Barnards Miniature Railway

“We had this Miniature railway on the list for a visit for a long time, and with a day with nothing planned we spotted it was open and took the trip over to see what it was like. The railway is situated in the grounds of Barnards and as you enter through the gate you turn left and park next to the miniature railway station / hub. The station area had picnic benches, a small cafe (think crisps and cake with drinks but not much more than that), and toilets. Tickets for the railway is £7 per person, no difference between kids and adults prices, and all day ticket is £10, so if doing more than one trip that's the way to go. We were given option of buying the single and then just upgrading for the difference, which I guess is a good idea if you think its going to rain and / or not sure if your kids will like it. They have a variety of trains, on our visit it was a steam, diesel and an electric train. The diesel does the whole route and back, the steam goes to the station before the end (issues with going up slight incline) and the electric was doing a slightly different route to the lake. You can get off at the stations and have a wonder around, but we visited when the gardens were not open and thus we was a little more limited on where we were allowed to walk. On days where the gardens are shut, you are limited to the left of the river and can not cross the runway area (see map!). The gardens looked good with some interesting statues. The only thing I was a little unsure about is what happens when it's busy? The trains only have limited capacity and as mentioned above if you get off then you are hoping there is space on another train....! Trains run every 20 mins ish, so not a massive wait, but I did wonder...! Thankfully no issues with space for us. Staff were all friendly and we had a really nice visit. Would certainly visit again.”

“We visited on one of the miniature railway open days. Unfortunately we got there quite late on the Saturday afternoon due to our sons nap so we only managed to go on the steam engine which was approx a 30 mom journey. There were two other trains operating that day and we'll definitely be back to go on the diesel and electric trains. The queue to pay for tickets is really slow. It's also confusing as it merges with the cafe queue. It's slowed down further by the members of staff explaining the same information to each customer. A board with info as you enter would save lots of time. There is a little station platform although there is little queue management. We were the second customers prior to one train but as the staff didn't know which platform the next train would go from, we stood on the wrong one and by the time the train came in and we swapped platforms, the train had filled up and we had to wait for the next one. Not ideal with an 18 month old. A little more organisation would go a long way. The trains go quite far through nice woodland and gardens. We'd like to have explore the gardens but they were closed on the day we visited. Overall, a great day out for young families and we'll definitely be returning. Good value for money too.”

“Amazing place for a day out and watch some miniature railway stock in action . Day out was superb.”

“Lovely gardens with plenty to see for adults and kids. There's a great little train system too. Car and motorcycle museum is open on weekends..sundays i think. Note entry fee online does not include the miniature railway which is priced at an additional £7 a person. Entry via online however is free for kids, but as stated you will have to pay for the railway part ontop of this. There is very little refreshments available so BRING your own food and snacks. Picnics etc are welcome anywhere on the grounds. A nice day out.”