Cow and Calf Rocks Ilkley

Happy school holidays everyone! Hope you are having fun and still smiling. We had a great day out on Monday. A group of us went to the Cow and Calf Rocks in Ilkley for some small person rampaging. They are a big rock formation on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire. The rocks consist of a large outcrop (the cow) and a small boulder (the calf).

To be honest, though I’ve heard of Cow and Calf before I’ve never been and wasn’t really sure what to expect. I duly found the directions, made sandwiches, went back for the forgotten sun hats, and off we went. We drove and it took about 30 minutes from north Leeds. There is a good free car park that’s well signposted and cafe and toilets. 

It's a brilliant place. The scale really took my breath away, with fantastic views over the valley and Ilkley. The larger outcrop has shear walls and rock climbers scaling the rockface fascinated the kids. It is possible to scramble up the rocks but we took the safer option and followed the path round to the top. We spent ages wandering about and discovered a stream and waterfall, played hide a seek and explored some of the many paths through the heather. As you can see from the picture below, some of children found better hiding places than others...

The kids were a range of ages and the smaller ones (4) struggled a bit with some of the steeper paths but the older 6 year olds thought it was fantastic. It's a great place to visit to enjoy some proper Yorkshire terrain. Though it's not for the faint hearted; I have to admit we used up a couple of Mr Bump plasters! We took advantage of the large grass space next to the café for our packed lunches and treated ourselves to a coffee. Then it was home with happy exhausted parents and kids, a sign of a good day out.

Ideas for future trips

I've got a confession. I know that it's the digital age, and we are supposed to do everything online but I love tourist leaflets. So great excitement yesterday when this lot arrived. I'm on loads of mailing lists as I enjoy reading about what's going on.

It's also a great way to get the kids involved as they enjoy reading through them (well, the youngest looks at the photos). I think a return trip to Knaresborough is needed and I like the look of Pateley Bridge. We're also excitedly planning a few theatre trips. The Snail and the Whale at the Carriageworks looks good so does the Gruffalo at the Grand. I think we will also try to get the the Giant and the Bear next week which look like it's going to be a bonkers circus extravaganza.

  

Yeadon Tarn, Leeds

In need of a blast of fresh air we went to Yeadon Tarn on Friday afternoon. It's a big erm... tarn set within Tarnfield Park in Yeadon next to Leeds Bradford Airport, which is in North West Leeds. Those of you who've landed at the airport will confirm that it can get a bit breezy up there so coats are recommended. It's about a 10 minute walk from Yeadon town centre and has got a big free car park. Tarnfield Park is a public park and totally free.

It's essentially a big lake set within a park with the added bonus of ducks to feed, boats to watch, a bandstand, a playground and a frisson of excitement when your small person gets too near the water's edge.

First stop was to feed the ducks. There are loads of ducks, geese and swans; the tarn is a conservation area so is also home to lots of other birds including coots and terns. I found this good blog that's got more information about the birds. Though, the swans can sometimes get a bit ferocious so watch out. We saw loads of ducklings who were very cute. We also spotted this stripey goose, no idea what it is but it looked cool!

The Leeds Sailing Club is based at Yeadon Tarn and it's great to watch the boats. I love the sound that the masts make clinking in the wind. Makes me feel like we are somewhere by the sea. The Model Boat Club is also based at the tarn and there's a good shallow area for sailing remote control boats.

 

One end of the tarn boarders the runway so occasionally a plane taxis past. The combination of wild nature and massive jets is fab. The tarn has got a good path running around it. It's suitable for prams and is about 1km long. We walked round the lake, stopping occasionally to ask wave at ducks, jump in puddles and watch the planes. It's a good distance as you get a fair walk but even quite small legs can manage it.

After the lake we had the obligatory prance about the bandstand. I'm not sure why all children love bandstands but mine can't resit one. Then it was off to the playground. To be honest, the playground at Tarnfield is a bit ramshackle but the kids don't seem to mind and spent ages playing a very complicated game of off-ground tig.

It was a bit grey when we went so my photos don't really do the area justice. Here's a link to a Flickr group for Yeadon Tarn that I found. There are some gorgeous photos on there.

Yeadon Tarn isn't strictly speaking a whole day out but it's a great free place to visit and I would recommend it. We often combine it with a trip to the Square Monkey Cafe at the Multiflight Centre, it's next door to the airport fence and you get a brilliant view of planes and helicopters landing and taking off. There's good coffee, cakes, free wifi and loads of exciting transport/airport related things to keep the kids entertained.

