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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Matthew Bunn

Review: PGL adventure holiday centre an hour from Nottingham helped me face my fears

An admission, I am absolutely terrified of heights. So finding myself 20ft up, looking out over a sheer drop and being held up by a harness and a wire, I'm not in my happy place.

"Don't worry I had a 5 year old up here last week who was scared as well. He came straight back up after," the instructor told me as I faltered at the top. Well, now it was just a matter of pride.

With no other option, I braced myself and jumped off the top of the zip wire and flew through the air, taking in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside as I did. And much like the young acrophobic before me, I did get back up for another go.

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I'd be lying if I told you I took the plunge on everything on offer at PGL Caythorpe Court, an adventure centre less than an hour away from Nottingham, but the facilities on offer definitely gave me the opportunity to face my fears.

The centre is just 10 minutes outside the town of Sleaford and boasts, among its many attractions, a climbing wall, big swing, a shooting range, boating lake, abseiling, trapeze and high ropes (I didn't make it far on that). I took my wife and son along for a long weekend, leaving the youngest member of the family with grandparents as the centre is really designed for children over the age of five.

The centre itself really does have something for everybody. My wife, being the complete opposite of me with heights, made it to the very top of the trapeze pole before leaping off to grab hold of the trapeze - my son and I made it to the top of the ladder.

The climbing wall at PGL Caythorpe Court (Matthew Bunn)

But that certainly doesn't mean there isn't plenty to enjoy for all members of the family. The instructors really push you and, being put into different groups during your stay, your fellow holidaymakers are also always there to give you a spot of encouragement.

And it gives you a sense of accomplishment to be able to achieve things you wouldn't ordinarily have done. For me, this was launching off the zip wire and making it a relatively big distance - for me - on the climbing wall, before leaning back slowly and allowing the equipment to lower me down to the ground.

It is certainly not just heights and adventure apparatus that kept us occupied during our stay, however. Our itinerary also included time on the shooting range, building a boat and then sailing it on the lake, survival training and even a sensory trail.

Survival training at PGL Caythorpe Court (Matthew Bunn)

The sensory trail, one of the simplest activities during our long weekend, was among the top highlights and led to plenty of laughs as a group of adults were blindfolded for a guided walk through the woods. The children in the group quickly took off their blindfolds to have some fun of their own.

The build a boat activity, meanwhile, turned out to be half sailing, half swimming in the lake - both as much fun as each other.

Included in our stay was a lodge and three hearty meals per day - and trust me when I say you'll want to get everything you can out of meal times so you have all the energy you can muster for the activities.

The shooting range at PGL Caythorpe Court (Matthew Bunn)

We packed a lot into our three days at Caythorpe Court - and it was an adventure of a lifetime for our eldest.

PGL operates a number of centres, with Caythorpe Court being the closest to Notts. There are also sights in Devon, Suffolk and East Sussex. Stays can vary from a week to activity days. It offers school trips as well as family holidays.

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