Marsh Boggles heading to BeWILDerwood

Cheshire West and Chester Council is pleased to have supported the latest attraction BeWILDerwood in Bickley Moss, Whitchurch.

BeWILDerwood is a woodland attraction based on the magical and enchanting books by author and creator Tom Blofeld. The new children’s attraction has treehouses, slides, giant swings and zip wires, storytelling and creative crafts. 

Councillor Richard Beacham, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy and Regeneration said: “I visited BeWILDerwood yesterday and I have to say, it is amazing. I can’t wait to take my family there to explore it some more. I was really taken by the owners vision of a place where whole families can come to play.”

“Our Economic Growth team has been instrumental in supporting the team behind BeWILDerwood to successfully access grant funding from the European Union through the LEADER initiative, which has helped to create jobs in our borough.” 

“The park will undoubtedly bolster Cheshire West and Chester’s already impressive list of visitor attractions and it is anticipated that it will bring many more families to our borough to enjoy its sights and sounds. This in turn will give a long-term boost to the local economy of the area it serves and the wider borough.” 

“We’re hoping to see many a budding Marsh Boggle making their way to Cheshire West’s BeWILDerwood and we wish the team every success for the future.” 

BeWILDerwood successfully applied for a grant towards the costs of establishing more substantial catering outlets to prepare fresh food on-site. 

LEADER is an EU capital funding programme for rural businesses, the Council is the Accountable Body for the 2015-2020 round, responsible for the administration of the funding, on behalf of the Rural Payments Agency and working with a Local Action Group of key representatives from local rural businesses and organisations who made the final decisions on how the funding was awarded. 

The grant has now been fully allocated, but businesses receiving the grant are being monitored particularly for the number of jobs creation. The grant payment for BeWILDerwood is anticipated to create a total of 16 FTE jobs specifically for the catering offer within the park. 

Pictured: Councillor Richard Beacham, Sarah Callander-Beckett (owner of Combermere Abbey), Tom Blofeld (author of the Bewilderwood books) and Joe Manning from the LEP/Marketing Cheshire.