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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Abi Smillie

Setback for new Cumnock adventure playpark officially opened by Prince Charles as bridge feature closes

A section of Dumfries House’s new adventure playground has been temporarily closed as a ‘precaution’ – just days after opening to the public.

The new woodland facility was officially opened by HRH Prince Charles last week as he joined Muirkirk Primary School pupils in exploring the 300-sq. m playground, which boasts racing slides and rope bridges.

However, part of the playpark has had to close for the week due to a fault with the new suspension bridge.

It is hoped it will be back to full operation by this weekend.

Young adventurers are still able to enjoy the chute, climbing frame and zip wire, as well as the nearby engineering playground.

Dumfries House posted on its Facebook page: “The safety of visitors to the estate is naturally our priority, so we made a decision to temporarily close a part of the adventure playground to ensure the new suspension bridge is as stable as possible.

HRH Prince Charles tried out the bridge last week as he officially opened the playpark (Iain Brown)

“Engineers from constructors Capco are working to make repairs.”

Simon Egan of Capco, the company behind the recent additions to the adventure playground, including the suspension bridge, said: “Following the successful opening of the adventure playground at Dumfries House, regrettably it has been temporarily closed today in order to make a technical adjustment to one of its features.

“We wish to apologise to visitors for any inconvenience caused.”

The playpark, which is free for families to enjoy and utilises the estate’s existing wooded landscape, features a central play tower, racing slides, rope bridges, educational elements and a wooden finger maze which is a scaled-down replica of the maze at Dumfries House.

Commissioned by The Prince’s Foundation, it hopes to champion the benefits of nature-based play and learning.

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