Kids

Barleylands Farm Centre & Craft Village, Essex
BEST FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
A good choice for animal lovers and young children, Barleylands has all creatures great and small. Chickens, rabbits and turkeys live near the picnic area, while larger creatures – including ponies, cows and pigs – graze by the pond. The craft village is a showcase for the talents of glass blowers, wood turners and blacksmiths. Other attractions include an activity playground, stables, tractor rides, a bouncy castle and a giant trampoline, so littluns won’t get bored.
Barleylands Farm Centre & Craft Village, Barleylands Rd, Billericay, Essex (01268 532253/www.barleylands.co.uk). Open daily 10am-5pm. Craft village Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Adm £3; £10 family.
Rail: Liverpool St to Billericay, 5 minutes, from £8.90.Road: M11, exit 29. Feature continues

Battle and Hastings, East Sussex
The site of William the Conqueror’s 1066 invasion, Battle has enough history to ignite even the soggiest imagination. You can wander round the battlefield, imagining the noise that would have been in the silence that now characterises this peaceful patch of land (or you could listen to an audio guided tour). The remains of the Abbey that William the Conqueror built in 1067 are also here. In Hastings, The Smugglers Adventure (01424 422964/www.discoverhastings.co.uk/smugglers) is a dramatic destination – a warren of tunnels complete with menacing-looking smugglers, skeletons with daggers lodged between their ribs and ‘rotting corpses’. Children will love it. 1066 Battle of Hastings and Hastings Abbey, High St, Battle, East Sussex (01424 773792/www.battle-abbey.co.uk/ www.1066country.com). Open daily Apr-Sept 10am-6pm; daily Oct 10am-5pm; daily Nov-Mar 10am-4pm. Adm £5; £2.50-£3.80 concs.
Rail: Charing Cross to Battle and Hastings. one hour ten minutes, from £20.20.Road: A20, A21.

Bekonscot Model Village, Bucks
If you’re not charmed by this intricate Lilliputian version of England, you’ve got no soul. Its first incarnation was built in 1929, making it the oldest model village in the world. With the ’60s came pressure to install some Brutalist municipal buildings, to mirror the newly concreted town centres beyond Bekonscot, but in our nostalgic present, the village has been returned to a mythical 1930s-inspired idyll of castles, churches and, of course, cricket.
Bekonscot Model Village, Warwick Rd, Beaconsfield, Bucks (01494 672919/www.bekonscot.com).Open daily Feb-Oct 10am-5pm. Adm £5.80; £3.50 child.
Rail: Marylebone to Beaconsfield, 35 minutes, from £10. This line is currently closed.See www.chilternrailways.co.uk for updates.Road: M25, exit 16.

Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum, East Sussex
If you like beautiful cars and shiny birds, you’ll be in heaven. More than 1,000 swans, geese and ducks from all over the world, and an array of polished vintage cars and motorcycles are here to be admired. A host of other attractions includes craftspeople, gardens, an adventure playground and an exhibition of local artist Philip Rickman’s work.
Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum, Halland, nr Lewes, East Sussex (01825 840 573/www.bentley.org.uk). Open daily summer 10.30am-4.30pm; winter Sat, Sun 10.30am-4.40pm . Adm £6.50; £5.50 concs; £4.50 three-15s; £21 family; free under-threes.
Rail: Uckfield or Lewes stations, one hour, from £16.80, then taxi.Road: A22, then follow signs.

Bluebell Railway and Lewes, East Sussex
Lewes is all a county town should be, with its cobbled streets and air of quintessential English gentility. In the summer, take a ride on the Bluebell Railway, which runs nearby from Kingscote. Established in its present guise in 1960, it became the first preserved standard gauge passenger line in the world.
Bluebell Railway, Sheffield Park Station, between Lewes and East Grinstead, Sussex (01825 723777/www.bluebell-railway.co.uk). Open daily 11am-4pm. Rail: Victoria to East Grinstead, 55 minutes, from £9.90, then 473 bus. Road: M23 exit 10.

Box Hill, Surrey
So named for the evergreen box trees that thrive in the chalk soil, Box Hill’s views over the Kent Weald are as impressive as its cultural associations: it’s famous as the setting for the picnic in Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’, for Keats finishing off ‘Endymion’ and for Logie Baird conducting early televisual experiments here. Looked after by the National Trust, Box Hill has an information centre and the all-important shop and servery.
The Old Fort, Boxhill Rd, Tadworth, Surrey (01306 888793/www.nationaltrust.org). Shop and information centre open daily 11am-5pm. Rail: Victoria to Boxhill, 50 minutes, from £7.80. Road: M4, exit 4b, then M25 on to A414.

Camber Sands, Kent
BEST BEACH FOR SUNBATHING
If it’s a vast, glittering beach you yearn for, you can’t find much better than this glorious two-and-a-half mile pale-blond stretch. Once a favourite for smugglers, it’s now one of the south-east’s finest. There are plenty of activities – such as cricket, frisbee, buggy-surfing, horse riding, and sunbathing, of course.
Camber Sands (01797 226696/ www.visitrye.co.uk). Rail: Charing Cross to Rye, one hour 50 minutes, from £20.20. Road: M20, leave at exit 10 then follow signs to A259.

Chatham Dockyard, Kent
This being the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar as well as Year of the Sea, it’s a fine time to visit Kent’s vast dock area where Nelson started his career in 1771. It’s packed with stuff for kids, including an interactive radio-controlled boat, a mock ship fight and a soft-play area. Grown-ups will enjoy the Georgian and Victorian buildings. Over the bank holiday weekend (August 28-29), there’s a Medway Maritime Festival when themed islands will showcase all things maritime alongside music inspired by the sea.
Chatham Dockyard, Kent (01634 823800/www.chdt.org.uk). Open daily 10am-6pm. Adm £10; £7.50 concs; £6.50 children.Rail: Victoria to Chatham, 45 minutes, from £11. Road: A2 towards Dover then follow signs.

Diggerland, Kent
A little (and big) boy’s dream, this specialist theme-park lets you drive heavy machinery like JCBs and trucks. Children (and keen parents) have the opportunity to ride and drive dump trucks, mini diggers and giant diggers. There’s also a bouncy castle, ride-on toys, an enormous sandpit and a train for those not so keen to get behind the wheel. From November, fake snow is shipped in and the theme park becomes a snow park with a 100m tubing run, a 50m main slope and a huge play area for building snowmen.
Diggerland, Medway Valley, Leisure Park, Roman Way, Strood, Kent (08700 344437/www.diggerland.com).Open weekends, bank holidays, school holidays 10am-5pm. Adm £2.50, plus £1 per ride.
Rail: Charing Cross to Strood,one hour, from £9.40, then taxi. Road: M2 exit 2, then A228 towards Strood.

Groombridge Estate, Kent
A magical place for families and couples alike, the gardens themselves are superb – beautifully maintained and elegantly laid out, they date back to the seventeenth century. Particularly fine are the Secret Garden with welcome summer shade, the White Rose garden with over 20 varieties of roses, and the Apostle Walk lined with tall drum yews. Also appealing are the Enchanted Forest’s giant swings and the Jurassic Valley with its dinosaur footprints.
Groombridge Estate, Groombridge Place, Groombridge, nr Tunbridge Wells, Kent (01892 861444/ www.groombridge.co.uk). Adm £8.50, children £7.
Rail: Charing Cross to Tunbridge Wells, one hour, from £11.10, then 290, 291 bus or taxi.Road: B2110 off A264 off A21.