Shorne Woods Country Park

Date of visit - 12/11/2024

what3words: ///stray.hush.metals

We have visited Shorne Woods Country Park, near Gravesend in Kent, on many occasions in the past, but we hadn't been this way for a few years. So, being in the midst of a dry cold snap today seemed like a good day to go exploring.

The country park is one of Kent's 9 such parks and is one of the parks covered by Kent County Council's season ticket for parking. The parking onsite isn't too costly, at £3 for the whole day during the week and £4 for weekends and bank holidays. As previously mentioned, there is the option to buy a parking season ticket, for blue badge holders at £15 for the year, to cover all 9 parks, a reduction from the full yearly cost of £62 for those without a blue badge.

While this is a welcome reduction in parking costs, it is always a bug bear that we can't meet the commitment to the disabled like the dissolved nations of Scotland and Wales, where most council owned car parks are free to blue badge holders.

The country park has some wonderful areas to walk, with 6 signposted trails of various lengths and difficulties, from 0.6 to 6.2 miles. There are also very good facilities for those with accessibility challenges, as is detailed in their accessibility statement. Trampers can be hired at the park visitor centre, where there are disabled and changing places toilets available too, even the kissing gates dotted around the site have been made mobility friendly. Obviously though, as basic countryside and woods, there are places that won't always be accessible, there are steps and steep inclines to encounter which won't be wheel friendly! However, the park has done a very good job of catering for accessibility, as best they can with the natural terrain.

The video above shows the quality of the paths in the access for all section of the park, with nice level paths, with raised edges, which while they could be a trip hazard for those going off piste, they should keep the majority on the path and stop wheels disappearing into the often boggy greenery!

I forgot to mention, there is quite a lot of water in the park, particularly around the entry area, including a dipping pond, for organised pond dipping (for creatures, not humans) and a dog pond for the many four legged friends that visit the park. Dogs should be kept on leads in many areas of the park and to be fair we have never had a problem being approached by unsolicited dogs when we are out walking here.

It was really nice to see our Little One join in on our walk, as he copied my wife kicking the leaves. This might seem like nothing to most people, but when you have a child who doesn't "get" life, doesn't understand what it is he is supposed to do, when you see him joining in like this, it makes us smile - deeply!

It is a joy to see Little One out and about like this. He loves being outside, although still has to be securely attached to one of us, as he is a runner and getting more difficult to catch when he goes. With no fear or understanding of danger it really is for his safety and our peace of mind, specially with the water on site - we have to have eyes all around us for any dangers, seen or unseen, and it can make going out quite stressful some times.

We had decided to just do a wander through the trees and paths today, without actually following one of the waymarked walking routes. The park is laid out so everything eventually comes back in a loop to the visitor centre, so you can't really get lost... he says!

On our ramble we passed quite a few of the wooden sculptures around the country park. I believe at some point in time there was an official sculpture trial, as indeed there are waymarked posts for it, but I can't see any evidence of it on the site map or website. Anyway, you can just enjoy what you discover as you walk round.

It should be noted that some of the trails, as mentioned earlier, include steps and inclines, there is also the trip hazard of tree roots, cleverly hidden at this time of year beneath the carpet of leaves - so do be aware if venturing away from the easy access routes.

Last time we visited Shorne Woods they were working on developing the play area in the park, which always used to get very busy at peak times, like weekends and school holidays. The play area has now been extended, with different sections, largely based on age and need. There is a selection of accessible pieces of equipment, including a double seat sea-saw swing, with room for an adult at one end, and child at the other, and also a wheelchair swing, which was a first for me. Apparently you do need a RADAR key to open the access to the swing, this can be asked for from the visitor centre if you don't have one. There is also an accessibility roundabout too. Details of the play area are contained in their accessibility guide.

Little One loved the sea-saw swing - my wife slightly less so, as she said it made here feel slightly nauseous!

Swings and slides done, we headed back towards the car. We had only intended to pop out for a couple of hours, to blow away some metaphorical cobwebs, so didn't venture into the visitor centre. The toilets and a decent cafe are located here, as well as a small gift shop.

Last note, which doesn't really relate to our visit, but there are times of year when it will be apt.

The ground around the park can get very damp at times, and with lots of leaves, fallen branches, etc., is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes - at certain times of year they literally swarm beneath the tree canopies, so make sure you have bug repellent of some kind. Also, in the summer months, particularly around August, the play area of the park attracts a lot of wasps - so again be aware when visiting!

Whenever you do visit, just enjoy the lovely walks provided and have fun...!