Hampshire spoils us with choice – countryside, beach, food, even tractors.. Every weekend and every Tuesday there’s a great struggle to decide where we might go and what we might do. Especially when seeking the great outdoors and some social distancing. And needing to keep adults and toddlers amused.
My brain always chooses to fade when it needs to be imaginative, despite Hampshire surrounding us with such choice! It’s more of a struggle after so many months of not being able to do much, I’ve forgotten where to go as well as what to take! So here’s my memory bank of things to do that are toddler friendly in Hampshire.
As much to help me remember by the time the next lockdown ends, as to help others discover! I’ll add to it as we find more.
Parks and play
I love being outside, and my toddler loves it even more – especially if there is space to run, or swings, slides and other such fun things! Or sometimes just taking our boat on a rope to the stream and splashing around in wellies! Near to us is Blackwood Forest – forestry commission with a coffee shop and restaurant, neat walking routes and a play area which is small and rarely busy. A little drive away is Alresford and the Millennium Trail that has a duck feeding station – for a charitable donation we can feed the ducks with proper duck food as well as pick up a coffee at Caracoli.
Places like Marwell Zoo, Bourne Community Farm, Cholderton Charlies Farm and Finkley Down Farm are firm favourites for a morning out and a picnic lunch. Soft play isn’t something I’m quite ready to return to yet but my favourites are The Arlebury in Alresford, Tot City in Andover and In-Joy in Southampton. I’ve always liked the play area in Sutton Scotney, I have to pick up a doctors prescription regularly there and we have a play every time.
Country parks are always a win as they tend to come with toilets and coffee for a small parking price – Itchen Valley, Moors Valley and Queen Elizabeth are all good, whether on foot, with a pushchair or on bikes. I’ve always loved Holly Hill. It has a lovely history, beautiful water features and if you climb to the top a great view of The Hamble. Furzey Gardens is a little further afield, but for an inquisitive toddler with its fairy doors hidden in the woodland it makes a fun day out! We’ve just joined the Sir Harold Hillier gardens and they really are stunning with excellent play pieces for kids too. The Grange is a quiet place for a picnic and an run around in surreal stately home surroundings.
Countryside
We are spoilt for choice being able to walk or ride to beautiful spots from home. Favourites include Chilbolton Cow Common which is great for a summer paddle without having to trek to the seaside, and there’s a play area hidden away too.
I love Micheldever Woods, yes it gets busy in bluebell season but it’s actually pretty all year especially as the sun sets through the trees. There’s a small wooden play house and lots of wooden branch teepees to explore. Stockbridge common is a lovely walk, once you’ve grabbed a coffee from Thyme and Tides and our little one loves running across the tiny bridges and seeing the cows. Near Easton is a big rope swing on a tree by the river.
Farley Mount for the views on a clear day is excellent. St Catherine’s Hill and the walk around the Winchester Water Meadows became a firm favourite during maternity leave with free parking out near the M3 and an easy buggy-friendly stroll into town for lunch or a coffee, or a stop at The Queen Inn for a cheeky vino. Cheesefoot Head we loved for starting a pub cycle pre-toddler and now it is lovely for a meadow walk with stunning views, or sometimes Old Winchester hill for the views over to Portsmouth. Bere Mill whilst not open all year does have open days and the meat they sell is second to none. Watership Down of rabbit fame is another spot.
Houses
Walking around a stately home with a toddler isn’t my idea of fun. However houses tend to come with gardens and cafes and spending time in those is great for us all ! We just recently had afternoon tea at Avington House and the grounds are simply stunning, it was a treat to be there.
The National Trust has Mottisfont, The Vyne and Hinton Ampner to choose from, the first two I especially love for a roam around the gardens and wider grounds. Whitchurch Silk Mill has small grounds and we really enjoyed the light show they had this winter and the small museum is really colourful to keep a tollder engaged too! Heritage Opens Days each September is a great way to see more of the hidden Winchester.
By the water
The only shortcoming of living north of Winchester is the distance to the sea, but when we head to the coast we have some favourite places! A walk along the sea wall in Lymington is a great stretch on a sunny day, with pubs at both ends and even a short cut route via another pub. Hatchet’s Pond near Beaulieu is a good alternative for a paddle, as are the grassy banks in Beaulieu itself. We particularly enjoying walking the board walks from Beaulieu to Buckers Hard, with a pub at either end (Monties and the Master Builders)!
We’re spending more time in Royal Victoria Country Park and keep our boats at the sailing club. It has a play area with excellent equipment and a lovely little shingle beach and fairy garden too. I have always enjoyed the circular route around the River Hamble including the pink ferry, we haven’t done it with a toddler but I believe it is pushchair friendly.
For beaches there are a few favourites. Hurst Castle spit is awesome fun on a stormy day, sheltered in the lee of the spit or castle. West Wittering if you are organised is stunning, I recommend walking to East Head as there will be nobody else there. Lepe has long been a favourite, particularly walking west from the car park. And near to there is a secret beach of ours that always reminds us of the Norfolk salt marshes at low tide.
