The Hook play area in Lady Bay gets 14 new pieces of kit, including a 4m climbing net and wheelchair roundabout. Work starts late November, due by Christmas.

The play area at The Hook in Lady Bay is getting more than £100,000 of new equipment, and the council expects it to be finished before Christmas.

Rushcliffe Borough Council announced the refurbishment on 26 October. Work is expected to start at the end of November. The council says it should be complete by the Christmas holidays, weather permitting.

The contractor is Proludic Limited. It will install 14 new pieces of equipment, and several of the existing favourites will stay.

What is being installed

The council’s list of new equipment:

  • a large climbing and play unit with a slide
  • a four metre high climbing net
  • a new maxi slide
  • an accessible roundabout for wheelchair users
  • new swings, including inclusive seating and a parent-and-toddler swing
  • an inclusive play vehicle
  • new spring-mounted play equipment
  • a sensory play panel
  • a “symphony bell bouquet”, an outdoor music feature
  • colourful playground markings and games
Proludic's illustrated masterplan for the Hook Park play area, showing a toddler area and a junior area with numbered items including a multiplay unit, rope climber with a 4m climbing net, combination swings, maxi slide, accessible roundabout, inclusive vehicle, springers, sensory panel and symphony bell bouquet, labelled 14 new elements.
Proludic's masterplan for the toddler and junior areas at The Hook. It notes the drawing is an artistic representation of the proposed site. Image: supplied by Rushcliffe Borough Council

The masterplan shows the work split across the existing toddler and junior areas, with the new climbing net on the junior side.

Why it matters

The Hook sits between Lady Bay and the River Trent, next to the skate park and basketball court. It is one of the main free places to take young children on that side of West Bridgford.

Cllr Jonathan Wheeler, the council’s cabinet member for leisure and wellbeing, said the site was “such an important facility for the local community”.

“We know how popular this site, along with the adjacent skate park and basketball court, is with local people,” he said.

The council puts its spending on parks and open spaces across the borough at £1 million since 2021. It finished a £30,000 upgrade of the BMX track at Rushcliffe Country Park earlier this month.

What it means for you

  • The play area will be a building site for part of December. The council has not said whether the whole playground will close or only parts of it while the equipment goes in. We will add that when it does.
  • The skate park and basketball court are not part of the scheme, according to the council’s list.
  • The finish date depends on the weather. The council’s own wording is “weather permitting”, so a wet December could push it back.

For more free things to do with children nearby, see our things to do in West Bridgford page.