I think we first discovered this park passing through on our way to Delamere Forest and so now whenever we visit Delamere the kids always insist on stopping here, but it’s a great little park and so we never mind.

Ashton Hayes is a small village about 7 miles east of Chester, just off the A54, not far from Tarvin.

There’s a small car park, however just try not to visit when there is a kids football match going on as you won’t get near it and will have to find somewhere further into the village to park! I’ve no idea of timings for this as I’ve seen matches on in both the morning and afternoon but it’s not the end of the world if you do encounter one, just thought I’d forewarn you!

My favourite thing about this park is that there is a cafe onsite! What more could you ask for as a parent! Unfortunately The Pavilion Cafe has limited opening, normally Friday, Saturday and Sundays and not for the whole day so do check timings if you’re in desperate need of coffee! It’s mainly staffed by volunteers and profits help support the upkeep of the park so it’s nice to be able to support them and have a slice of cake for the team! They serve hot/cold drinks, soups, toasties, cakes and ice creams and there are picnic benches where you can eat your food.

There is a very large field (the Queen Elizabeth II recreational field to give it it’s full name!) is absolutely enormous so there is tons of space for the kids to run about and the views across to the Welsh hills are lovely.

A bike track runs around the perimeter of the field so bikes and scooters are a must and they’ll certainly tire themselves out going around that a few times!

For the grown ups there’s an adult outdoor gym which we all enjoy a play on.

The kids have a zip wire, climbing frame with slide, swings (baby and child), spinner bowl, birds nest swing, spring rocker and my personal favourite a rotating spring seesaw! If you get an adult to push you round on this you can experience some serious centrifugal force!!

At the far side of the field (opposite end to the play equipment) don’t miss this little timber trail.

The perfect add on to a trip here is the Ashton Hayes Fairy Door Trail which I’ve written up here. This is a 1.8km walk through a small wood with imaginative fairy doors dotted along the trail, little ones will absolutely adore it. Delamere Forest is only a 5-7 minute drive away (depending on which part of the forest you want to go to) so this is another good add on.

For pub food head up the road to The Goshawk which has a small children’s playground, quite a rarity nowadays it would seem, so this is a big draw for us!