Having tried to collect all the Clydes a couple of years ago, I was excited to see if Angus would be excited to try out Hamilton's The Big Stampede. I can report back that he loved it.
The concept is simple; companies sponsor artists to customise a lion, rhino, giraffe, gorilla or lion, which goes on display around the town. There is also the Little Stampede where nurseries and schools design a hippo.
I downloaded the app to help us find and log them all. You get trophies along the way and "rewards" (discounts in shops). I thought Angus might enjoy putting the codes into the app to unlock each animal...perhaps an older child would. Using the app (and GPS), ate through my data very quickly though. At The Townhouse, I was able to pick up a leaflet with a map and I quickly wrote the code down for each animal next to it and put them into the app at home later using wifi. This was a much speedier and cheaper process. As a side note, the children's library in the Townhouse is fab with lots of toys and games.
The animals in the town centre are very close together, so the pace of the adventure was kept up. There were lots of families out doing the same as us. I have to give huge credit to the people of Hamilton, who chatted to us along the way and gave us some good hints. They were really friendly.
We stopped for coffee and cake in the morning and lunch later on. There is loads of choice of welcoming, independent cafes.
Three sites are outwith the city centre at the Academicals ground, Strathclyde Country Park and Chatelherault, so I think we will be making separate trips to collect these. We got fifty plus on our first trip and Angus wants to go back with Daddy.
We parked in the retail park near the Vue cinema. You can park for free for four hours; there are council car parks but they are pay on foot. There are toilets in the shopping centres and library. I didn't have a problem with the "Mum, I need a wee now" situations and the baby changes were okay. We had Douglas in the buggy, which was no problem with easy step-free access and dropped kerbs everywhere. No one batted an eyelid when I fed him on benches...
The animals are on display until 27 August 2017. I can only recommend you get out stalking soon!
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