A NEWLY-OPENED adventure playground has been described as a ‘child’s dream’ by visitors thanks to its huge play structures.

Hockerhill Adventure Playbarn has been a hit with families since it opened to the public in March.

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Set on the Chillington Estate, just outside of Brewood in Staffordshire, the attraction was built to offer a space for both children and adults.

After realising there was nowhere to go for both kids and adults, Tessa and Charlie Giffard decided to create the new attraction.

Housed inside a former agricultural barn, the adventure playground features a huge fake oak tree inspired by one King Charles II used to hide during the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

A central indoor turret inside the barn lets kids explore bridges, high-level walkways, tunnels, slides and ropes.

There’s also an outdoor area with zip lines, swings, slides and a designated area for toddlers.

Children and tweens can live out their Formula One dreams on a pedal go-kart track.

The track starts outside before heading indoors, with kids following a winding tarmac track.

There are also indoor and outdoor dining facilities, serving snacks such as cakes and ice cream as well as hot food such as sourdough pizzas and sandwiches.

Special Educational Needs (SEN) sessions run on the first Thursday of the month when the adventure playground is quieter.

Other themed events also run throughout the year, including Halloween activities like face painting, a treasure hunt and craft sessions.

Hockerhill Adventure Playbarn will also be transformed into a winter wonderland on selected dates in November and December.

Younger visitors will meet Father Christmas and his elves inside a specially-created grotto.

Kids will be given a gift from the big man himself, a deluxe hot chocolate, a seasonal biscuit and a Christmas craft activity.

Tessa Giffard, custodian of Chillington Hall and Estate, said: “We’re so excited to welcome Father Christmas to Hockerhill for the very first time this year.

“Families can share a wonderful experience and create unforgettable memories whilst enjoying two hours of play in our festive wonderland.”

Despite only being open since March, families have raved about the Staffordshire-based attraction on TripAdvisor.

One person wrote: “We had a superb morning at Hockerhill Playbarn.

“The kids loved the go-karts and the zip wire, it’s a child’s dream, with swings, slides, towers, bridges, walkways, zip lines and tunnels.”

Another person added: “This place is brilliant”.

A third person wrote: “This is without a doubt the best playbarn we have ever visited.

“We have three children of different ages and it is usually impossible to find somewhere that ALL the children enjoy, until we visited Hockerhill.”

Entry to Hockerhill Adventure Playbarn costs £8 for a full-paying adult, with tickets for kids starting from £5.

Hockerhill Adventure Playbarn is a 30-minute drive from Birmingham, and it’s a 25-minute drive from Stafford.

Another one in Wales has amazing rollercoasters and aerial attractions.

And one has been so popular, it’s staying open for winter.

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RYANAIR has confirmed new routes are being launched this winter from two airports outside of London.

Both Birmingham and Manchester will be welcoming the new flights later this year.

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From Birmingham, the budget airline will launch flights to Agadir and Marrakech in Morocco, as well as Paphos in Cyprus and Paris.

Other destinations include Lodz (Poland), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Treviso (Italy) as well as Berlin and Derry.

An official start date for each destination has not been confirmed, although the flights are already on sale from £19.99 as soon as next month.

The airline has been operating from Birmingham for 34 years, with the new routes taking it up to 39 destinations.

Ryanair’s head of communications Jade Kirwan, said they would also be expanding their existing winter routes.

She told local media: “Ryanair will operate a total of 39 routes to/from Birmingham this winter with extra flights added on 8 of our most popular routes.

“[This includes] city breaks like Bucharest, Budapest, and Krakow, alongside winter sun hotspots, like Barcelona, Malta and Porto, giving our Birmingham customers even more choice and regular connections at the lowest fares in Europe.”

She confirmed that the airline saw a 13 per cent growth in traffic from Birmingham Airport this year.

And the two new routes being launched from Manchester are Memmingen in Berlin and Tangier in Morocco.

Ryanair currently operates 65 routes from Manchester, making it one of the major airlines at the airport.

The new routes will welcome as many as 7.6million passengers to and from Manchester.

Manchester Airport managing director, Chris Woodroofe praised the news.

He said: “We’re proud to connect the north to the world, with a route network unrivalled by any UK airport outside London.”

This week, new routes from Liverpool also launched.

Ryanair confirmed that Budapest, Marrakech and Paphos would now operate from Liverpool Airport.

Along with increased flights for existing routes, this takes the current destinations offered by Ryanair from Liverpool to 24.

Earlier this month, Ryanair launched their first ever flights to Turkey.

Having previously operated routes to Turkey from Dublin and Bratislava, the airline will now operate from London Stansted.

Starting next year, the new routes include Bodrum and Dalaman, with £30 fares.

Next week Ryanair flights to Lapland-Rovaniemi will take off from both London and Liverpool.

And back in April, the airline launched flights from Norwich Airport for the first time.

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LONELY Planet has revealed its top list of trending destinations that you need to visit next year.

The best cities, countries and regions to visit have all been announced by the global travel books in their Best in Travel 2025.

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Each category has both popular places and ‘hidden gems’ as part of the top 10 list.

As part of their Top 10 Regions, East Anglia bizarrely made the top 10.

Called the “enigmatic UK region,” it made the top list for being a “true taste of old England, combined with beautiful nature reserves […] lively coastal beach towns and picturesque inland waterways”.

The region is made up Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

Some of the highlights include “listening to birds at Mismere” as well as university hopping in Cambridge and having a night out in Norfolk with theatre, live music and art shows.

Annette Salkald, North Suffolk Coast Reserves Warden, Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds said: “I love the quirky market towns with unusual shops and a real community vibe.

She also praised the region’s beautiful scenery and nature.

Visit England‘s Chief Executive Patricia Yates added: “It is fantastic to see East Anglia take its place on the global stage as one of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2025 top regions.

“And it’s no surprise with the area boasting an outstanding coastline, fabulous seaside towns, historic attractions, waterways and breathtaking countryside.

“This accolade will encourage domestic and international visitors to explore more of the region and discover the warm welcome that awaits them.”

The other top regions included Bavara in Germany, the Jordan Trail and Valais in Switzerland, although the no.1 spot went to South Carolina’s Low Country and Coastal Georgia, USA.

When it comes to the 10 Best Cities, while none in the UK made the cut, there were a number of European cities to feature.

The no.1 spot was Toulouse in France, dubbed the Pink City because of its pink terracotta bricks.

Bulgaria’s Bansko came in third, known for being a cheap ski destination, followed by Genoa in Italy and Spain‘s Majorca.

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And for the top 10 Best Countries gave the top spot to Cameroon, with Lithuanisa and Slovakia making the list too.

Nitya Chambers, Lonely Planet’s SVP, Content and Executive Editor, said: “Best in Travel 2025 is the latest edition of Lonely Planet’s annual love letter to the world.

“While mindful of our responsibilities and impact as travelers, we’re proud of the destinations, journeys and experiences featured here and are excited to share the local expertise and insight at the heart of these recommendations.

“Wherever you are in the world, we’re confident Best in Travel brings fresh inspiration for the year ahead.”

It’s not the only trending destination for 2025.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was named a “less crowded alternative to Dubrovnik’ by a team of travel experts at Wild Frontiers.

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Brittany in France has made the list of trending destinations for 2025 by American Express.

Skyscanner’s trending destinations 2025 included Tartu in Estonia, Reggio Calabria in Italy and Córdoba, Spain.