UK Family Holidays Don’t Have to Be Boring Anymore
Struggling to entertain during the school holidays? William Gray looks at Britain’s best family breaks. UK family holidays don’t have to be dull, there are now lots of options throughout Britain
Reconstructed on the site of an Iron Age hill fort, Castell Henllys is more than just a cluster of thatched roundhouses - it’s a time machine where children are whisked back 2,000 years to an age of chieftains and Celtic myths. Aimed at six- to 12-year-olds, Celtic Fun sessions (available selected dates, £2 per child) are run by actors in authentic costume who are brilliant at persuading children to enter into the spirit of the Iron Age with war chants, hunting forays, face painting and stories around the hearth.
But it’s not all fun and games; families should expect some hard graft, grinding wheat between stones for making bread, twining sheep’s wool into cord and hurling a concoction of mud, horse hair and cow dung onto the willow frameworks of new roundhouses.
Make a weekend of it
The new holiday complex Bluestone, at Narberth, has an indoor water park with lazy river, water flumes and wave machine. Three nights in August in a two-bedroom timber lodge costs from £545 (01834 862400) Children’s activities there range from teddy bears’ picnics to bushcraft workshops, while parents can take refuge in the spa. Other local highlights include high-speed boat trips around Ramsey Island adrenalin rides at Oakwood Theme Park and Pembrokeshire’s superb beaches.
Conkers
National Forest, Moira, Derbyshire
Nature reserve, adventure playground and science museum rolled into one, this 120-acre park provides indoor and outdoor entertainment and education with a forest theme. Children will scurry around like squirrels inside the Discovery Centre, moving between the Enchanted Forest play area and the education zone, packed with exhibits about everything from caterpillars to climate change. Outside, there are countless trails to explore, plus an assault course for teenagers, a willow labyrinth and a lookout tower.
And just when you think you’ll run out of puff, along comes the miniature railway and you find yourselves steaming towards the neighbouring Waterside Centre with more paths, more wildlife and, to top it all, an amphitheatre where you can attend live-animal shows during summer.
