Half term at Severn Valley Country Park
During half term Severn Valley Country Park will still be open for business as the building work to the exciting new extension to the Visitor Centre begins on Monday 18 February 2019.
The visitor centre and café are now closed but a new refreshment kiosk will be open from Saturday 16 February 2019.
The kiosk will be offering take away drinks, ice creams and snacks and will be open every day of half term from 11am-4pm.
We will be unable to serve lunches so please consider bringing a picnic (if the weather is warm enough) if you are planning to spend all day at the park.
Half term events
There are still some great events happening for half term.
Self-led garden bird trail, Saturday 16 – Sunday 24 February (Free)
Garden birds love the Country Park because it’s full of tasty treats for them to find.
On our short self-led trail children can mark all the birds they see on their trail map. Maps can be collected every day of the holidays between 11am-3pm from the refreshment kiosk.
Woodland mini beast session, Wednesday 20 February (Free, Booking Advised)
Our rangers will be leading 2 woodland mini beast sessions from 11.30am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-2.30pm.
Our ranger will take visitors down into the woods to search for spiders, earwigs, worms, slugs and other bugs who live in the log piles and leaves found on the woodland floor. The mini beast hunts are FREE to join, but please call 01746 781 192 to book your place.
The meeting point will be outside the refreshment kiosk.
About the Visitor Centre extension
The new extension will feature a much larger interpretation space to tell visitors about the fascinating history and wildlife of Severn Valley Country Park.
The café will also be improved and will include a new ‘play zone’ for younger visitors and a comfortable snug area to sit and enjoy a drink in front of a roaring fire.
The new facilities should be open by June 2019, ahead of a busy summer of events at the park, and will create three full-time jobs, including a new catering manager.
Funding for the extension is the result of a successful grant application to the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) under the Marches LEP Tourism Infrastructure priority. The total cost of the project will be around £411,000, of which £295,839, will be grant-funded.
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Consultancy based at WWT Slimbridge have been appointed to design and build the new Visitor Centre. The team have experience of designing visitor centres on country parks all around the world.
Lezley Picton, Cabinet member for culture and leisure, said:
“Severn Valley Country Park is well-loved by locals and visitors alike. The team at Shropshire Council are working hard to bring the park into a cost-neutral position. The new Visitor Centre will enable the staff and volunteers to deliver more top quality public events and enhance the visitor experience to safeguard the future of this wonderful facility.”
Shropshire Council manages the third largest Rights of Way network in the country; 5,600km, which is the same distance as Shrewsbury to New York as well as around 13,000 ha of publically accessible parks, heritage sites and nature reserves.
For more information about Shropshire’s Great Outdoors, visit the website.
