Its child’s play at Robinwood
A 19th century castle has been transformed into a multi-million kid’s activity centre.
Robinwood Activity Centre bought Dobroyd Castle in Todmorden for £2.1m last year and has since spent more than £1m creating a mix of indoor and outdoor activities such as archery, caving, climbing and an obstacle course. The site can accommodate up to 300 children at any one time.
Todmorden-based Robinwood run residential adventure and teamwork courses for children aged eight to 11. The company’s first centre opened in Todmorden 15 years ago and has run courses for more than 120,000 children. The company also has a site at Barhaugh Hall in Alston, Cumbria.
Martin Vasey, managing director of Robinwood Activities Centre, said: “Our aim was to create an activity centre that utilised the surrounding estate of the castle whilst preserving the unique features of the building and we are very pleased with the result. The new centre means that we can accommodate more children than our other venues and provide them with activities that promote teamwork, learning and exercise.”
Dobroyd Castle was built in 1869 by a local wealthy mill owner John Fielden as a honeymoon home for his wife and is situated on a 17-acre estate. The most recent occupants of the grade II listed building were monks from the New Kadampa Buddhist tradition, who left the castle last year after 12 years.
Funding for the acquisition and refurbishment was provided by Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Bank in Manchester.
Relationship manager Simon Jones added: “Robinwood is a great concept and one that has proved very popular with schools across the country thanks to the content of their courses. We are happy to back this project particularly because it has a huge impact on the development and well being of school children and we look forward to seeing the site in action.”