Flowers
We are rather blessed with stunning flower spots in Hampshire. We recently went to Bourne Valley PYO for the raspberries and its excellent playarea and weren’t disappointed. Sunnyfields, including its vegan restaurant puts on a grand display in pumpkin season. And in late summer, blackberries on the side of every lane and footpath!
Sam’s Sunflowers on Hayling Island is a real treat in August, we went to Rogate this year to avoid beach traffic – good but not as good. For Lavender we’ve enjoyed the Selbourne lavender fields a number of times. We are spoilt rotten for bluebells with Micheldever Woods, but more so I would recommend Itchen Wood across the road from it as well as Farley Mount. We have a secret little copse near us that smells like a perfume bottle! We found a stunning poppy field in Deane this spring that was collecting money for charity, I hope it is back next year despite having to close early this year due to visitors trampling crops.
Hinton Ampner has always done roses best as far as I’ve been able to tell! And when it comes to Christmas trees, you can’t beat the barn full of trees on display at Burcot Farm. Daffodils always look good on the driveway into Leckford. And don’t forget the beauty of the oil seed rape, we find ourselves surrounded by it each spring! And let’s not forget the fun we can have with a field of dandelion clocks!
Pubs and lunching
So much choice! Thank goodness, and given the length of this section we’ve been researching hard. For coffee and the great outdoors, The Yard at Chilton Candover is a new arrival and excellent. You can set up camp in their field or walk off on footpaths with views for miles. Leckfood for what it lacks in dairyfree cake is a beautiful set up and great for brunch and lunch, and Christmas shopping hamper type gifts. As is Cobbs which is our nearest shop and coffee shop so we frequent it. Our local, the Half Moon and Spread Eagle is an absolute gem – excellent food and friendly service, so lucky to have it. And the Northbrook Arms has recently reopened too!
Also near by are other gems such as The Wonston Arms which has great pop up food, and The Woolpack that even has a small play area and climbing frame. A little further away with great food and friendly with the littles are the Watership Down, The White Hart in Overton, The Bush Inn Avington, The Mayfly, The Peat Spade, and The Boot Inn which is a firm favourite by the river. The Bat and Ball we have enjoyed for years! And my current favourite is Kimbridge Barn. The Long Barn too especially for Christmas shopping with brunch!
For foodie joy I highly recommend The Purefoy and The Fox (there’s an excellent playground near the latter). And without a toddler, The Black Rat and Club Epicure. The Chestnut Horst in Easton has recently reopened and friends have rated it well. In Winchester I particularly like the Orangery, I love to stare at the ceiling flowers, although not particularly easy with a buggy or grabby fingers! Coffee lab and Copper Joes are far easier with a toddler in tow! Brambridge Garden Centre is a good mum hangout especially with the Christmas displays and the little train. The Garden Society takes it to another level and they have an aquarium! Thyme & Tides and Woodfire in Stockbridge never disappoint, and whilst Wine Utopia doesn’t serve food or wine by the glass, it kept us watered through lockdown and I can’t recommend their wine selection enough! Further afield, Banana Wharf in Hamble is always friendly and great with kids, Little Bay in Warsash does excellent brunch and The East End Arms is our favourite pub in the New Forest. And for high end, try lunch at the Chewton Glen before a stroll down the ‘bunny’ to the beach! Newlyns farm shop in the other direction is excellent and on farm shops, Beechcroft is lovely and there’s plenty of animals to visit too!
Tractors
Sadly there isn’t a tractor museum in these parts, but there are still a few good options for the tractor mad toddler. I can’t give dates but normally there is an after Christmas tractor run (rally) through Stockbridge – we watched over one hundred last year! Ploughing match signs normally pop up here and there in the early Autumn – fascinating to watch vintage tractors plough carefully in fields under the watchful gaze of judges.
Vintage tractors are often on display at fairs – for example over in the Wallops there’s an amazing one, or on a bigger scale at the Alresford show. And then there is of course harvest time – we have spent a number of weekends listening on the wind for the sound of a combine or a baler, or dumping the car in a ditch on the side of the road when we spot one!
And the places in Hampshire that are still on my list: Lakeside Country Park, Southampton Common play area, New Forest Wildlife Park, Winnall Moors, Wellington Country Park, Manor Farm, the Watercress Line open days, Forest of Bere, Alice Holt Country Park, Fort Nelson, Portsmouth aquarium, Bird World (not been there since I was little), the butterfly garden and maze at Blenheim (I love them, so surely a toddler will!), Deer Sanctuary, Hundred Acre Woods, Hiltingbury lakes, Exbury Gardens, Beaulieu motor museum, a sculpture garden near Farnham, the Space museum near Winchester and the Tank Museum too.
Plenty to tickle a little ones fancy there! What am I missing in Hampshire from my list?
