Travel & Tourism

A giant inflatable obstacle course water park is opening in Blackpool

SUP, an aqua park, wakeboarding and more.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 20th May 2024

A giant floating playground is set to open in Blackpool next week, with an inflatable obstacle course, paddle boarding, and loads more.

Wild Shore already has sites in Delamere and Dundee and is now branching out again.

Taking over the old Blackpool Wake Park site, the huge ‘water-based adventure hub’ will take the plunge and open on Wednesday 29 May.

As well as the inflatable aqua park, where visitors can slide, bounce, and clamber over a bouncy obstacle course, there’ll be loads more water-based activities.

The adrenaline-charged activities also include wakeboarding using an overhead cable which pulls you over the surface of the lake.

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They even guarantee that if you can’t stand up on your first session, with the help of instructors, you’ll get your money back.

There are stand up paddleboards you can rent to explore the water, or there are fully-guided sessions which will take you on a tour of the lake.

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Wild Shore Blackpool is a new water park that’s opening this month. Credit: Wild Shore

And then if you’ve always fancied trying wild open-water swimming, Wild Shore Blackpool offers a safe and secure environment for a dip, with safety instructors on SUP boards and rest pontoons half way around each course.

The Aqua Park itself has a number of Ninja Warrior-style features including Tire Run, Ninja-Jump and Eagles Nest to test your balance, agility, and bravery.

The new Wild Shore Blackpool water park is located at Ream Hills Holiday Park.

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It’s set to open on 29 May – you can find out more and book a ticket here.

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Featured image: Wild Shore Blackpool

Travel & Tourism

11 new ‘highly threatened’ penguin chicks have hatched at Chester Zoo

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Some new baby penguins have just be born at Chester Zoo, and they’re hands down the cutest things we’ve seen all week.

But, let’s be honest… would you expect them to be anything less?

The 11 new Humboldt penguins – which are one of the world’s 17 penguin species, and are described as being “highly threatened” – are not only really flipping adorable, but they’re also history-makers too, as they are the most to hatch during ‘hatching season’ at the UK’s biggest charity zoo for more than a decade.

Keepers at Chester Zoo say they’re “delighted” to report that each of the chicks have been nurtured beyond the first 40 days of their life, and this means they’re now ready to take on the world.

Unfamiliar with Humboldt penguins?

11 new 'highly threatened' penguins have hatched at Chester Zoo / Credit: Chester Zoo
11 new 'highly threatened' penguins have hatched at Chester Zoo / Credit: Chester Zoo
11 new ‘highly threatened’ penguin chicks have hatched at Chester Zoo / Credit: Chester Zoo

This fluffy lot are usually found on the rocky coastal shores of Peru and Chile – but sadly, they are now listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the species is becoming increasingly rare due to threats from climate change, over-fishing of their natural food sources, and rising acidity and temperature levels in the oceans.

All of these factors are causing the penguins to search further from their nests for fish, which, unfortunately, increases their vulnerability.

To help keepers at Chester Zoo stay on track of their newest arrivals, a different naming theme is chosen each year – with some previous innovative topics having included NHS heroes, brands of crisps, chocolate bars, and British Olympic athletes.

A Chester Zoo keeper handing one of the new baby penguins
Keepers at the zoo say all the new chicks are looking “really healthy” / Credit: Chester Zoo

This year, they’ve gone with a Spring plants theme, as the chicks have been named after plants such as Nettle, Thistle, Dandelion, Tulip, and Daffodil.

Zoe Sweetman, who is the Team Manager of Parrots and Penguins at Chester Zoo, said all the chicks are looking “really healthy” and the parents have done a “superb” job of caring for their new arrivals up to this point.

She continued: “As keepers, our main role in raising the new youngsters is to ensure the adult penguins have all they need. We also weigh the chicks regularly so that we can monitor their development, and on average, they’ve gone from a mere 80g to 2.5kg in just 40 days.

“It’s been a huge team effort.

“Each year, the team chooses a new naming theme for the chicks, and with 11 to name, we could have chosen to name them after an entire football team, but this year we’ve decided to go with plants.”

You can visit the new penguins at Chester Zoo and all the other animals by booking tickets here.

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Featured Image – Chester Zoo

Travel & Tourism

Delays expected on ‘busy’ M56 Manchester Airport route as resurfacing work takes place

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Holidaymakers are being told to prepare for essential maintenance work happening on “one of the busiest” stretches of the M56.

Forming part of an “important” and “essential” wider maintenance project, National Highways will be is resurfacing sections of worn tarmac on both the eastbound and westbound carriageways between Junction 5 at Manchester Airport and Junction 6 at Hale Barns.

Some of the slip roads at junctions 5 and 6, as well as at Junction 4 for Wythenshawe, will also be resurfaced too.

All of the resurfacing and maintenance work – which also includes replacing some bridge joints and traffic detection loops in the road surface – will be done overnight starting from Monday 10 June, and because of the nature of it, occasional carriageway or slip road closures will be put in place while this is carried out.

The working hours will be between 9pm and 5am, or 7am on Saturdays, as according to National Highways, this is when the motorway is “at its quietest”.

Delays are expected on a ‘busy’ M56 Manchester Airport route as resurfacing work takes place next month / Credit: Albert Bridge | Suhyeon Choi (via Unsplash)

The resurfacing programme includes a full closure of the eastbound carriageway between Junction 7 and Junction 5 en-route to the Airport for five nights from the evening of Monday 17 June to the morning of Saturday 22 June, while a further full closure of the eastbound carriageway between Junction 6 and Junction 4 is scheduled for the nights of Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 June, and Monday 8, Tuesday 9, and Wednesday 10 July. 

The eastbound M56 is closed between Junction 6 and Junction 5 on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 June, Monday 24, Tuesday 25, and Wednesday 26 June, and Thursday and Friday 4 and 5 July.

And finally, two slip road closures affecting journeys to the Airport will also be taking place on the eastbound exit at Junction 5 on Friday 28 June, and the westbound exit at Junction 5 on Wednesday 17 July.

Temporary closures and diversions will be in place from Monday 10 June onwards / Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Diversions will, inevitably, be in place on all dates, and motorists heading to the Airport and beyond will be able to use an alternative motorway route during these closures.

Project Manager, Rob Williams, said National Highways is aiming to be “well out of the way” before the start of the school summer holiday period.

“This is important and routine wear and tear work,” he explained.

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“We’re working closely with the airport to ensure they are aware of our timetable and a small number of overnight closures, which will mean drivers needing to leave a little bit of extra time to get to work or check-in for flights.”

More information on all M56 maintenance work can be found on the National Highways website.

Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons

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