Amusement Arcades come in all shapes and sizes. Most people…read moretoday think of an amusement arcade as something like a hall consisting of one-armed bandits, small kiddies roundabouts and a sitdown bingo link. Or maybe something more alabrate like Alton Towers Theme Park. But years ago in the somewhat posh area of Hunters Bar, Sheffield, people found their amusement in different ways. At the rear end of the Botanical Gardens you will find, hidden from view by dense trees and bushes, the remains of a Bear Pit. A large circular pit dug out off the soft earth, then lined with sandstones. It looks like they laid the stones as drystone walling because there's no sign of any motar between the stones. There's a large entrance at the rear, where obviously the bear was lead into the torturous pit, where we can assume the poor animal was torturously ill treated by the gawping men and women who leared over the top of the open pit. Thank God we've learnt to treat wild animals with respect these days and done away with these hidious amusement arcades of the 19th. Centruary. But having said that, if you're into historic amusements it's still interesting to see The Bear Pit, a true historic gem from days gone by.

Rides r a complete yawn fest I've had more fun taking my hamster to the vet. Full of screaming kids…read moreand slow walkers you would have to pay me half of bill Gates salary to return to this hell hole id rather jump into two lakes than set foot in this screaming crying kids paradise don't go for your own safety.

This is the best park I have ever seen. There is so much things to explore. And it can get…read moreincredibly fun here. Recommend coming here.

Good for young children aged around 4. My 3 year old couldn't go on a lot of rides as she was too…read moresmall but it's a good few hours out even so.

Stumbled on Wheelgate while looking for something to do on a sunny Sunday. We enjoyed the park…read morealtough parts of it were looking a little 'well used'. £32.00 for a family ticket felt slightly high for what you got, but the staff were all very pleasant. Pushing push-chairs around was tricky as many of the paths are gravel.Food wasn't over-priced but basic, if we go back we'll take a picnic. A massive indoor area is opening soon so could be a good bet if the weathers bad. If the price says the same when this opens it will be a good family day out. One word of caution: the zip wire says 14 stone max, i'm 13 stone and won't be sitting down for about a week!

Sherwood Forest Fun Park is located on the edge of Edwinstowe village.It is easily accessed on foot…read morefrom the village or from Sherwood Forest Visior Centre (reviewed seperately) If you've seen the leaflet they produce it lloks like a fun packed place, where you could spend a long time. Well the reality is different. There's probably a dozen rides in total, including a slide, a ghost train, hook-a-bag and some rides for the younger visitor. My daughter spent £1.50 on the hook-a-bag, managed to get the largest bag and inside was four or five items that would probably cost less than £1 in total. They only way I could describe this park is: imagine a the kind of fairground rides you would get at a small village fete.

I want to disagree with those that say Gulliver's is just for the young kids. I took my 2 teenagers…read morewho are 16 and 14 and they had a whale of a time. If you are going to go on the train, wear some good walking shoes as you have a hell of a hill to climb. The whole park is set on the side of a hill. The best thing to do is when you go in the main entrance, Take the chair lift to the top and work your way back down. All the rides are totally family friendly so Mum, Dad and the kids can all go on together. There is only a height restriction on 2 rides so my little 3 yr old niece wasn't allowed to go on the Switchback Roller coaster or the drop tower. There's Fantasy Terrace where you can ride on the Flying Carpet and go on the Dodgems. There Western World where you can drive the JCB diggers, pan for gold and ride the Log Flume. The Log Flume was one of my favourites of the day. All children and adults can go on it yet the drop is quite awesome and we got soaked through. My daughter went on it twice. You can also buy a photo from the ride - We got Magnets to put on the fridge. Next you can take a walk through the Party house with a ball pool, big pedal tractors, A big old sandpit and a great interactive piano that you play with your feet. I took some time out to look at the breath taking views of Matlock and all of Derbyshire. Take a look at the photos to see for yourself. It makes all that hill climbing worth it. The biggest area is of course Lilliput land the home of Gulliver himself. You can play Giant chess , go over the magic stepping stones and ride the veteran cars, Find your way round the 3d maze, ride the Crazy barrel rapid ride, visit Lilliput castle, ride the teacups and the Rio Grande train ride. My favourite area was the Palais Royale area with the Switchback and the cycle monorail but boy did my legs feel it in the morning! As it is Gulliver's Anniversary this year every half an hour the 2 park Mascots Gully and Gilly would come out and sing. It was a lovely treat for the little ones so we took time out to get ice cream and donuts. OK they are a little expensive but the were really Yummy. The absolute last ride you get to go on before you leave the park is the Pirate ship which is my all time favourite ride so it was perfect to save the best for last. As for the food on the park. Well the usual is availableBurgers, Pizza, Chips and Chicken. We ate at Dixies Fish bar. You queue up at the till and order your food (Fish or Chicken burgers) and then when you paid you move round to the window to wait while the slow youngsters in the kitchen prepare your mealDon't wait until you are starving to order. It all comes in disposable wrappers so you can just throw it all away on your way out. I thought the price was quite reasonable and they don't skimp on portions either. Both my children asked if we can go again next year because they went on all the rides and had a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Quite disappointing for the price…read more Fantastic for those with young children only, but for older ones it can be quite boring. Top tip - take a picnic with you as there are plenty of benches about and the food places are extortionate!

