Boatyard Boulders

Bouldering under the arches

Boatyard Boulders is an outdoor bouldering park on a once-disused riverside site under Lady Bay Bridge in Nottingham. It bills itself as the UK's first ultra-realistic bouldering park: large artificial rock boulders with fixings for regular setting, alongside painted climbing walls and a graffiti wall that every visitor can use. It is run as a community interest company, and the same team builds school climbing walls and murals to help fund it.

Who it suits

• Ages: children from 4 can climb on the dedicated kids' wall, which is fully sheltered under the bridge, and climbers from 8 on the rock boulders. Younger children are welcome but must stay off the climbing.
• Families and groups: it runs catered birthday parties, scout and group sessions, holiday clubs and art classes.

Being outdoors, it suits a fun session in the open air more than a hard training night, and the kids' wall stays dry in the rain.

Visiting

All sessions are pre-booked two-hour slots, which are kept free of parties. There is a coffee shop serving pizza, and three hours' free parking if you register at reception, with extra parking on the industrial estate when the car park is full.