Castle Howard

Castle Howard in North Yorkshire is somewhere that I’ve wanted to visit for ages but it always seemed a bit far away. Following a glowing recommendation from a friend we decided to make the effort and went last Sunday. It’s a stately home owned and still lived in by the Howard Family. Most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. It is set in huge grounds dotted with statues, lakes and monuments. 

We drove from Leeds and it wasn’t as far as we thought. It’s just past York on the A64 and only took about an hour in the car. It is very well signposted and the approach is absolutely gorgeous passing through ancient archways. There is a large free car park and apparently a good bus service from York. As with all private properties it wasn’t cheap at £23.00 for a family of four (£33.50 if you want to look at the house too) but you could easily spend all day there, so I think it’s good value. Our kids were given a lovely free pack with colouring-in and a trail to follow.

First we walked through the long walled flower filled garden. It had the perfect kid combination of low hedges and grass to rampage around. Then we walked round one of the several lakes and up to the impressive Temple of the Four Winds.

After that we ventured into Ray Wood. It is a great combination of wild woodland for exploring, interesting planting, good paths and the occasional surprise statute. I have visions of having a picnic in one of the glades, if it ever stops raining.

The Mr kindly took the kids to the adventure playground while I had a look round the house. I’d really recommend visiting the house. It has lots of treasures including important painting and porcelain collections. They welcome kids, but I have to admit I quite liked going round on my own.

According to one of the very friendly and chatty guides, the yellow colour in this dinner service was made with arsenic. They realised it was poisonous when the workers started dying. Apparently now it’s just for show. (really!!) 

The adventure playground is great with loads of wooden structures suitable for different ages from toddlers to bigger kids. Ours liked the terrifying high slides best. The playground is conveniently situated next to the lovely lakeside café and ice-cream stand. I always rate playgrounds on my ability to get a decent coffee nearby so a definite big tick. After that we were all suitably exhausted and got the fab ‘land train’ back to the car park.

I would definitely recommend a visit to Castle Howard. It fits my requirements for somewhere child and rampage friendly but very pleasant for the grown ups too.

The Deep Aquarium in Hull

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Because of the ‘ahem’ slightly inclement weather this weekend we decided to visit The Deep today. 

It's easy to get to by car straight over the M62. I've never gone there on public transport but trains to Hull are fairly regular and there is a bus service from the train station, or if you are feeling energetic you could walk. They've got a big car park and it cost £3 for 6 hours.

At £34 for a family ticket of 2 adults and 2 children, it is fairly expensive. Although, if you sign up for gift aid your ticket grants you free entry for a year on all subsequent visits, which makes it better value.

The visit starts via a room covered in stars that we all really liked. Then you walk down a slope with great interactive displays about about planets, evolution, fossils and how the oceans originated. Some were a bit beyond my young kids but I reckon older children would find it all interesting.

The huge tank full of jellyfish was a success and I had a valiant attempt to explain how come they were see-through. (Still not sure to be honest). At the bottom of the slope you reach an open shallow tank with brightly coloured fish, including Dory - sorry fish purists but all small children refer to fish by their Nemo names! It was great because the kids could get really close to the fish. Next to the tank was the demonstration area where a very friendly assistant helped us to stroke a crab and starfish. It was extremely exciting and terrifying in equal measures as you can imagine.

The Cold Water section was quite spooky with huge dark, moody amazon river fish that seemed to swim really slowly. We also saw a bright blue lobster, I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't realise they were blue before being cooked.  The kids loved the ice kingdom with it's enormous ice walls.

We stopped for a quick rampage in the play area that was handily placed halfway round. After that, you reach the main bit, which is the 10m deep tank; apparently it's home to 7 different types of shark and hundreds of fish. The Deep has lots of different ways to interact with the tank and see the amazing array of fish, sharks and stingrays. Our favourites were the viewing bubbles where you climb a ladder and your head pops up inside the tank and the tunnel under the tank. It was fascinating watching sharks and sting rays swimming above us. You can leave via a glass lift that moves through the tank, which was amazing.

I haven’t covered everything that was at the Deep, just the bits that we really liked. Other highlights, included my favourite, a beautiful tank full of coral. My little boy’s was predictably the slime exhibit with slugs, snails and brightly coloured poisonous frogs.

I’d definitely recommend a visit to the Deep. There’s a good café serving nice food and the shop is fantastically called the 'Deepartment Store', why wouldn't you want to visit that? If you have time, take a walk along the river front and also check Hull out.