Things to do in West Sussex with children – Tilgate Lake
During lockdown, it is so hard to come up with things to do in West Sussex with your children, that
a; aren’t full of other people and
b; don’t cost a fortune.
Tilgate Park and Lake, in Crawley, is fantastic. It is the perfect place to go to, especially for the evening, after a hot day in the sun. It was away from the crowds and a wonderful place for the children to relax and enjoy.
Tilgate Park also has so much to offer . It has a a couple of lakes, large green to play games or picnic, wooded areas, play parks, trim trails, golf course, cycle trails and nature centre. It also has a cafe, restaurant and a Go Ape high ropes course. In the summer it has some fantastic inflatable games plus boating on the lake and in the winter Father Christmas comes to visit. There is so much to see and do, it really is a must if you haven’t been before.
About Tilgate Park.
The address for Tilgate Park is: Tilgate Drive, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 5PQ
There is one free car park near K2 and the rest are paying but procedes from the car parks do go back into the park!
Dogs are allowed in the park but not in the walled garden or nature reserve.
Our evening
This jetty was perfect for chilling out on but as we arrived a couple of teenage girls, also thought the same.
Unfortunately, for one, she managed to drop her phone through the slats of the jetty, into the water below. As we had fishing nets, we offered to help, also because she was panicking her mum would be really mad at her. We managed to locate the phone and helped to guide her underneath the jetty to pick it out.
I have to say, if this was my daughter, even if the phone had broken, I would’ve been so proud of her! She didn’t hesitate to get down to her swimmer, to enter the water to retrieve the phone. She even went under the jetty where there were all sorts of things lurking.
Having left, to give mum the bad news, we then had the jetty to ourselves. To enjoy the evening. From across the lake we could even hear music, from someones stereo, and the air was so warm, as the sun started to set. It was so peaceful!
Whether you want to walk, cycle or take your scooters Tilgate Park is great for burning of energy with your children. It is also perfect for picnics and playing games on the large green.
THE OUTTAKES
All photo sessions are meant to be fun!
A little bit of photobombing while taking some photos.
Family Photo Sessions
If you are interesting in booking a fun, relaxed outdoor photo session, capturing the true personality of your family please visit my Home page by clickingHERE
Can you believe the summer is over and its only 11 weeks today until Christmas!
BUT… between now and then is my favourite time.. Autumn. Autumn photography sessions are one of my favourite family sessions because this season is just gorgeous. The light at this time of year is just stunning and it is the perfect backdrop for your family.
Around Horsham and Crawley there are some lovely places to spend a glorious autumn day with your family or dog. I thought I would share a few of my favourites, plus a few of my dedicated followers have given me their ideas too.
For more information on Family Sessions please click here
My favourite places to visit:
Tilgate Park, Crawley, is my absolute favourite park! No matter where I have lived no park has ever been as good as Tilgate.
Not only is it absolutely stunning but there is so much to do. Whether it is building dens and climbing the trees in the woods, walking round the lake and having a picnic or visiting the nature reserve. Other things to do here include Go Ape, play park, rowing boats, Smith and Western. It is so easy to spend the day here and is a wonderful place to tire out the children without spending a fortune. Parking is £1 per hour but all proceeds do go back into the park and for the nature centre it is only £4 for an adult and £3 for age 3-16yr olds.
Buchan Park is a place where I spend many days during my childhood climbing trees and having picnics.
This is definitely a back to nature kind of place. There is ample free parking and its only a short walk to a beautiful lake and the perfect paths for kicking leaves or walking the dog.
Sheffield Park this National Park is absolutely stunning in the autumn.
The colours around the lake are like no other. There is no tree climbing in the actual gardens but they do put on events for children to do throughout the year. However, there is a natural play area a short walk away and this includes a den area and soon to be replaced huge swing!
The lake provides a great place for swimming and water sports during the summer and then year round is the Dinosaur Park. A great place to spend the afternoon with lots to entertain the children. In the summer it gets extremely busy with families picnicking either around the lake or in the dinosaur park but as the nights close in and days get cooler it definitely gets much quieter.
Petworth Park is another National Trust place which is home to hundreds of deer.
There is a paying car park (free for NT) which provides easy access to the park. It’s a beautiful place to sit and watch the deer or wander along the many paths around the park.
Wey and Arun Canal is not a park but it is a beautiful place to go for a walk
It’s lovely to see the canal boats and at Christmas you can even go one to meet Father Christmas.
All of the above places are dog friendly, although most of them do require your dog to be on the lead.
I hope you like my list and feel free to message me with your favourite place
I will be running autumn mini sessions in various locations over the next few weeks so feel free to get in touch or like my Facebook page Claire Wilders Photography
The colours around the lake are like no other. There is no tree climbing in the actual gardens but they do put on events for children to do throughout the year. However, there is a natural play area a short walk away and this includes a den area and soon to be replaced huge swing!
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