I TOOK my boys to visit a fantastic fairytale fantasy adventure playground in Northumberland that’s soon to celebrate a successful first year of fun for all.
There’s lots to love at Lilidorei, but as my largest little one is more tall than small nowadays, I wasn’t sure if he’d find it all a bit too childish instead of charming.
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At almost 12, he’s getting a bit big for finding fun in climbing frames, slides and the like, but even he couldn’t fail to fall for the towering turrets and whimsical wooden structures.
Lilidorei makes an impression from the moment you arrive and head down a winding path below the Treehouse Restaurant, which has been welcoming diners for canapés in the canopy for 20 years.
Greeted by the gruff growl of a troll at the gateway, we were all immediately under the spell.
Once inside, on a drizzly, chilly day with a bit of mist in the air, we really could have been in a lost land of otherworldly creatures, hidden huts and evergreen glades, with everyday existence shut out of sight by a high wooden fence.
Although my boys weren’t interested in the storytelling sessions that happen at intervals throughout the day, there were plenty of enthralled children listening and taking part in the tall tales with the playtower setting the scene in the background.
Lilidorei is all about magic and imagination and every twist and turn of the path brings something new to marvel at.
I really enjoyed wandering past hobgoblin huts, dwarf dens and sprite sites, although I found the accompanying hubbub coming from hidden speakers slightly overwhelming at times.
As for the boys, they couldn’t wait to explore the huge 26m play structure, billed as the largest in the world, taller than the Angel of the North.
There were rope bridges to rampage along, slides to slip down, spiral staircases to scramble up and spherical cages to sit inside suspended in the sky.
A sloping walkway led up into the playtower to make it accessible for all.
I saw plenty of grown-ups up high having fun with their little ones – the biggest slide, made even slippier by the rain, seemed a particular hit with the dads.
At ground level, the boys loved the melodious mushrooms that sound out as you step on them, took a few turns under a toadstool while dangling from a rotating rail and got digging and delving at three large sandpits.
We used our Blue Peter badges to get the boys’ tickets free, although I thought the booking process could be more straightforward.
There’s a special link that you need to find to book the Blue Peter offer, as you can’t do it on the main Lilidorei website as far as I can see.
Once you’ve found the right page by searching Lilidorei Blue Peter, you can book a £16.50 ticket that covers one adult and either one or two children, which adds up to a fair saving, given that it’s £16.50 each during peak times like school holidays.
Oddly, Lilidorei doesn’t seem to be listed on the Blue Peter page that tells you which attractions are included in the scheme, although I’m sure I saw it there a couple of months ago.
There’s different ticket prices depending on the season as well as options covering combination entry to Lilidorei and the Alnwick Garden, which will soon celebrate its 25th anniversary.
It’s well worth a visit, with a stunning water cascade and a poison garden filled with plants that can do harm in the wrong hands.
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Nearby is Alnwick Castle, which is popular with Harry Potter fans as it was used for shooting some of the Hogwarts scenes in the early films.
There’s magic, mystery and mischief aplenty in Alnwick – if you’ve got a fantasy fan in the family, Lilidorei and its locale should definitely be on your lets-go list.
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