I love this place. It is lonely, lovely and quite exhilarating to visit…read more The maze commands a panoramic view over the Humber countryside. One theory is it was created by medieval monks, it sits adjacent to the site of an older 7-ringed celtic maze .The relic is 44ft. Also nearby is the old 'Kell Well', now nicely renovated, and a very curious stone in the village churchyard (said to be the remains of a stone cross, carved into a 'spiral' by years of sword sharpening!).an earthwork known as Countess Close above it. No-one knows who originally cut this 12 metre maze (technically a Labyrinth - as it has a single entrance and path), The idea of the maze comes from the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. Theseus, son of King Aegeus of Athens used a ball of wool given to him by Ariadne to mark his way through the labyrinth of the Minotaur in Crete, slayed the monster and retraced his steps with the aid of the thread and so to safety. The nearby Alkborough church has a copy of the maze inlaid into the porch floor, and this is used as a template for the periodic re-cutting of the turf. There is also a copy in the east window,The 44ft relic cut into the landscape has many interlocking rings, and the theories surrounding its origins are just as complex. Some have observed how Alkborough's maze is strikingly similar to a floor design in the 13th century French cathedral of Chartres. In 1697, the Lincolnshire diarist and antiquarian, Abraham de la Pryme, noted: They have at (Alkborough) two Roman games, the one called Gillian's (for Julian's) Bore, and the other Troy's Walls. eg The name Julian's Bower may have been inspired by Julius, son of Aeneas of Troy. In legend, the walls of the ancient city of Troy were built in such a confusing way that an enemy who entered would never find a way out. Shepherds too are said to have cut similar mazes. It will remain a mystery. Free to get in and not too difficult to find though a little out of the way unless you are in the area. Fascinating and well worth the visit..and YES I WAS the one running around it whilst a lot of, not particularly interested kids looked on. My dad was proud of me.

The "Great Leeds Valentines Fair" is back again folks, for the 19th year running, Leeds is cashing…read morein on the Valentines Day madness and holding a fun fair in it's honour. oh lucky Valentine!! All jokes aside it's a grand idea! It's £1 to enter on to the site, admission goes towards the payment of security around the fun fair limits, which is an excellent point, considering the amount of kidlets and families and potential for disaster sort of scenarios these type of events often have. The fair starts today, and runs until Sunday 21st of Feb this year, and it's open from 1pm and closes at 10.30pm. There are some exceptions to this, due to the football fixtures and Elland Road being Leeds' home ground. So what's there? Well, there are Roller Coasters, Dodgems, Ghost Trains, Fun Houses, the crazy claw looking thing that hurls you (safely) in every direction, Carousels, the Crazy Mouse, prize games, novelty stores, candy floss, toffee apples, greasy burgers, fries, hot chocolate, and all that other childish brilliantly fun stuff fun fairs generally have to offer. This year's chosen charity of choice is Martin House Hospice, which is dedicated to providing support to children with life limiting illnesses and their families.

Love is in the air, every time I look around. That's not strictly true but go on spread some love…read moreand hug a neighbour. No, okay then maybe try the ever increasing Valentine Fair at Elland Road. Now I must admit, fairgrounds and romance aren't the first two things to spring to mind when I think about it but any excuse for some thrill seeker rides, candy floss and hook-a-duck in my book. It really is becoming a big event in the city and I've now come to expect the resulting queuing traffic off the M621 and gaggle of school children milling around each time it rolls into town. Plenty of attractions to get your teeth into and I suggest the bungee if you like a bit of adrenaline action, or even the buzz mouse. Enough sugar rotting treats to shake a stick at and of course your entire usual fair ground games and over-sized teddy bears to win. Do watch out for pick pockets but that is the same at any large gathering of people. It's a shame to have to say that when the whole point of the event is to give a little love. Also look out for the special promotions to save on those pennies. Not exclusively for those in love, that would rule quite a few of us out, so don't let the name put you off.

No town would be complete (or would it?) without a local arcade to watch the hours fly by and loose…read morea few pence here, try and figure out the system of a fruit machine there. These quite dark and mysterious looking places remind me of 'adult shops, as the fronts are all covered up, is this so wives cannot see where their husbands have escaped to? A small local business, not like the Teddy's Amusements that populate almost every small and large city, is a very busy popular place.