Wepre park pretty much has it all, a skate park, playground, cafe, castle, river and waterfall, could you ask for much more?! It does get busy, but with 160 acres to explore it won’t feel it.
The lucky residents of Connah’s Quay have this right on their doorstep and indeed driving in from such urban surroundings you’ll be surprised at its existence. The grounds are part of an old estate which was recorded in the Domesday Book and over the centuries has passed through the hands of various families before being taken on by council in the 1960s.
The car park is large and free and right next to the playground so you can guess what our first stop always is! Brilliant for all ages, the bigger kids have various slides, swings and climbing frames whilst for the little ones there’s baby swings and a play frame. For mine who range in age from 3-8 it keeps them all happy!
There’s also a large skatepark (forgot to get a photo of this!), which whilst it was quiet the kids loved running up and down over, but as it filled up they just enjoyed watching/getting in the way of the bigger kids on their bikes and scooters.
Just up from the park is the visitor centre which houses the Old Hall Cafe. This serves drinks, ice cream, sandwiches and hot food, including children’s meals, so if like me you haven’t got your act together to bring a picnic then this is your lunch option! There’s indoor and outdoor seating and decent toilets. The information centre can also be found here and you’ll find information (shock horror) on Wepre Park and the walking routes, so its worth having a browse here and picking up a map.
Behind the information centre is the Old Hall gardens which was the site of the last great Hall to be built on the estate. There’s some lovely old trees and carved wooden benches dotted around to sit on and a pet cemetery (I told you Wepre had everything!).
That’s that with all the facilities (oh one more thing there are football pitches!) now for the natural attractions!
Wepre Brook runs the entirety of the park so there’s loads of opportunities to have a good paddle. At the Southern end of the park (the car park end) is a man made waterfall, built by the Victorian owners of the estate. On the day of this visit the river was a raging torrent thanks to two recent storms so the waterfall resembled a mini Niagara. Determined as ever the kids attempted to enter the water but on this occasion it was just a bit too dangerous, but at nicer times of year it is possible to have a scenic little paddle here.
There are tons of good hard standing, well signposted walking routes throughout the park. This leaflet here shows the trails and provides some history about the various parts of the park. On our visit we ventured first to the waterfall then followed the boardwalk alongside the river which was a really picturesque spot so I’d highly recommend doing this stretch of the walk.
We then followed the path all the way up to the top of the park to Ewloe Castle, about a 17 minute walk from the waterfall or more like 40 minutes with my children who had to stop and climb any steep bank they came across!
The kids were excited at the thought of a play around a castle so raced to the top leaving us trailing behind (oh to have half their energy). One word of warning fellow pushchair users, leave the pushchair at the bottom of the castle, those stairs are not your friend!!!
Ewloe castle was built by the Welsh in the Thirteenth century to keep those English lot out and today its ruins can be clambered on by all who conquer her! There’s some steep stair cases in the structure so little ones need to be watched but it makes a great aside to the park and something to aim for on your walk.
I don’t think there’s many places that quite tick all the boxes for a family day out as this and all without having to spend a penny, so get visiting!!
