A Day Out With Wynsors Shoes

Like many families, we struggle to come up with new ideas for what to do at the weekends. Since I work from home, usually by the weekend I'm chomping at the bit to get out of the house and get amongst the humans again - have social interaction, smile, that sort of thing. But with one child with ASD, a baby and a boisterous five year old, sometimes our outings are less than successful if truth be told. The other thing of course, is that there is nothing more annoying than spending £100 on a day out that is stressful and no fun - something that happens to us all too often. So when we were invited on a bloggers day out with Wynsors World of Shoes, I knew I would be amongst non judgmental parents who would probably be too busy focusing on their own children to worry about what mine were doing...

The point of the day out was to make people aware that Wynsors have recently launched a new ‘Outdoor’ range for all ages, featuring great brands such as Regatta and Merrell, so getting out into the great outdoors seems like the perfect way to celebrate!  Luckily for me the walk took place in Bingley - where I actually live - so we had a two second drive down the hill to join the other bloggers. We were also joined by Cedric, from Bingley Walkers are Welcome, and a lady from the Canal Trust who came to lend her expertise. We were kindly given a fun pack which included some duck feed - not many people know that it's actually not a good idea to give bread to ducks as it's bad for them - so this food was a healthy alternative.

Healthy Duck Food

Sadly the weather wasn't on our side, so we were a pretty wet crew trudging towards the canal from Bingley station - but fresh air is always good and a little rain never hurt anyone. 

Cedric expertly guided us along the canal tow path and pointed out the wildlife we should look out for. Even though we are from Bingley and have walked along the canal tow path many times, we had never been to "North Bog" - which was a fun diversion for the children. Cedric told us to look out for herons on our way, and told the children how to tell the difference between male and female ducks. 

Duck Feeding

The children had good fun running around and having races, they didn't seem to mind the weather - just means more puddles to splash in. 

Three Rise Locks Bingley

We walked up to three rise locks, where Cedric explained that this allowed boats to travel through what is actually quite a steep part of the waterway. 

Five Rise Locks

After three rise locks comes five rise locks. Boats have to travel through five locks and it takes 30 minutes to travel downstream, and 45 minutes to travel through the locks upstream. Each time you have to wait for each lock to fill up and "rise" to the appropriate level to let your boat through. The canal at Bingley is really fascinating and I can see why people are so interested in it. It's a great way to spend time as a family whilst at the same time not spending any money! It's also really popular with local dog walkers, cyclists and mums with prams. 

Lunch at The Potting Shed

After our walk we had a great lunch a The Potting Shed in Bingley with pizzas and posh burgers - great food and location. I haven't been with the children before and I thought it was really child friendly. We were also given a Wynsors goodie bag with information about the canal, and a nice Karrimor back pack - very useful for all our future walks!

Son 2's take on the day.

All in all a great way to spend the morning in the fresh air with nice people, have a chat and a nice lunch. You can find the Canal & River Trust information for yourself if you want to visit Bingley - there's a section on their website here with the activity sheets available to download: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/explorers/teachers/bingley 

I was invited on this bloggers day by Wynsors World Of Shoes and was given a back pack and free lunch as part of the day, but all thoughts are my own.