On the donkey trail at Hatchlands Park

Just before POD went back to school, we escaped to Hatchlands Park in the Surrey Hills. Managed by the National Trust, there are a whopping 400 acres of parkland to discover so it’s an ideal spot for blowing away the cobwebs. There’s plenty to keep POD occupied from climbing trees to exploring the natural play area which has its own tree house. This last visit coincided with a trail which involved following the story of Morris and Callum – the Hatchlands Park donkeys.

Having picked up a trail sheet when we arrived, we went on the hunt for the donkeys meeting a number of woodland chums along the way. POD located Edward the owl in a tree in no time at all and did well answering the questions that followed. These included naming each of the seasons and identifying paw prints of different animals. We didn’t find George the squirrel but we decided he was either asleep, hunting for nuts or on holiday.

There was much silliness from POD and the POD Father from that point onwards, each trying to push the other off the path. Those kind of walks are the best aren’t they – you know when you just can’t stop laughing! POD launched herself off a tree stump she likes as we approached the Great Wix Wood. We then headed intto Wizard Wix’s Willow Warren which is the wooden adventure play area at Hatchlands Park. There are balance beams, logs to leap across, tunnels, domes and a bug hotel which POD enjoys climbing. She adores the tree house there especially and den building is always a favourite. We managed to squeeze in a quick game of hide and seek as well before heading back towards the house.

The Wix Woods Walk was just what we needed and we found Morris and Callum too. Along with the cows that reside at Hatchlands Park who have super shiny coats. Talking of coats, POD’s grandma bought her a very smart duffel coat for her birthday on Christmas Day and she loves it. It’s already a bit muddy from all her climbing but that’s all part of the fun isn’t it?

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  • Emma January 14, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Awww, love this. We love Hatchlands park too!