We took the family for a day out to the Canterbury Environmental Education Centre last week, somewhere I'd not been before but came highly recommended by friends, who, obviously, had.
It's a unique little haven on Broad Oak Road - I say little: with some 30 acres it's a fair old site really.
Less than a mile from the city centre, it's a nature reserve that likes to share its delights. Smack in the middle of industrial sites, although you wouldn't know it once in there.
We saw all kinds of bird life, including kingfishers and herons, and the children followed trails they didn't even realise they were learning from. There's a huge lake and woods, a sensory garden, and my youngest declared her favourite part was the pond dipping - "loads of squigglies" to peer at.
It really is a lovely spot to get away from the hubbub of daily life, take a step back, and really get back to nature. And it occupies the kids for a few hours as well - can't be bad.
Opening hours are 10am-4pm Monday to Friday during school holidays, only open on Sundays for pre-booked events.
Entry is only £2 per person, and under 5's go free.
'Friends of Canterbury Environmental Education Centre' members are free. Contact the centre to find out how to become a 'friend'.
For more information, check out the website - then get yourself along there.
Ben
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Ben Jackson is a freelance writer and photographer with The Little White Studio.
