East riding of Yorkshire

Burton Constable Hall

| Kirsty
Burton Constable Hall in the fog

I can’t believe we live 20 minutes from this little gem and in the nearly 13 years we’ve lived here we’ve never visited until today.

It was a lovely sunny day when we set off, it felt like spring was in the air and we were looking forward to a walk around the grounds in the sunshine. By the time we arrived a fog had descended that brought a chill with it. We were determined not to let it dampen our day though, after all we are from Yorkshire.

The magnificent house stands at the end of a short single track lane and parking to the left was plentiful. It was only a short walk to the entrance and the lady on the till was very pleasant and friendly. Only 3 of us visited today, 2 adults and a child, and it cost us just under £14 entry (the house doesn’t open til April so it was just for stables and grounds). I think Toby was free because of a half term offer, and we were kindly pointed in the direction of some free activities for children.

Toby took part in 2 of the activities, planting a broad bean so he could see it grow, and making a bird feeder using an ice cream cone, margarine and bird seed. The gents that were running these activities were also very friendly and patient. With his bag of goodies we left and headed for the stables which were open, and the sperm whale skeleton.

Sadly, this was a bit of a flop for us (dont let that put you off). I personally loved it but Toby was really creeped out by it for some reason and begged to leave. He didn’t like the sounds and I guess the cold stone rooms just didn’t sit well with him. He was fascinated by the sperm whale skeleton, probably helped somewhat by the fairly recent sad stranding of a number of sperm whales along our stretch of coast. Even after that, it did surprise all of us quite how long the skeleton was close up.

We left to walk around the grounds which was the real purpose of our visit anyway and it didn’t disappoint. They’re very well kept and there were numerous walks to choose from. As anyone walking with a 7 year old will appreciate though, you don’t always get anywhere quickly, and we didn’t actually get to complete a single one which was disappointing. We walked around the house and looked out over the old medieval village which once stood, wondering about the people who once lived there and what their life would have been like. We reached the small play area which is cute but aimed at small kids, and not many of them. There was a garden chess game which was definitely Tobys highlight of the visit. He loves a game of chess and played against his dad, and won of course!

The back of the house

I felt like you can see and feel the history in the grounds, there is still the evidence of the old moat and a tree that is several hundred years old, the stories it could tell.

After some climbing for Toby, and a rest for me and Dad, we walked over to the cafe for some lunch and a hot chocolate. I found it a little pricey but that’s not surprising for the type of place I don’t think, and to be fair the food was lovely with large portions and the staff also very, very friendly and helpful. My old quibble was the lack of seating, with the 3 free tables reserved already. I imagine this would be worse in summer but then I’d be happier to sit outdoors then too, and there was lots of free seating outside today.

We will definitely be back soon, and next time I think we will buy an annual membership as I think we will probably visit numerous times over the year. Dogs are welcome but we didn’t take ours today as she’s a bit of an idiot when she sees other dogs and is quite reactive. She is kept on a lead though and I think now we’ve done the stables we would probably take her in future. It’ll be a nice flat walk for our old girly. If you’re visiting Withernsea or surrounding areas this is a definite must visit!! 10/10 for me.

Spring is springing in the grounds of the house.

William’s Den

| Kirsty

Today we had the pleasure of visiting William’ Den. We visited 4 years ago but have been keen to revisit since as the kids loved it back then.

William’s Den describes itself as the perfect day out, family fun and loads of adventure and it’s really not wrong. There’s so much to do and it’s impossible for the kids to get bored.

One of the favourites has to be the den building area, Toby dragged his dad and oldest brother over to build a huge den, there are sticks galore to make sure you can build the perfect base and don’t run out. In fact there were around 5 dens built or being built in the area.

There is an amazing natural themed indoor play area with water and sand. A brilliant area with so much included into one space, a lot of thought obviously went into designing this place. Toby spent most of the few hours we had in the indoor area because it was a bit cooler out than it has been recently. I think he would definitely benefit from taking a friend which we might do next time as dad and Sam were roped into everything again and had to follow him round. Tobys quite shy so isn’t likely to approach other children to ask them to play.

There is also a brilliant outdoor play area. An enormous space filled with tyre swings, basket swings, zip lines, sand areas, a little adventure play area and more. The whole place is free flow and you can change from indoors to out as much as you please. There are lots of seating areas around, plenty of picnic benches etc. I love the eco friendly natural theme of William’s Den and that is a huge draw for me. I hate to see plastic everywhere so this is perfect.

There is a restaurant on site as well as an ice cream bar area. We didn’t really use either although we did pop into the restaurant for some deluxe hot chocolates which were delicious.

All in all its a fairly pricey but fantastic day out. You can camp also which seems to offer amazing value for money and it might be something we consider in future. My only single complaint, and it isn’t even the fault of William’s Den, so it’s probably unfair, were the wasps. I guess that’s nature for you!

The Deep

| Kirsty

Toby, like probably every other 6 year old in the country loves watching YouTube videos, he has recently come across videos of aquariums after watching shark videos and asked if we could go visit one.

Toby loved the megaladon jaws replica

The Deep was our obvious destination, we live around 30-40 minutes drive away and having visited before we knew he’d love it.

It’s currently pre-booking only which was reasonably easy to do on their website and cost us £46 for two adults and one child. The tickets allow us to come back for another visit in 12 months too which is amazing.

Of course as with any day out its the added extras that cost you dearly – £3.50 for the sticker book, £20 for a couple of drinks and snacks in the cafe, £10 for a hammerhead shark soft toy… but is it even a day out with the kids if you don’t spend a small fortune on crap.

There are lots of weird and wonderful creatures to see, some are bloody ugly and others quite beautiful. The display of jellyfish floating around is mesmerising and calming in equal measure. Toby was thrilled to see sharks every single time although wasn’t impressed by the lack of blue whale.

My only complaint about our day out, and I can’t even blame the deep so it’s not even fair for me to mention it was the family behind us with a body odour problem. Seriously if you are leaving the house please get a good anti-perspirant.

There are many interactive displays which would be great but a few of them were not working when we visited. They were a bit old for Toby so it wasn’t really an issue but it could be for others.

I am always excited to see the penguins, they by far are my favourite creatures there but they weren’t putting on much of a show and just stood there for the most part. Still cute though. There was 2 that kept swimming about though and seemed interested in their human audience. Toby found them boring so we didn’t get to stay there for long.

The walls made of ice were a hit. Until he decided he might get frost bite in his fingers and we quickly left.

A nice add on is the amazon rainforest section with a variety of ants, frogs, snakes etc. Not my thing at all but Toby loved it.

We left at 6 when they closed and went to look at the sculptures outside, if you aren’t already walked to death then have a walk along the beautiful path along the Humber.

I’m sure the fact it was a bright sunny day and that the sun was coming down helped to make it look more beautiful. Its also a bike route we have earmarked for the future.

A short walk across the bridge is a variety of bistros and restaurants that I can’t offer any opinion on as we didn’t visit but I imagine you could finish a lovely day with a lovely meal.

View from the bridge

We finished the day with Toby telling us he’s going to work at The Deep when he’s older so its definitely made a good impression on him. We recommend with a score of 9/10 (only missing the 1 because or the faulty interactive displays).