New children’s adventure playground opens

A NEW adventure playground opened at Stonor Park on Monday.

Tumblestone Hollow was installed over the winter in woodland overlooking the estate’s Wonder Woods playground at a cost of about £250,000.

It consists of a double-decker wooden walkway linked by climbing walls and nets, a spiral staircase and several fireman’s poles and slides.

The playground has a fantasy theme to tie in with a series of children’s books which are being written to mark the launch and everything is set at unusual angles, including a miniature “house” where the characters live. The structures weave around sycamore and maple trees and will be largely hidden from view once their leaves appear in a few weeks’ time.

It also features a stylised recreation of the Neolithic stone circle which gives Stonor its name, four of which are missing for reasons explained in a book. There is also a takeaway café called the Hollow Hut and a seating area.

The Hon William Stonor, who is custodian of the estate, said: “We’re thrilled to see everything in place. It’s an extraordinary transformation of this area of the estate, which was covered in brambles and had to be cleared before work could start. I could never have imagined it looking like this but it’s wonderful and fits in beautifully with its surroundings.

“We’re very pleased to be coming out of lockdown and will be doing so in a very careful way following all the official guidance and ensuring measures like social distancing and hand sanitising are enforced.”

The playground was part-funded by the Culture Recovery Fund, a Lottery initiative to protect culturally significant sites from the impact of covid-19.