area - The play area i thought was rather nice for small one's, not too busy and a good variety of things to do. The slides in particular held the attention of my three as they are quite steep and therefore fast so they loved these. Some of the attractions could use a spruce up but overall a nice little play area for kids of varying ages.

Visitors Centre - The visitors centre appears to have been well designed initaially with quite a few things for young minds to involve themselves in, unfortunately i think it could do with make over as some of these areas were either not well enough lit or covered with a sign stating not available at the moment or out of order etc.

Other areas within the centre include, the reedbed, waterfowl nursery, meadows and woodland all of which were very different and nice to walk through.

Overall a very nice day out for the cost of our membership and the children really enjoyed it, They are all currently really tired from all the walking and are sprawled over the couch nearly asleep which is worth the money itself. I fully intent to keep our membership going as it will pay for itself in only 4 visits per year, which i'm sure we will make. Another bonus to the centre was that we were able to have our little boy walk around rather than in his buggy and we were not worried about his safety as is very open areas where he could roam around safely.

Summary: Well worth the membership to the Wetland and Wildlife Trust (WWT)