Mere Town Council

Mere is a small town in Wiltshire located on the southwestern tip of the Salisbury Plain.  The town council wanted to upgrade their play area at the Castle Hill play park, which was installed in 1999.  The play park is a firm favourite within the community, with the area being used by local families. The existing play area included play trails, which the council were keen to update, a climbing frame and 2 swing sets.

We arranged a site visit and met with Roger Pipe, project coordinator for the town council. The existing play trails had been hugely popular with the local community so they were keen to use these again.  There was lots of space at Castle Hill play park, so we wanted to include something for the younger children too.  Roger walked us around the area giving us the brief of what needed to be done.  The council had decided to keep the existing climbing frame and swing sets, but wanted new surfacing to be laid.

We took all of our notes back to the office and created the brief for Amy, our inhouse designer, to design an area which met Roger’s requirements and maximised the space available within the budget.  

The steep slope of Castle Hill rises from the northwestern side of Mere.  When designing this area, Amy had to make sure all the equipment was level making sure it is safe for children to play on.

It is well worth taking a trip to the top of Castle Hill to see the panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.  The Monarch’s Way long-distance recreational footpath passes through the town and a network of footpaths within the parish provide great walks with fabulous rural views. 

Mere Town Council are pleased with the equipment and the installation, and we have had positive feedback from users both verbally and on social media - Roger Pipe, Project coordinator

We used a selection of play trails for the main area of the play park: Cross-over rope walk, Hanging logs, Balance weaver, Tyre crossing, Stepping stones, Wobble beam, Wobble bridge, Rock ladder combo, Zig Zag balance beam. It was designed as an ‘S’ shape obstacle course, making sure to keep children active as they got from one end to the other.

Roger also wanted to make sure children of different ages could use the play area, so for the younger children, we used our low-level Ridgeway clubhouses - these were connected by a bridge and included a small ladder and slide. 

Looking for inspiration? Head over to the gallery or take a look at our Pinterest board. 

Ready to start designing your play area?

Let's talk