Wheatley Parish Council

Located in South Oxfordshire is the village of Wheatley.  Their current play area had been installed for some time and had come to the end of its life.

Alison, the Wheatley Parish Chairman, got in touch with a brief, “Wheatley Parish Council is looking to revamp our Church Road recreational area”.  After a telephone conversation with Alison to find out more about the project, we arranged a site visit. It’s a large play area next to the local recreational ground and across the road from where the Scouts meet. The play area was a mix of metal, plastic and timber play equipment which had been there a while and really needed stripping out and starting again.

The design

Alison and the parish council wanted to make sure children of all ages from the village could enjoy play time with family and friends.  Our designs are always a collaborative approach, we want to hear what you like and what you don't, and how we can help bring the community together.  It's really important we maximise the play value on all designs and include as much play equipment as possible to support childrens growth and skills.

• Play trails - scramble from one end to the other, as you make your way across the Zig zag balance beam, Monkey bridge, Tyre crossing, Traverse wall, Monkey bars and Chin up bars
• Quad swing bay - We removed the single and double swing bay and replaced it with the quad swing bay, which included a nest swing, inclusive swing seat, two cradle swings and 2 flat swings
• Toddler area - Ridgeway clubhouses connected with a wobble bridge, along with steps, slide and cargo net. We also installed two new springers and included an in ground trampoline
• The Manor - Sitting in the centre of the play area is the Manor built using clubhouses from the Multiplay range, large play structure for the older children. It includes four Jungle clubhouse, two wobble bridges, monkey bar, climbing wall, cargo net, slide and a fire pole
• All aboard the train - With a nod to the train heritage linked to Wheatley, we included a standalone train and ticket office from our imagination play collection
• Safety surfacing - to bring in another dynamic to the play area, we used 3 different colours of rubber bonded mulch, along with rubber grass mats on the quad swing bay

Ready for play time

The play area was opened on the Wheatley Community Day, and as you can see, was enjoyed by all!