Wythall park is a lovely little gem that's off the beaten track a little. It has a sand pit and…read moreswings, as well as a roundabout. These are all in an enclosed space for little ones to play safely. The older kids are catered for with a zip wire and a tyre swing, as well as a footbal court. There are toilets that are clean and the park is kept clean too, plus there's loads of free parking. It's open all year round too. There isn't anywhere to buy food and drink but it is a great place for a picnic, so bring your own instead. Something worth noting is that it's also a very popular dog walking area so if your children are scared of dogs, just be aware. Most dog owners are great but when we visited there were a coupe of great hulking dogs that took a dislike to each other and both were off their leads. One owner obviously had no control over his dog either. It all ended safely, but there was a lot of baking and snarling, and that was just the owners, and my daughter didn't like it at all.

This is such a good park for kids! It really is lovely and has a cool playground with swings, one…read moreof those roundabout things and even a sandpit! If only I was a kid again. I think that the park is kept well and always seems to be clean and tidy. There are even some toilets in case you get caught short. It is a great park to bring a picnic and the kids on a nice sunny day. It is also a great place to bring dogs and seems to be very popular for dog walkers. This is a really nice park and it is definitely worth a visit if you have kids, dogs or just generally want to view some greenery instead of the city traffic!

This is a really great place to go on a sunny day, or just a dry day if we can't manage any sun…read more It has three different play areas, one for older children with plenty of climbing at the top of the hill, a play area for little ones connected to a bit for slightly older children that has a big climbing frame and swings. It also has a lovely lake to take a short walk round. It's a brilliant place for bikes and scooters too. The paths are all suitable for pushchairs. The cafe is situated at the entrance to the park and has clean toilet facilities as well as stocking a wide range of the usual cafe snacks and ice creams. The food is pretty good if you forget to take a picnic. There's a lovely play and exploring area right outside the cafe near the picnic tables so you can sit and have a drink while keeping an eye on the children. There's also a spot from which you can feed the ducks on the lake nearby. If your children need even more to explore, there is a small area of woodland to run round on one side of the lake as well. It's a great way to spend a day. Plus, you can venture further afield if you really want to on sign posted walks.

l went here on a sunny but breezy day at the end of September and the park and visitor centre…read moreseemed relatively busy. The café stocked a variety of sandwiches, paninis and hot food. The mocha I had was nice and hot - served by friendly staff. Me and a friend sat out on the balcony over looking the lake which was nice. There are four maintained walks around the Arrow Valley park which I hope to return to do in the near future when it starts to warm up again.

Bosworth Water Trust is a leisure park set over 50 acres, 20 acres of which is water - used for all…read moretypes of water sports. There you can go sailing, windsurfing and kayaking or have a days relaxing fishing. Day and season tickets are available for the lakes - there are two, a large and small. The small lake has less 'traffic' on it and is a quieter days fishing. There are hiring facilities for the water sports and you can pay for lessons. We've been a few time to use the caravan and camping site located on the side of the waters edge. The pitches aren't massive but it's not bad for a weekend.There are good washing and shower facilities for all who are camping. They have a small shop but it's not got loads in for the camper, I'd recommend bringing what you need. There is also a bar but I thought it was a bit expensive. For an afternoon it's a nice day out - there is a fairly good play area, space to kick a ball, a walk round the lake etc. I think it's only about £2 to get in. Outside the park, there is the town of Market Bosworth, Shackerstone Railway, Twycross Zoo and Bosworth Battlefield. Every year they host events such as the raft race or Hinckley half mararthon.

