A good day out for the kids (Conkers)

Name: awizzbang

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Product:	Conkers
Date:	09/08/01 (1082 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap and plenty to do

Disadvantages: Still being developed

Kids bored and still 3 weeks of the summer holidays to go, can’t face going to Alton Towers, live in or close to the Midlands then why not give Conkers a try.

Conkers is a new interactive museum/theme park that has just opened near Ashby in Derbyshire.

It is set in the new National Forest and its focus is nature and trees in particular.
It consists of an exhibition hall and several acres of walks, picnic areas, adventure playgrounds, restaurants, craft shops and many other outside activities.

The exhibition hall is large and has loads of interactive exhibits looking at trees, plants and animal life. Practically every exhibit has something to push, pull, turn or crawl through. As well as being educational it is also really good fun and you could easily spend at least an hour in there. Our kids 12 and 9 both really enjoyed themselves. If you can, get to the park early and make the exhibition hall your first stop, it does get crowded later on.

Outside are two large areas which you travel between by means of a small train. This can involve a long wait for what is essentially a 3 min journey I would certainly try to avoid the return trip by walking, the path is not obvious but I think you can walk between the two areas.

In the smaller of the two areas there is an adventure playground for 4-10 years which has all the normal swings, slides etc on. In addition there are a number of woodland and lakeside walks which are well marked and which contain lots of interesting information. The whole area is constructed on a former slagheap but you wouldn’t realise it unless you were told about it. There is also a natural amphitheatre in which I would expect shows would be put on at different times of the year.
In addition there is a small restaurant and a number of Craft shops selling various goods.

In the larger of the two areas they have built an assault course suitable for children of 9+ years and adult
s?, it is quite demanding in places but you are able to cheat and miss the difficult sections out. All of the different bits are made out of wood and are quite spectacular to look at. There are also a number of other outside exhibits that you can try as well as nature walks and a maze that you can get lost in.

There are also plenty of places to eat a picnic especially on a nice day, although there are two cafe/restaurants serving reasonable food.

Most of the trees are newly planted and all are labelled, it will look fantastic in a few years time although its pretty good now.

Inside the main exhibition hall there are a number of gift shops which have nature as their theme, so you can always find something suitable to take home as a memento

Allow at least 4 hours more if the weather is fine. Suitable for ages 4-14 years. Admission, a family ticket cost £12-95. Excellent value

It opens at 10.00 am try to get there early, so you can try all the exhibits before the crowds build up

Summary: