One thing Cheltenham is certainly in abundance of is outdoor spaces and parks. But today we fancied heading somewhere different, so we packed a picnic, hopped in the car and headed for the bright lights of….Evesham.

Just over half an hours drive away is Abbey Park. Situated behind a huge playing field, and alongside the river, this park has tons on offer for all ages.

First item on the agenda, tuck into the grub. There are lots of grassy areas but also quite a few picnic tables, which is great if you are not at one with the grass and critters. The kids loved running around the bandstand whilst the grownups tucked into the strawberries (and maybe a chocolate bunny, ahem)

A great plus is that there are toilets at the top end of the park – and for public toilets I am happy to report they are pretty clean.

In 2010 the park had a huge renovation and 7 years on it all is still in great condition. There is an underground bank slide, trampoline, basket swing, lots of climbing units, and a wide slide, which is great for sliding down with their friends and a huge sand area!

The sand area is great, it has big climbing parts with tools for lifting the sand up to the top and filter tubes to pour it back down.

The water play fountains look great fun, sadly they aren’t on for the summer season yet (opening mid-May) but I have it on good authority that on a summer’s day they are really popular. There is rubber safety surfacing, to hopefully prevent any little ones from falling over. There are no changing rooms at the park so make sure you bring a towel with you. And they also ask for babies to wear protective pants over their nappies (just like you would in a swimming pool).

The river is really pretty and as the summer season starts there are boat rides available. They also have lots going on through the summer with holiday activities, a river festival in July, Fishing festival in August and live music in the bandstand, so you really could make a whole day of it.

Parking is available in the large playing field – we paid £2 for 2 hours. At the other end of the park (near the toilets) there is a multi-storey (I believe it is called Riverside Centre) and this is really good value for money as you pay £4.00 for 24 hours!

We were the only people in the park today, which was great as the kids could go on anything they wanted whenever they wanted. Our mini roving reporters Isla (very nearly 4) and Millie (aged 4) confirmed that the tunnel slide and the rocking pirate ship were the “bestest” things and “fantastic”.

I’d say that’s a thumbs up from us.

Frankie, May 2017

To visit the Cheltenham Rocks Abbey Park day trip listing click here

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