Days out with Kids in Bedfordshire

Stockwood Discovery Centre features extensive and diverse collections that tell the stories of real people, exploring the history of the region from prehistoric times to the evolution of Stockwood House and the Farley estate.

An experience for adventurers big and small. Pack your kit bag, put your boots on and see if you’re big enough to find the BIG 5 at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo!

Pick up your essential full colour travel guide at the start of the trail which takes you around the five 'action stops' on your quest to meet and learn all about this majestic quintet. (lions, giraffes, elephants, bears and rhinos).

Fax: 01582 872649

What makes a great day out?

Where else can you try out a quad bike and turn somersaults on a bungee trampoline? Here at Thurleigh Farm we like to think that we can provide some fun for everyone, be it riding on our tractor trailer up to the woods, cuddling a bunny, bottle feeding lambs or running wild in our indoor play barn, whooshing down the wavy slide or submerged in the ball pond.

Location: Cross End, Thurleigh, Bedfordshire MK44 2EE

The National Cycle Network is 5000 miles of safe, signed, attractive cycle routes, open and mapped in June 2000. It is made up of traffic-free sections and traffic-calmed road and minor roads, running right through urban centres and reaching all parts of the UK.

Sustrans is the charity co-ordinating the project and will continue to work with local authorities to expand the Network to a target of 10,000 miles by 2005.

For more information on the National Cycle Network and Sustrans and a copy of their free catalogue of maps, information sheets and technical publications please call the number above or visit their website.

E-Mail: info@nationalcyclenetwork.org.uk

Travelling under the guise of 'Captain Ridley's Shooting Party', a small team of scholars-turned-codebreakers arrived at Bletchley Park in the summer of 1939.

Their mission: to crack the Nazi Enigma cypher. The odds against them were a staggering 150,000,000,000,000,000,000 to 1. Their success in breaking this seemingly 'unbreakable' code was one of the greatest intellectual achievements of the twentieth century.

By March 1946 they were all gone, removing every scrap of evidence of their codebreaking exploits as they left. Their efforts in breaking those 'unbreakable' codes in the utmost secrecy caused Winston Churchill to coin the phrase "the geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled". It would be decades before Bletchley Park would start to reveal its secrets.

By 1991, the Park was deserted, its buildings facing demolition. The Bletchley Park Trust was formed with the aim of preserving the site for posterity. So began a long and arduous campaign. The Trust fought off hostile bids from property speculators and waded through a mountain of Government red tape to clinch a deal that saved Bletchley Park for the nation.

Web: www.bletchleypark.org.uk

Web: www.woodsidefarm.co.uk

UKClimbing.com offers a comprehensive list of local climbing centres throughout the UK.

Web: www.ukclimbing.com/databases/listings/clubs.html

Web: www.bedford.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/parks_and_open_spaces.aspx

The Leighton buzzard railway is one of the few narrow-gauge light railways to survive in England. Built in 1919 to transport sand, the line has carried a steam-hauled passenger train service since 1968 and now houses one of the largest collections of narrow-gauge locomotives in the UK.

Web: www.buzzrail.co.uk

Web: www.wuff.me.uk

Over 35 historic aeroplanes maintained in full flying condition Progress of aviation from 1909 Bleriot XI to 1941 Spitfire.

Web: www.woburnsafari.co.uk

Farm Shop, PYO Soft Fruit, Farm Animals, Tea Room, Play Area, Picnic Area. Huge 4 acre maize, tractor/trailer rides, nature walks and lots more. We cater for children's parties, choose from a selection.

 

Kids days out in Bedford

Web: www.bedford.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/museums_and_galleries.aspx

Kids days out in Leighton Buzzard

Web: www.ascottestate.co.uk/