Visit Norfolk 1: Welney Wetlands Centre
You will notice that some of these posts will have a water based theme over the next few weeks, this is because it's Ouse Fest. What? You don't know what Ouse Fest is? Well let me inform you - it's a celebration of the 'Ouse Washes landscapes and communities' Ok, I'll admit I had to look that up but you can find out more about it here
So as part of the Ouse River Festival Fortnight, Welney Wetlands Centre (about 15 minutes drive from our house) had a kids go free day. A great opportunity to discover some local wildlife and make the most of the good weather (not sunny but dry at least!). It cost £8.99 for me to take the kids and would normally be £3.90 for children (under 4s are free) which includes gift aid, so you feel like you're doing some good for the environment.
The first thing that strikes you at WWT is the peace and quiet - well apart from the tractors going by but then that's another attraction for the kids. The pathway to the entrance features a beautiful mosaic made by the local community and a pond teeming with insects - more about that later!
The staff at Welney were really friendly and provided my two little explorers with an explorer backpack which had child proof binoculars, compass, colouring pencils and a magnifying tub for looking closely at insects. We were also provided with a sheet to take part in the butterfly count and a sheet to collect some brass rubbings - providing we found the art work to rub. Apart from anything else, the backpack allowed me to take photos like this:
The views from the cafe area are fantastic and there is a mounted telescope so you can really make the most of it (I won't mention what happened to it whilst my daughter was looking through). We later had lunch here, which was a little irritating as I had to search around for a menu and there wasn't a specific list of children's food and I ended up ordering lots of bits whilst feeling rather flustered. However, the food was nice and there was plenty of cake on offer, alongside other homemade dishes. Probably the best thing for the children about lunch, was the cows - loads of them trotting around outside. Our littlest one enjoyed shouting 'Cow!' every time he noticed one, which was pretty often!
In between arriving and lunch, we found ourselves walking various trails with stopping points at the main observatory and smaller hides. Even getting to the observatory was fun, crossing a huge bridge that felt pretty spectacular.
The observatory and hides were very special. The observatory had another telescope which allowed you to see into the distance with amazing clarity, although the kids had trouble with using it - why did they keep pointing it into the sky? Fortunately there were other things for them to look at - a Swan's wing, a touch screen information board, drawing and chalkboard and all around, just outside the window birds circling and flying back into their nesting boxes. This is where I admit I know nothing about nature. It's embarrassing really. I think they were probably Swallows but I couldn't be certain, probably best just to call them birds...Being a wetland centre there were also birds that like water - ducks, swans and waders...I really have exhausted my repertoire now!
Fortunately, the pond dipping that we did came with an information card showing us some of the common insects we might find. My eldest really enjoyed this mainly because of the fishing net and bucket and we did manage to find some insects including lots of pond snails.
Overall, it was a lovely morning with plenty to see and do - we never did find all the brass rubbings but that gives us an excuse to go back on another day!
So as part of the Ouse River Festival Fortnight, Welney Wetlands Centre (about 15 minutes drive from our house) had a kids go free day. A great opportunity to discover some local wildlife and make the most of the good weather (not sunny but dry at least!). It cost £8.99 for me to take the kids and would normally be £3.90 for children (under 4s are free) which includes gift aid, so you feel like you're doing some good for the environment.
The first thing that strikes you at WWT is the peace and quiet - well apart from the tractors going by but then that's another attraction for the kids. The pathway to the entrance features a beautiful mosaic made by the local community and a pond teeming with insects - more about that later!
The staff at Welney were really friendly and provided my two little explorers with an explorer backpack which had child proof binoculars, compass, colouring pencils and a magnifying tub for looking closely at insects. We were also provided with a sheet to take part in the butterfly count and a sheet to collect some brass rubbings - providing we found the art work to rub. Apart from anything else, the backpack allowed me to take photos like this:
The views from the cafe area are fantastic and there is a mounted telescope so you can really make the most of it (I won't mention what happened to it whilst my daughter was looking through). We later had lunch here, which was a little irritating as I had to search around for a menu and there wasn't a specific list of children's food and I ended up ordering lots of bits whilst feeling rather flustered. However, the food was nice and there was plenty of cake on offer, alongside other homemade dishes. Probably the best thing for the children about lunch, was the cows - loads of them trotting around outside. Our littlest one enjoyed shouting 'Cow!' every time he noticed one, which was pretty often!
In between arriving and lunch, we found ourselves walking various trails with stopping points at the main observatory and smaller hides. Even getting to the observatory was fun, crossing a huge bridge that felt pretty spectacular.
The observatory and hides were very special. The observatory had another telescope which allowed you to see into the distance with amazing clarity, although the kids had trouble with using it - why did they keep pointing it into the sky? Fortunately there were other things for them to look at - a Swan's wing, a touch screen information board, drawing and chalkboard and all around, just outside the window birds circling and flying back into their nesting boxes. This is where I admit I know nothing about nature. It's embarrassing really. I think they were probably Swallows but I couldn't be certain, probably best just to call them birds...Being a wetland centre there were also birds that like water - ducks, swans and waders...I really have exhausted my repertoire now!
Fortunately, the pond dipping that we did came with an information card showing us some of the common insects we might find. My eldest really enjoyed this mainly because of the fishing net and bucket and we did manage to find some insects including lots of pond snails.
Overall, it was a lovely morning with plenty to see and do - we never did find all the brass rubbings but that gives us an excuse to go back on another day!
.JPG)
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