The main car park is just near the village of Fairburn (see location map below) where there is a visitor centre and facilities. The site charges £2 for parking. The visitor centre is small with not much to offer, but there are some refreshments available and toilets which include a baby change. Just near the visitor centre are a couple of feeding stations which attract lots of familiar garden birds. Paths around the reserve stem from the centre where we set off. On the walk there are points of interest for children and the bird hides we visited had useful information about birds recently viewed and examples of others that could be seen from the hides.
Although most of our walk was suitable for the pram as we tried to loop to the larger stretch of water we got horribly stuck in thick mud and had to turn back. In drier weather a pram or pushchair would be fine; this time we wished we taken our baby carrier. Obviously it's pretty difficult to spend long stretches bird watching when you have a baby or toddler, so it is hard to fully appreciate all that is on offer at Fairburn Ings, but it is certainly somewhere I would take older children.
A definite plus for smaller children however are the ducks! Those with small people know that duck feeding is a preferred activity which creates much excitement. As duck feeding venues go, Fairburn Ings is impressive! Just off the main car park there is a boardwalk over some reed beds where ducks and geese congregate waiting for food. Even better, if this is just the purpose of your visit then the first 30 minutes in the car park is free. Now I just need to research good food places nearby to make this visit a proper day out!
RSPB website for Fairburn Ings http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/f/fairburnings/
Click here for a Google map of the site
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