Wooden climbing frames - does anywhere have a good display of them to see and can anybody recommend any good brands?

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

We've not got a huge garden but would like to get a wooden climbing frame for the boys.

Does anybody know if there is anywhere that has any on display?

We live in South Wales but are away in Shropshire and the Cotwsolds over the next few weekends so would love to hear of anywhere.

Also does anyone have any good/bad experiences of any particular brands?

Was going to recomment a great palce in North Dorset, then saw where you are ...

We have a jungle gym one that you buy the fixtures and fittings for, and then build yourself. It is the SINGLE BEST THING we have bought for the children - whenever they have friends over it is the social centre, it is a pirate ship, a club house, a spaceship...

We have the house and it is fab.

Don't know any places in these areas, but we had a good look into these a couple of years ago (without actually buying in the end as garden is quite small and most of our friends seem to have them, also pubs so they get to use them at those places). You definitely get what you pay for, the cheap ones are cheap for good reason, much flimsier, develop more splits (supposedly still safe) just more likely to have rough edges and splinters etc.

If you have a costco near you they do one of the Rainbow frames. To buy direct they are a few thousand pounds. Costco sell one model for around 750 + vat ( not sure if they have gone up in the last year or so).
www.rainbowplay.co.uk/castle_climbing_frames.php

it doesnt show the model they have in costco but gives you an idea of the quality.

We have the costco model - it is very sturdy and we are very pleased with it.

Thanks for your replies.

We do have a costco quite near to us - do you know if we could go in to browse without being a member?

oldenglishspangles - what is the model name?

This might not be too far depending on where you will be in the Cotswolds - would probably be 1/2 hr max from Swindon. www.activetoy.co.uk/location.php

We have a jungle gym one too and it is great, really solid, didn't even need ground anchors.

I ordered it from a german company (wickey) on ebay but I think you can get them from other suppliers in the UK (we are in France).

Be warned, ours took a LONG time to assemble (couple of days).

We've got a TP one. Like this

WE tried a load at Wicken Toys, near Milton Keynes (to far for you I think). Our DC use it every day, and we have never regretted it. DB and DH put it together, took about a day.

All great thanks.

crumpet we might be able to go there (it's a bit further than we're going) if our friends haven't planned a tight itinery for our visit!

we bought a fantastic rainbow(thats the make) one from Costco a few years ago it is the best one ive seen really thick wood . i think the wood is thinner now but have a look on their website

sorry did not read the thread all the way through

iwishiwasmoreorganised - I dont know the model name, it has changled slightly since we purchased ours - we have a straight slide and the current model has a curlyone and the new fort (the platform) is slightly bigger if my memory serves me right. I am not sure if costco will let you just browse, do you know anyone who is a member? The model instore is always made up althought the slide usually shown to one side because of space restriction. It give you a good idea of size. It is really sturdy, we get a bit of rain here so it needs to be.

www.costco.co.uk/Depts&Servs_main/Depts_servs/Toys_seasonal/Toys_seasonal.htm our frame - the slide and climbing wall are as in this photo and but the arm with the swings joins onto the righthand side of the frame as you are looking at it. if that makes sense - the tall pointed bit is in the middle a sloping roof as shown here on one side and the swing arm on the other side all in straighline.

Thanks spangles. I'll get asking around to see if we know anyone who is a member.

If you are swindon way and are looking for a climbing frame there is a display site at Millets farm in Frilford.

Its easy to find and is sign posted from the A420!!

Hi,

There is a company near us (North Shropshire) that build playhouses and play equipment to your own needs. Their website is www.littlevillageplayhouses.co.uk. Think it may be worth alook.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

There is a company near us (North Shropshire) that build playhouses and play equipment to your own needs. Their website is www.littlevillageplayhouses.co.uk. Think it may be worth alook.

Hope this helps!

I found a website that has a lot of climbing frames on there, some of them were good some of them are quite expensive but that's because they are big ones.. they have some brand name ones like plum climbing frames, some of them are wooden climbing frames and other ones are metal climbing frames.. they also have swing sets.

I've just recently bought a Wickey one. It's not arrived yet but they look pretty good. This is their UK site (German company)

www.outdoor-toys-europe.com/

If you search for Wickey on Ebay.co.uk though you will see they sell various sets in auctions and you can get a real bargain.

I got this one on French Ebay (am in France obviously!)

www.outdoor-toys-europe.com/childrens-climbing-frames/climbing-frame-wickey-captains-tower.html cost was 470 euros including delivery.