IF you go down to the woods today... you’ll find strange timber structures and weird and wonderful play equipment busily being built.

This summer, Castle Howard is investing £200,000 in its new all-singing, all-dancing playground, which will measure 65 metres by 40 metres and include 17 activity pieces.

“We’ve had a playground down here for more than 20 years and it’s always been very popular with visitors because it’s in such a wonderful environment,” explained operations manager Hannah Jones.

“But it got very tired over the years, and we started to repair it. But also the equipment was looking very dated, it was equipment children had seen before and wasn’t very exciting. So, with visitor numbers increasing we needed something to attract more families and accommodate bigger numbers.”

What is emerging is something very new and unusual. It’s constructed of timber and includes a nine ft slide tower and a gigantic tangle of logs which make up a maze of a climbing frame, as well as more traditional items. “We chose this particular equipment because firstly it’s visually stunning, and as the children are coming down to the area and see glimpses through the trees it will be exciting,” said Hannah.

“The equipment is very challenging, but you can learn to go higher and go faster steadily. The other good thing is if you’re not quite sure as a child if you want to go on it then mum or dad can go with you – mums and dads can’t break the equipment so we can encourage them to come on and help their children.”

Another major new addition to the site will be a new lakeside café with outdoor seating.

And there really will be something for all children as the playground has been sourced to cater from a very young age. Hannah added: “As long as you are able to sit up there’s something you can play with here, and the age we’re aiming to go up to is about 14.”

The new adventure playground will be officially opened on August Bank Holiday.