Play at Sherwood Pines

At Forestry England we believe that natural play amongst the trees is really important. And at Sherwood Pines we are keen that as many people as possible with differing abilities can all play together. 

King John's Castle.

This play area was designed and built with accessibility at its heart by Earth Wrights. It's themed around King John’s Palace, which was historically located close to the current Sherwood Pines site and was used as a residence by several Kings, including Henry II, Richard I and even Edward I. 

The main castle-themed structure includes a gentle ramp up to the top which means all children can access the tower.  Connecting the two towers is a wobbly clatter bridge, wide enough for wheelchairs, which not only ensures access for all but also provides excitement of movement (at height!) under your wheels or feet. One of the towers includes a climbing tree element to allow those wanting a more challenging route to clamber up the outside. And at ground level there are areas to enjoy including a secret den, tunnel, kitchen and dungeon. These feature tactile and high-contrast elements to help give them sensory detail for those with reduced vision. With a tube slide, balance trail and trebuchet swing also on offer, the new play area has many ways to go up, down and around meaning the fun can go on for longer, and take many different directions. 

Robin Hood’s Hideout

Designed and built with Capco, the all-new Robin Hood’s Hideout features lots of elements for adventurers of varying abilities. With a rope climbing wall, easy access steps, a ladder and scramble next there are lots of options for getting up– but the slides are the most popular way for getting down! There is a walkway and crawl tunnel for fun seekers looking for more of a physical challenge, but also pulleys and chutes, lookout windows, activity panels and outlaw theming to help little ones with their imaginative play.

Robin Hood’s Workshop

Just across from the Hideout is Robin Hood’s Workshop play area. With a wheelchair accessible access ramp* into the workshop,  fun seekers can use the sand chutes and pulleys to fill up the sand table to ‘forge’ a sword and arrowheads. The outlaw theming remains to create a roleplaying adventure for all. 

*At time of opening there is a small step onto the accessible ramp due to additional surfacing which is scheduled to be completed soon.