 Loads of toys for your little one! 
Having Tonnes of Fun in The Play Mill!
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Recommendation added: 10/12/2007 11:14
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +704)dewberry has been thanked 4 times for this contribution
"During a recent visit to Derbyshire, I ended up with a few hours to kill in the small village of Bonsall when my partner was called back to Birmingham unexpectedly. Now, any other time I'd have headed to the local pub for a bite to eat and a few drinks but I had my three children with me so needed to find somewhere they'd enjoy. An 11 year old, 8 year old and baby of 5 months obviously all have widely varying interests so I was stumped for ideas in an area I don't know well.
When I popped into a shop I mentioned to the lady behind the counter that I was looking for somewhere to take the kids and she suggested The Play Mill which was around a ten minute walk away; she has taken her grandchildren recently and had nothing but good to say about the place. After getting her to scribble vague directions down we set off to find it.
It's a really pretty building from the outside in a rustic kinda way; The Play Mill is situated in an old disused mill which they share with a nicely set out selection of small shops and stores.
I was surprised when I entered The Play Mill itself as it's a lot more laid back than Wacky Warehouse and other kiddies play areas of this type. Instead of the kids' being 'locked' into one part of the room, there are toys and sandpits dotted around pretty much the entire area. My 11 year old decided that she didn't want to go and play (which was lucky as I'd just spotted a sign which said only children 9 years and under will be admitted) so I booked her younger sister in while we went for something to eat in The Play Mills food area.
It cost just £3 for a 2 hour session and as soon as I'd paid and signed her in she was able to go and start playing straight away. Alice is one of those children who find it easy to make friends so Charlotte and I took the baby straight over to get a cup of something hot. I liked the fact that whichever table we had chosen here gave us an uninterrupted view of where Alice was playing; this perhaps isn't so important for an 8 year old, but I think it's a definite bonus if I'd had younger children playing by themselves.
The café menu at The Play Mill was much more interesting and varied than I was expecting; the usual chips, hot dogs and jacket potatoes are available but there are also more inspired choices such as the Brie & Grape Toasted Ciabatta which I eventually chose. I thought the prices were very reasonable too compared to the cost of a snack in my local Wacky. Charlotte had a plate of chips for 65p and a very tasty looking toasted bagel generously filled with cream cheese and ham which cost just £2. We both drank Fairtrade hot chocolate and with my ciabatta our bill was just under £7 – this sounds expensive, but the quality of the food was so good and the portion sizes so generous that I was more than happy with the cost. Up to date newspapers and magazines are provided in the café so that parents don't get too bored while waiting for the kids to finish playing – a nice touch I think.
There is so much for children to do at The Play Mill. Alice noticed the huge sandpit immediately and spent a lot of her time playing in there and making sand castles; little diggers are provided in the sand as well as small buckets and items children can experiment with using the sand. The other thing she enjoyed more than the rest was the climbing frame where she ran around for a while and used the wide bumpy slide – the climbing frame is great with child-friendly bars for clambering up and down and lots of padding around the floor underneath in case of accidents.
There are also toy kitchens with all 'cooking' equipment, ride on toys, play houses and desks with paper and crayons for the children to have a quiet few minutes drawing. All the play equipment is spotlessly clean and in excellent condition, I saw the women who work at The Play Mill wiping toys down a few times and generally tidying up so that the floor wasn't a chaos of toys and paper. There were around 15 children playing while we were there and it was quite surprising how tidy the staff managed to keep the room!
Alice loved it, as did every other child there that day. I think it was the independence they enjoyed more than anything as their playtime was completely unstructured and the children were actively invited to wander around unaccompanied as the mood took them. The staff are wonderful; I could tell by watching that they were working at The Play Mill because they enjoyed working with children and watching them play and develop – it's not just a job to them, they actually love their work. I noticed a little boy who, although his mum was sitting just across in the café, seemed a bit upset and unsure what to do with himself so one of the ladies working showed him around and oriented him to the area and the next time I looked he was tearing around with confidence having made new friends! Play places like this are so important for children to interact with other kids' and The Play Mill is definitely one of the most encouraging I've ever visited.
There's a smaller enclosed area for toddlers which is full of soft play toys, balls and toys which toddlers will enjoy. Again, this is fully viewable from the café although as I have no toddlers this is one section of the building which I didn't really take much notice of. I saw how bright and colourful it was, however, and heard the squeals of delight as the young children played and discovered new toys and games. At 5 months, Hollie was too young to even play in this area but when she woke up one of the members of staff went away and got her a rattle and bells to play with in her pram in the café.
Alice came out absolutely exhausted. Because The Play Mill was fairly quiet at the time of our visit she was allowed to stay for longer than her allotted two hours, she ended up having around two and a half hours and probably could have stayed longer but Mark just arrived back in Bonsall and came to pick us up. I'd definitely recommend The Play Mill to anyone looking for somewhere to take younger children in this area, and we'll certainly be back as soon as Hollie is old enough for the toddler area!
Disabled access is fine; some narrow doorways could present some problems if you're using one of the bulkier mobility scooters but I'm sure you can get in and out no worries. My pram is quite wide and I had no trouble at all in either getting into The Play Mill or manoeuvring around once inside.
The Play Mill is open daily from 10am – 6pm as is located on the main A5012 heading towards both Bonsall and Buxton. It's slightly awkward to explain directions on how to get here as I was on foot, but you can get easy to understand directions from any number of websites just by entering the postcode below.
Have fun!
The Play Mill
Via Gellia Mills
Via Gellia
Bonsall
Derbyshire
DE4 2AJ
Tel: 01629 824777"
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