Berwyn View Pump Track, Ellesmere — a brilliant first track for little riders

We're always on the hunt for places closer to home that get kids riding, and this one landed right on our doorstep. Berwyn View pump track opened in Ellesmere in August 2025, and it's quickly become one of our favourite spots to point families towards — especially anyone with a nervous first-timer.

Here's why it's earned a place in our days-out series.

The quick facts

• Where: Berwyn View Recreation Ground, next to Lakelands Academy, Ellesmere, Shropshire (SY12 area). Sat-nav to the school and you'll find it.
• Surface: All-weather tarmac — rideable in the drizzle, which in Shropshire matters.
• The track: A 240-metre loop with rolling humps, curved berms and progressive jumps you can roll or pop.
• Cost: Free. It's a public community facility.
• Built by: Clark & Kent Contractors — the same crew behind proper tracks up and down the country.

What it's actually like to ride

A pump track is a loop you keep moving on by pumping — pushing down through the dips and letting the rises carry you — rather than pedalling. That's the whole magic of it: even a toddler who can only scoot can get rolling and feel that first proper bit of flow.

Berwyn View gets the balance right. The rollers near the start are gentle enough that a two-year-old on a balance bike can bump over them giggling, but the berms are banked enough that older kids (and, let's be honest, a few dads) can carry real speed round and start linking the jumps. It's the kind of track a child grows into — they'll ride it completely differently at four than they will at nine.

Which bike, and who it suits

Genuinely all ages. Because there's no pedalling required, it's one of the best places we know to take a balance bike — little legs learn to read the terrain and shift their weight without even thinking about it, which is exactly the balance and confidence that makes the jump to pedals easy later. Our Myndie balance bikes are right at home here.

For older kids, a light hybrid or a mountain bike with a bit of grip is ideal — the lighter the bike, the more they can throw it around and the longer they'll last before they're asking for a snack. (That's our whole thing, really: lightweight bikes kids can actually handle themselves.)

Explore the Eastie mountain range →

Parent notes before you go

• Helmets on. It's tarmac — grippy and fast, so a helmet isn't optional. Knee and elbow pads are a nice-to-have for the keen ones.
• Parking: there's space by the recreation ground and school — quieter outside school pick-up and drop-off times.
• Facilities are limited on-site, so take water and anything you'll need. Ellesmere town centre is a couple of minutes away for toilets, a coffee and an ice cream to bribe them home with.
• Best time: early on a weekend morning if your little one is shy — it's much calmer before the bigger kids arrive and start sending the jumps.

Make a day of it

Ellesmere is a proper north-Shropshire treat. A five-minute roll from the track is The Mere — a big, glassy lake with a lakeside path, ducks and swans to feed, a playground and a café. Tire them out on the pump track, then a gentle wander round the water is the perfect wind-down (and gets the ice cream in). It makes a genuinely full, cheap day out.

The bit we love most

This track exists because more than 200 local people, businesses and organisations chipped in over £70,000 to build it. That's a whole community deciding kids should have somewhere brilliant to ride. We're big believers in that — more rolling, less scrolling — so if you're anywhere near Ellesmere, go give it a spin.

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