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Castle Pill Woods is one of our happy places and yet also quite a well kept secret locally. From the main road of North Road and Steynton you would never imagine that such a beautiful woodland with wood carvings and grass covered shelters was hidden behind.

Circular Walk

You can access the woodland from the field to the left of Mount Pleasant (SA73 1AB) or from Blackbridge (SA73 1DL). The woods can be included as part of a four mile circular walk from Milford Marina but we often walk from Mount side to the grass shelters, play and eat there and then walk back, This is what we did on our last visit.

Wood Sculptures

There are wood carvings by Dave from Animality. The local Beaver Scouts also put a wooden fish carving into the pond, but the pond is currently dried up and now a patch of grass so it’s literally a fish out of water.

As well as the grass covered shelters there are a few different spots to sit or explore so plenty of places to choose from if other people are using the area (it’s usually quiet anyway).

Not Quite a Beach

“Deadman’s Lake” flows right up to a little beach area, leading to Black Bridge.

We had a little play here by the water and made our way back into the woods. You can follow the path further to go to Blackbridge but we wanted to explore the shelters, rope swings and admire the bluebells.

Bluebells

The bluebells looked so pretty in the woods. This would have made a lovely Siblings in May photo if Rebecca had been present (she was helping Daddy build a shed for Granny and Grampy). We were lucky enough to be looking after Nanny’s dog, Toby and he was such good company on this walk. He likes it when Dave comes too as then we do the long route.



Old Ruins

Along the way, we spotted old ruins of walls and buildings.

Rope Swings

An accident waiting to happen!

(Disclaimer: No children were hurt in the making of this blog post.)

The kids always have plenty of fun on the rope swings. I’d quite like a hammock to set up in the woods on visits too. Danny was disappointed that Izzy didn’t want a go- she was quite happy doing her own thing. I had to remind him just to enjoy it for himself.



Deep, Dark Woods

For a brief moment, the sun was hidden by clouds and the woods went very dark. Usually when this happens it pours with rain and we end up gathering in the shelter. It almost feels like you’re in a rainforest.

Thankfully, on this occasion it stayed dry (I like the rain but we hadn’t dressed to walk back in the mud).

The grass covered shelter looks lovely in the woods. It looks part roundhouse and truly celtic, but also almost a little bit exotic.

Spot the kids

Toby loved drinking from and swimming in the fresh water.

Gathering pine cones (leftover nail polish from her big sister’s rainbow manicure!).

I love Caitlyn’s curls and also the flowers and seeds in her hair.

This walk is not always the easiest for those with pushchairs or mobility problems. There is often an obstruction in the way (which makes it more fun for the able) but a blocked path for others. Having said that over the years I have managed with a pram, a travel system and a buggy (not all at once!).

The path is also very narrow and overgrown in places. I used to have to push the pushchairs on one set of wheels to get through.

Toby cleared the way for us!

Once again it was a lovely walk and play. I can always relax when I’m there and take a few moments to breath and recharge while the kids are happy to entertain themselves.

When we got back to mums, I opened the car door to get something out of my car. Toby immediately jumped in, beeped the horn and wouldn’t get out. The irony of this is whenever I need to get him in my car he refuses to go in. He looked so pleased sitting there in the drivers seat, bless him!

Do you have a favourite “well kept secret walk” in your town?