There is nothing better than finding an awesome park to enjoy some much needed fresh air, burn off some energy and enjoy the great outdoors. Onslow Village Recreation Ground boasts one of the largest ranges of play equipment in the borough, made almost entirely of Robinia Timber. It is the perfect spot to spend a sunny morning or afternoon – we even took a picnic with us.
This is a beautiful wooden park, with many climbing frames, and lots of different apparatus to explore. Noah and Isabella were in their element and couldn’t wait to starting climbing and exploring. They were both like Spiderman and headed straight to the balancing beam and cargo nets to explore at great heights and slide down the double width slide together.
They both were determined to conquer this alone, and had great fun using all their strength to climb, crawl and jump across these. Even I had to join in on the fun aswell – the slide was very fast, it seemed to catapult you at the end but luckily the landing was sand so not too bad a bump.
In the centre of the park was an impressive sandpit featuring pulley systems and play buckets. Along with climbing structure with different levels, they both had great fun in collecting sand in the buckets and pulling them to the next level. ( There were a few grumbles between both little ones, as Noah preferred to fill the buckets, but Isabella enjoyed tipping the sand out.)
There was also a zip wire, swings, a tyre swing, tunnel to crawl through and a sea-saw. This was all opened planned so enough space for the children to run around and explore at their own leisure. Located in the middle of the play area was some picnic benches, so you could easily have a welcomed break here whilst still watching the children play independently close by.
There is a small fenced park within the open planned park which is ideal for the smaller children. There is a toddler-sized climbing frame with slide, double toddler swings, rockers, and a spinning seat. Although not overly big there is still enough to occupy them. Also the fence is a perfect height for watching the other areas of the park too – incase you have multiple children with you.
This is a real hidden gem in Guildford, and right next door is the arboretum. Tucked between Onslow Village and the A3 on the outskirts of Guildford, Onslow Arboretum is a great place for a short walk that takes you through pleasant green parkland amidst a variety of fascinating trees. The single path follows a circuit of the arboretum.
Parking can be limited as there is a very small free car park with public toilets next to it. We did see some other residential roads with off street parking too.
If you’re local and have little ones you might also like my guide to the Guildford baby & toddler groups.
