One of England's most popular children's playgrounds is about to get MUCH better
ONE of the most famous and loved children's parks in the country, will soon be getting a £3million upgrade.
The Princess Diana Memorial playground in Kensington Gardens, London, which is regularly named among the best play parks in England, is having some of its most popular parts replaced.
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According to Royal Parks - who manage the playpark - the improvements will retain "the characteristics of the existing Peter Pan-inspired playground".
The much-loved Galleon will be replaced will be a new ship in the centre of the park with an additional lookout platform and a tunnel slide.
The Galleon will also feature interactive play elements such as a 'Captain's Wheel', and musical and sensory features.
There will also be a new treehouses encampment, with three climbable towers, talk tubes, a tunnel slide and a see-saw bridge.
The Treehouse Encampment will include social and interactive features such as musical equipment.
The park's Mermaid Fountain will also get a redesign, with a sand play area and dams and gates for kids to play with in the water.
The new equipment will be made out from timber from sustainably managed forests.
The site will also have improved accessibility, with wheelchair-friendly spaces in both the Galleon and the Treehouse Encampment.
Andy Williams, park manager for Kensington Gardens, said: "This free-to-access playground has a special place in millions of children's hearts across the globe, and it's about to get even better.
"Working with play specialist providers, our own landscape teams, and the local community we have developed proposals that will continue to make this playground an experience like no other.
"The planned accessibility improvements will mean that the playground is open and welcoming to all children."
Work will start in autumn of this year, and is expected to be complete by spring 2026.
The park originally opened in 2000 to commemorate Princess Diana, who once resided in Kensington Palace nearby.
In total, the park welcomes over one million visitors a year.
There is also the National Trust's largest adventure playground that mums say is 'a day trip in itself' and is also a Hollywood film set.
Plus, the award-winning English attraction has 'one-of-a-kind' indoor play zone and its own campsite.
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