Playdale Playgrounds is a British

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

design, manufacturing and installation company founded in 1978 by Jack and John Croasdale. Playdale Playgrounds is based in

Haverthwaite Haverthwaite is a small village and civil parish in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. It is also within the boundaries of the Lake District National Park. It is located several miles east of Ulverston and is near the southern end of Winde ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

History

Playdale Playgrounds is a family-run business. The Croasdale family have worked in the

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

and allied timber trades since 1735. In 1978 Jack and John Croasdale advanced into playground design, manufacturing and installation and established Playdale Playgrounds in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

with four employees. Playdale later had over 140 employees with two factories in Cumbria. In 1981, Playdale Playgrounds designed and launched the Adventure Trail which became a landmark product range, eventually the stainless steel 'City' range followed. In 1996

Sir Chris Bonington Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest. Early life and expeditions Bonington's father, w ...

opened the company's new factory and offices in Haverthwaite. By 1999 all of Playdale Playgrounds products were

Kitemark The Kitemark is a UK product and service quality trade mark which is owned and operated by the British Standards Institution (BSI Group). The Kitemark is most frequently used to identify products where safety is paramount, such as crash helmets ...

ed to BSEN 1176.

Diversification

The introduction of the City Stainless Steel Play Equipment in 2003, saw the company diversify from solely producing timber play equipment. The world's first

i.play i.play, also known as the Intelligent Play System is an interactive playground designed in collaboration between Progressive Sports Technologies Ltd and Playdale Playgrounds. The i.play has switches and lights which light up and make sounds, req ...

was created in 2007 and opened in Barrow Park, Barrow-in-Furness. This was the first electronic, intelligent play system, designed in collaboration with Progressive Sports Technologies Ltd at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

Worldwide company

In 2010, the company began exporting products and now have a number of overseas distributors. In 2013, Playdale Playgrounds were named as one of the top thirty ‘Export Champions’ for the North West as part of a national campaign ran by

UK Trade & Investment , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = UKtrade.svg , logo_width = 190px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Department for Business, Enter ...

. In December 2014 Playdale Playgrounds were awarded the 'Emerging Exporter' award at the Insider Media North West International Trade Awards 2014.

References

* * * * * *{{cite news, last=Tunningley , first=Allan , url=http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/10803516.Haverthwaite_firm_plans_to_expand_its_exports/ , title=Haverthwaite firm plans to expand its exports (From The Westmorland Gazette) , publisher=Thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk , date=2013-11-13 , access-date=2014-08-12

External links

Playdale Playgrounds

Playdale Schools

Intelligentplay.

Playdale Garden
Playground equipment Manufacturing companies established in 1978 Manufacturing companies of England