- Painting by JACK : to see the full painting, click here

We are all thrilled when a new family moves into the village. The ring of a bike bell, the site of a kite flying, the school bus trundling past. This page is for our village children.

Things to do with children (& grandchildren!) around Chiselborough

Mountain Biking

Mountain biking at Ham Hill Country Park, Stoke-sub-Hamdon : Ham Hill is a magnet for walkers but there are also areas of the hills where local youngsters have carved some brilliant jumps and tracks to challenge mountain bike enthusiasts. The tracks can be found near Tinkers Bubble in Little Norton, and behind the Co-op in Stoke-sub-Hamdon. To find our more, click here

Parks

Martock Recreation Ground: 22 acres of parkland including a Multi-Use Games Area, a skate park and a range of children’s play facilities. A contributor writes, “We use to love Martock park the rides were quite fun and you could set up a good timed assault course.”

Also highly recommended is the new park at Stoke-sub-Hamdon, and another contributor writes, “Hardington is one of our favourites, followed by Kingsbury & Merriot, all have good bike tracks which is the main criteria for our boys! Also we love Lewesdon Hill, it’s a National Trust place that we only discovered recently, amazing rope swings at the top and loads of brilliant trees to climb.”

Riding

Bowdens Riding School on the edge of Chiselborough caters for riders of all abilities and experience—their youngest riders are 4 years old. Saturday riders are all children; they ride within small groups to the level of jumping at a canter confidently. They then progress into Sunday or after school lessons. To learn more, click here

Wildlife

“Axe valley wildlife park – a small wildlife park – much cheaper than the bigger places but plenty to keep ours entertained.”

“Kingston Maurwood – cheap to enter, some farmyard animals to feed (plus a few more that you wouldn’t expect) then there’s a really nice walk around the lake.”

“Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard is really nice - quite peaceful, there’s a lovely walk, and its a god place to take a picnic”

Feed the Ducks

“We enjoy Sutton Bingham Reservoir near East Coker – we’ll go there to feed the ducks and look at the birds, there’s some play equipment and a little walk along the reservoir which can kill an hour or so!”

Cycling

Chiselborough is on the South Somerset Cycleway but if this feels like too much pedalling for youngsters, a villager remembers, “We enjoyed cycling to Norton—crossing the Crewkerne Road out of Norton to the lane opposite and cycling through the lanes to the pub in Over Stratton or to the Trading Post.” Next to The Trading Post, Pip's Railway Carriage Cafe offers tasty food in a vintage railway carriage or old double-decker bus.

Beaches

“We love Charmouth for swimming in the sea or the river if the sea is a bit rough, and then there’s the fossils to find too. Fishing at Burton Bradstock is another favourite.”

“Lyme Regis Beach is great for kids playing in the sand, they have access to seeing the various boats and yachts, as well as playing on the edge of the sea safely.  We always enjoy sitting on the deckchairs on the beach as we have a coffee (or hot milk) at the little “Kiosk" cafe on the beach.”

“Clevedon Marine Pool on the edge of the Bristol Channel is great. It can be like swimming in an infinity pool! The nearby Salthouse pub is a nice place or lunch.”

Soft Play

“For soft play on a rainy day, Somerton was our favourite as its small enough to see where they all are without having to run from one place to the next frantically searching!! (Yeovil is very big!) and the staff at Somerton are lovely..”

Jurassic Fun

Jurassic Fun Centre at Burton Bradstock : “..really cheap out of peak times and kids LOVE the slide!”

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust often arrange great opportunities for children and families to join in with wildlife activities and have fun outdoors. To learn more, click here