Our family love this place, with a few exceptions! The things we love are:…read more Loads of places to play. There's an under 5's play area that has a tunnel, play house, play kitchen and a really cool ball pit. Not only that, but there are three slides, climbing frames, padded bits to hit and tunnels to crawl through in the air. The older play bit has a gigantic blue slide that is really fast, as well as a football pitch with netting, two trampolines to bounce away on, and that's just for starters. It is possible to lose your child for a good few minutes amongst the maze of places. They've now also added some little tikes cars to zoom round in (beware of toddler tantrums as there are only three) and a couple of small rides at £1 a go as well as air hockey. For parents, there is a great cafe that stocks a wide range of food from the usual burgers etc to Hipp Organic goodies. I can vouch for the hot chocolate and cakes-very tasty. On the counter at reception are also complimentary newspapers and magazines to read whilst your children go mad, though they have to be returned for others to enjoy after you. It's good value and offers toddler specials on weekday mornings during term time which are £3.50 - £3.65 (including parent/guardian) between Monday-Friday entry between 9.30am and Midday. The bad thigs are: It can get REALLY busy at peak times like after school, during holidays and at weekends and there are usually LOADS of birthday parties going on. Parking at busy times can also be a bit of a nightmare. At peak times it's limited to a 2 hour visit, although I don't see this as a problem. We're usually ready to leave after a couple of hours anyway. All in all though, a great way to spend a couple of hours and for kids to expend some energy.

Toddlers and small children will love this place. In this huge indoor playground small ones can let…read moreoff steam and keep dry at the same time. There are different play areas to suit different ages and tastes. Babies and very small ones can have mum and dad nearby with them in their own low-level area, kitted out with soft-play items, and small slides. Older toddlers and big boys and girls can run riot around the rest of the area clambering, exploring, tumbling, and swinging. The deep ball pool is a great place to hide while someone else tries to seek. Or you could go on a sortie to find foam balls to fire at targets from an air-power cannon. Have a conversation with the Tube-O-Phone, why dontcha? A netted area is set aside for small-scale football matches, and a huge colourful, wavy slide sits against the far wall. Food? A cafe offers snacks and meals, and hot and cold drinks. Skip the healthy options and fill up on chips and baked beans. Active kids need their carbs!

One of Birmingham's lesser known parks, and all the better for it, if you ask me! We really are…read moreblessed / spoiled over in the south of the city when it comes to parks - there seems to be one every few hundred yards - from large, countryside-equse open spaces like Warley Woods and the Lickeys, to ornate urban parks like Cannon Hill Park. This place is a little of both - the large open space that dominates it provides a lovely respite from the bustle of Harborne, and the gardens that border it are well kept and a legacy of the park's Victorian roots. A great little park - much recommended!

Queens Park is one of Birmingham's best parks in my opinion, its very secluded and not very known…read moreabout and all the better for it! We don't have many great outdoor spaces in Harborne so its a great place for young children, teenagers and adults too. Its has a great open large space, people come here to play football, tennis (has 2 tennis courts), basketball (has a basketball court). Has a playground area for young children. Very popular with dog walkers, joggers and cyclists. Ive been here day and night and never had any trouble, the gardens are well kept and very pretty in every season. There is 2 car parks available on site which is free, space available for disabled vehicles too. A great little park!

I tried to cancel my membership because the service was getting worse and the pools are dirty and…read moreold, but nobody was answering the phone for 2 days. I tried many times over a 2 day period. Eventually I get through to someone and they say because I missed the deadline I will be charged for a further month (which I wouldn't have if they had answered the phone when I first called). Awful service and a cancellation policy that shows they need to do everything they can to get as much money out of you as possible.

Cocks Moor is a great place to spend a few hours with the kids. The swimming area is just that,…read moreit's more about fun with water than vast swimming lanes. There are water chutes, sprinklers and even a small slide for the very little ones. The shallow end is lovely and safe with a gentle gradient that slopes down to deeper water. For children that are a little nervous around water it's great and feels very safe. During holidays and at weekends the wave machine operates as does the big slide. Also on offer during term time are stay and play sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The price includes a swim session if you want to and at £2.35 per child is well worth it. There are loads of inflatables, and a safe area for the very young. It's a great and inexpensive way to spend a couple of hours and there are more structured activities available should you want to give them a try. Also, as a bribery for the way out, there's a new play area on the way to the car park, which works as an excellent incentive to leave if you're struggling to get the kids home.

