Location: North Stainley, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 3HT. For directions, visit their website.
Telephone: 0871 720 0011
Website: www.lightwatervalley.co.uk
Transport: Visit their website for details.
Opening hours: Daily 10.30am to 4.30pm. Visit their website for seasonal variation.
Entry fee: Free for children under 1m and up to £19.45 for an adult. See their website for details.
MoorMum Barbara from Menston says:
My 4 year old niece was visiting a few weekends ago and, we decided to venture out to Lightwater valley theme park for the day. We had such a good day that I thought that others may enjoy it too.
It was a really drizzly Sunday and the place was really quiet which meant that we got straight on all of the rides that we wanted to go on and, got to stay on for umpteen times as there was no-one else waiting. There was enough for little people to do (and plenty of rides that I wouldn’t dare go on!!). My niece especially enjoyed the caterpillar roller coaster, the mini ferris wheel and the traditional carousel. Imogen, who is 18 months old, was old/tall enough to go on about 7 or 8 of the rides (including the full size ferris wheel).
The mini train gets you around the place and, there’s an open carriage bit to put prams on. The train takes about 15 mins to do a full circuit. There were food outlets on site but we took an almighty picnic which we could eat indoors (the weather was rubbish by this point!). Thinking back, there wasn’t a tremendous amount of shelter so if the weather is really hot, it may be an idea to take some shade. Some of the toilets had baby changing facilities.
The park had a wild bird show too but it was an extra £1.50 each to get in so, we didn’t bother. The piggery bit has gone – I used to love seeing all the piglets when we used to go when I was considerably younger than I am now!
Lightwater is no Alton Towers but, if you fancy a day out then I would certainly recommend it. It’s about an hours drive away and is just outside Ripon at North Stainley HG4 3HT. It’s expensive to get in but, once you’re in, all of the rides are free.
I’d really recommend taking a spare adult which you so that there’s someone free to look after little people while a couple of you go on some of the more daring rides!
Always check that the venue is open before setting off.
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