...be sure to never tell or you'll break the fairy spell.

Today's sunny summer day was sprinkled with a smattering of dark grey clouds but in true stoic English style we packed a brolly and carried on. I don't know how I've never found this place before. 20 minutes from home it is quintessentially English fairytale fun. Made for little girls...and their Mummies. 

We took the miniature steam train through the woods where teddy bears picnic to start the day.

All the children squealed with delight at every teddy bear they spotted in the woods. Molly could barely breathe for excitement.

After the train ride it was time for lunch before.....

Molly ran off into the woods to follow the trail to look for fairies. I approached thinking a bunch of plastic fairies in a wood might be quite tacky and dreadful but I was pleasantly surprised. In a beautiful setting with signs telling the children what wild flowers and animals they could see interspersed with fairies, poems and stories this really was a lovely experience. Molly asked me to read every sign and listened intently as I told her about the history of fairies, the mythical unicorns and the very real badgers. I am all for children believing in fairies, unicorns and Father Christmas. It keeps childhood magical and as it should be....and you rarely meet an adult who still believes that stuff so you needn't panic that they'll never work it out. They just don't have to work it out too early.

Here's some pictures of Molly's woodland adventure:

A fairy house

Looking for the Flower Fairy family

Reading up on this one

This is Crystal, just chilling at home

Molly checking her wand outside the Flower Fairy home

Shh, don't wake the babies 

Slightly alarmed by the 'real' sound of fairy laughter at the Wishing Tree

One of many tiny fairy doors to find

"Look Mummy, there's one up this tree"

Molly and I thoroughly enjoyed our day and, if it transpires that I am not the last person on Earth to discover this place, I urge all owners of small people to get along to Audley End's Miniature Railway and Enchanted Fairy Walk for a peaceful and magical day out. And it didn't rain!

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, it's laughter broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies - Peter Pan" ~ J M Barrie