Family Adventures in Swindon - Bowood House

If you are looking for something to do on a sunny day with the kids, then Sian Jack has some great suggestions for a fun family day out.

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to take the little one along to Tractor Ted’s Big Machine Weekend at Bowood House. I was a bit unsure what to expect as I have never been to Bowood House, but we knew it was going to be a sure fire hit for the youngest member of our household so took the plunge and headed over for opening at 11am.

There was a small queue to get in so I would recommend getting tickets if you know you are going in advance, especially when there is an event. We then walked round to the main arena where there were a number of machines from JCB’s to tractors to a combine harvester. We were just in time to watch the first display rom the JCB so sat down in the sun and waited for the JCB to display all that it could do. The display was about 10 minutes long (perfect for little ones) and it was interesting to see how far the JCB could be pushed and was lovely to hear kids around us in a chant of “wow” and “woah”.

After watching the first display we had a little walk around the arena. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the machines were all open, enabling younger guests to climb in and see inside the machinery. This was such a highlight for us as someone kept telling everyone how he had driven a combine harvester! (Well worth the very small wait to go in) All the staff were great with kids and every child I saw was so excited. It was definitely a great event.

We then decided to have a wonder down to the park before lunch and I was so impressed with the play facilities. There was a complete mix from toddlers all the way up and the sunken trampoline went down particularly well. It was nice to see that toddlers have an option whilst safety was maintained. There was so much room for kids to run around without feeling like you are on top of each other. I’d defiantly go back for the park and grounds!

Needless to say we were starting to get a bit peckish and stopped for a bite to eat in the restaurant. The food was lovely and the service was great. The team kept us well informed about the slight wait and I found it reasonably priced. After lunch we headed up to the Tractor Ted Farm to explore.

The farm was great, it was small enough that younger guests won’t get bored but big enough not to zoom round in a few minutes. They had hay bails out for little ones to climb on and look into the pens (big tick from me!) alongside lots of educational signs and pictures. We were lucky with the timing as we saw baby lambs and chicks that were 24 hours old and very cute!

I have to say that we had a very enjoyable day out and I cannot wait to go back to Bowood and explore further – with and without the little one. For anyone contemplating the next Tractor Ted’s Big Machine Weekend on August 16 and August 17^th I would thoroughly recommend it!