Stockeld Park: I went to Yorkshire’s ‘Blackpool Illuminations’ - and realised it's not about the lights

As a Yorkshire family when we think about illuminations we used to only talk about Blackpool - the ‘OG’ of winter illuminations.

Now in Yorkshire there are lots of illuminated festive trails to explore, from Yorkshire Wildlife Park to Temple Newsam and Lotherton in Leeds. If you can name it, we’ve probably walked it.

My family and I returned to one of the original homes of such experiences to discover the secret of Stockeld Park.

It is a full day out. There's a maze, indoor and outdoor play areas, a train, and ice skating in the winter. Then of course at dusk there's the illuminations lighting up the Enchanted Forest trail.

As always we started off with food and drink. There's plenty of indoor and outdoor picnic areas but my daughters already knew what they wanted - pasta from the PlayHive’s Pizzeria.

For two adult portions of penne pasta, garlic bread and four drinks, it was just under £30. For a full pizza it was between £10 and £11, which is reasonable for today’s prices.

Once the kids had polished off their lunches which arrived extremely quickly, we headed to the ice rink.

Our pass included skate hire and as much use as long as we wanted until closing. You can also buy a winter membership which gets you unlimited access to Stockeld Park until March 30 (although ice skating ends in February) for £37.50 per person.

Despite being busy everywhere, all the queues seemed to go down fast. We headed on to the medium sized rink.

It was towards the end of a session so it was ready to be cleaned. We managed a fun 15 minute skate.

Then it was time for our booked play session at the Playhive. The play area is split into four interactive zones representing the earth, sky, and the central part is a large helter skelter slide and smaller climbing frames for little ones.

It's a great way for all the family to play and run around with handy lockers to store personal items. You can either wear socks or buy slippers for the Playhive.

Then around dusk at 4 pm, it was time for the illuminations.

For £4 per person, you can go on a train around the Enchanted Forest, although I love walking through to appreciate the illuminated walkways at my own pace.

We ventured through the signature illuminated arch to enter the forest complete with its own soundtrack. With the sun setting and the fog hanging low, it looked extra magical.

The illuminations vary throughout from butterflies in the trees to illuminated shapes in between play areas. The permanent slides and features make for more interactive fun.

The pinnacle of the trail is the light display on the lake with dazzling lights, projections and music. While this provides jaw dropping moments, the real beauty of this experience isn’t actually the lights.

It's the fact that Stockeld Park has developed an adventure which continues to reinvent itself, attracting families and parties of people to explore the outdoors all year around.

The illuminations enhance the whole experience by giving people a reason to head outside on the dark winter nights.

While my GenX kids may no longer be enticed on a simple walk with their family, illuminations are a great way to entertain the kids, encouraging everyone to get outdoors and get active