King George V Playing Fields is located in Ferndown and within it you will find a fab play park, kiosk and function rooms plus a number of sporting facilities which includes tennis courts, bowling green, skatepark, football and cricket pitches.  The area covers a whopping 60 acres and this is made up of the Upper Field, Lower Field, Town Green and Woodlands.

We parked in the small car park on Peter Grant Way and once you enter you will see the field infront of you and then buildings, kiosk, toilet facilities, bowling green, tennis courts and play park on your right.  If you are planning to only visit the skatepark then it’s recommend to park near the Cherry Grove entrance.

Our first stop was the play park which my 8 year old daughter LOVED.  The play park was refurbished in 2020 and the groundsman clearly keep it nice and tidy for visitors.  There are over 40 different pieces of play equipment which are suitable for toddlers up to teens.  The enclosed park is in really good condition with rubber flooring in most areas and even a fun little road that runs around the one section of the play equipment.

We found play frames with slides and monkey bars, spiro whirl roundabout, springies, see-saws, climbing nets, zip line, swinging rope log, swings, balance course and a couple of big funky blue things which I think are for kids to sit in but I’ll admit I could be wrong.  There’s also inclusive play equipment which includes swing seats, a ground level roundabout and play panels to stimulate cognitive activity.  Within the park you’ll find a couple of picnic benches and more can be found just outside by the kiosk too.

It didn’t take too long for my daughter to be thirsty and we took a wander over to the kiosk to see what we could find.  Kings Kiosk serves drinks, ice creams, crisps, cakes and treats plus paninis and hot dogs.  My daughter quickly decided on a Slush Puppie and we went for a walk nearby to find Millenium Park which is located near the entrance.  This area is home to Ferndown Memorial and Garden of Memories which was opened in March 2011 and honours people from Ferndown who have made an impact on the community and who have inspired others.  The beautiful bronze centre piece of the memorial is in the shape of a stylised rose flower and outside of this are a series of polished commemorative Purbeck stones inscribed with the names of local heroes.

Once the slushie was gone we went back to the park for another play and then walked over to the skatepark which is pretty big.  This area was built in 2020 and comprises of a concrete park for skateboards, scooters and BMX bikes and has features including a halfpipe, blended jumpbox, pump bump and volcano plus there’s a separate mini wheels are for younger children.

Ferndown Common is great for spotting wildlife and if you’re lucky you might see squirrels, deer, foxes, bats and birds.  You could easily spend hours exploring the fields and woodland area and we’ll look forward to going back with the rest of the family on a sunny day.

For more information on this wonderful park including upcoming events and room hire, please visit King George V Playing Fields.

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Broadstone Recreation Ground in Poole is one of our favourite places to go and after seeing they had a fab new addition to the play area we thought we’d go check it out.

There’s plenty of roads surrounding the Rec but I like to park in the small free to use car park near the bowling green so we can walk across the green and go through the woods.  If you are heading to the park from here and have the car park behind you then you’ll need to walk over to the woodland on the left and follow the pathway for about 5-10 minutes until you can hear children playing.

The play area is within a large space with the original fenced play area which has a climbing frame, slide, big and little swings and swing riders.  Outside of the fenced play area is the new wooden play frame with netting to climb, obstacles, one small slide and one larger.  There’s also a large swinging log which the kids can stand up or sit on and this looked to be the most popular piece of equipment as kids were non stop swinging and having fun.  The area is most shaded which is ideal for summertime and if you’re lucky you’ll be able to grab a bench to relax on while the kids play.

From beyond here you can drop down the hill into another wonderful garden surrounded by trees or head up the hill for more pathways which take you up to a wonderful viewpoint overlooking Poole.  We took in the views and then dropped back down into the direction of the car park and came back out at the field we started in.

As far as facilities go, there’s no café so you’d be wise to take a drinks and snacks.  If there is a toilet within the recreation ground then I haven’t found one yet.

There’s so many pathways to explore and beautiful flowers to see.  We also saw lots of butterflies and birds when we visited and if you are there around later summer time then you’ll be able to go blackberry picking too.

For more information on Broadstone Recreation Ground, please visit BCP Council.