Shirley Park is in Shirley, Solihull, close to a shopping area that is becoming more popular with…read morepeople from outside the Shirley area. The park provides relief to the frantic high street and is ideal for a family picnic. There are a wide range of activities in the Park, including pitch and putt, and a range of events through out the summer months. The Donkey Derby is one of my favourites. It is a large outdoor summer fair with lots of animals to interact with I was lucky enough to speak to the parks warden and he told me the Park was originally home to farmland, which was bought up in 1927. At a later stage additional features were introduced which included an ornamental garden and formal walkways. A walk through the woods of the park is especially pleasant in spring when the bluebells produce a vivid array of colours. It is also possible to view wildfowl as the pond is used on a frequent basis by birds and wildlife. Play equipment includes: - Junior & toddler swings, Junior & toddler multi play, Senior & junior mound slide, Talking flowers, Horse springers, reveloution roundabout, play car and crazy mirrors. I grew up in the area as a child and have fond memories of this park, to the extent that I visit it most weeks.

I don't use the term 'hidden gem' often, many because it's such a cliche and rarely true in these…read moredays of vapid overstatement. However, in this case it is literally true. You might never know it exists unless you're a resident of the local patch. I've lived over this side of Birmingham for over ten years and only discovered its existence a few months ago. I found it because I was trying to find Playpod (a soft play area) off the Stratford Road and stumbled upon this park by accident. There's plenty of green space surrounded by trees where you can play football or use the tennis courts if team games aren't you're thing. It's a great place for a picnic too, even though it's surrounded by busy residential streets. The play ground has swings, climbing frames, various slides, those flowers that you can talk into, a roundabout, play car andfunny mirrors. Everything is in pretty good condition too. There's also a skate park and even pitch and putt (though you have to take your own clubs and balls if you want to play.) I don't remember seeing any toilets because for once we didn't need to use them, but I'm sure there must be some nearby. If you want snacks and drinks, the shops on the high street are a few minutes away.

One of the better soft-play areas; bright, spacious, comfortable. Doesn't look like like a…read morewarehouse like some of the others do. Food is deep-fried from frozen, prices are average, but the kids will enjoy themselves and, if they are self-sufficient, will leave you alone for at least an hour or two.

I'd come here for the pool. Well, for the slides. Those famous, (locally, anyway), colourful big…read moretube slides that wend their way in and out of the building. You can imagine my surprise when I arrived to see that the whole building was completely different. Apparently in 2008 they demolished the old style pool with its slides and diving boards and replaced it with the current ones. I remembered the fun and exuberance of swimmers at the former Tudor Grange on Saturday mornings, jumping off the diving boards and running to queue up for the slides, but the pool is now the ultimate sterile swimming environment, hardly a place where fun is encouraged to happen. There's a stuffy emphasis on swimming lessons, (why don't parents just go swimming with their kids, rather than paying someone to teach them, then watching from the side-lines), and swimming for sport. In the lanes, unsmiling, bored, length-counters go through their paces. You can't work out at what time of day to go to swim either as an adult or as a family. There are sometimes up to three activities going on in the pool at any one time, and the lanes change in layout either lengthways or crossways around every 90 minutes or so to accommodate the aforementioned lessons or a water polo class ('class', not 'session'), or just any water-based activity that has some strict and concrete rules to them. You are alerted to 'the changing of the ropes' by a whistling lifeguard who will then shepherd you to the appropriate section that you are allowed to now swim in. I swim in a snorkel mask out of habit, even when I'm in an indoor pool. While I'll admit it is unusual I don't see why they have a ban on them here. The lifeguards can't give a reason, they just quote the cover-all phrase 'Its policy'. If you want to be the next Micheal Phelps, then this is maybe the place for you. As a casual swimmer though, you'd be hard-pushed to find a more frustrating place for aqua fun.

This has to be the worst gym I have ever been to! The…read morecustomer service is shocking!!! The 2 reception desk ladies are clueless, with one of them more interested in doing her nails then noticing there are customers waiting to be served. The gym instructor (i think his name was Dan?) is just a waste of time, and very rude, I complained to his manager who just wasn't bothered. The parking is ridiculous with its rules and policy. Avoid this gym, there are plenty of good gyms in Solihull.