Blacklands Farm – A Great Family Day Out.
If your children have ever been in the Guiding or Scouting organisations then you will have probably spent quite a bit of time driving them to Blacklands Farm for either one-off activities or weekend camps. They may have even been invited to a birthday party there and before you set off you gaze at the weather trying to decide what to dress them in.
But Blacklands Farm has much more to offer. We recently took the children for a great family activity day out and yes adults can ‘play’ too.
There are instructor and non instructor led activities where family groups (minimum charge of 6 people) can choose from a range of activities that includes Abseiling, Archery, Crate Challenge, Wall Climbing (on climbing wall or rocks), Bungee Trampoline, open canoeing, kayaking, zip wiring amongst many other things, charges vary but on the whole are extremely reasonable, most activities being less that £7 per person.
As all my children have been to Blacklands numerous times they are comfortable with all the activities. Therefore it was left to me to choose which activities I fancied. I eventually chose abseiling which I knew would take me completely out of my comfort zone and Archery because I knew I would enjoy it.
Abseiling was first, the children couldn’t wait to start, after our ‘briefing’ from the two instructors they took it in turns to climb the tower and confidently abseiled down. Then it was my turn. I am not afraid of heights exactly but I do have a major problem when I don’t feel ‘safe’. One rope and a couple of knots didn’t fill me with much confidence. However the instructors were brilliant, patient and knowledgeable and not only did I go down once but 4 times! If truth be told I had more of a problem landing than I did abseiling down.
Archery was next and again after our thorough safety briefing we had great fun, even though it was raining by this time. I even managed a couple of bulleyes (I am not mentioning the number of times I missed the target altogether)!
We had a great day and it felt so much more worthwhile than going to the cinema or staying at home during the holidays. The family worked as a team and for once the children were taking me under their wing.
I highly recommend Blacklands for a family day out. Blacklands Farm is suitable for families and small groups to groups of up to 3000 people (yes really). They have accommodation and campsites available. They are also equipped for team building and corporate events.
Blackland Farm is situated 4 miles outside of East Grinstead on the Grinstead Road towards Sharpthorne. Grid Reference TQ381335
For more details visit their website www.blacklandfarm.org.uk
Telephone 01342 810493 or email blackland@girlguiding.org.uk for a booking form.
sammioneill 