Revisiting robust play equipment at a Cornwall primary school

The brief

In November 2025, as part of our quality monitoring, we revisited a bespoke play trail in the beautiful grounds of Altarnun Primary School that was installed over four years ago. Rather than choosing the cheapest option of a soft wood trail, the school had opted for a large play trail manufactured using recycled plastic for both its environmental credentials and long-term financial benefits, knowing that they would only have to invest once as recycled plastic doesn’t rot or require maintenance treatments. Our recycled plastic trail ranges are available in black, brown or grey colours and Altarnun had decided on brown to complement the rural village setting. We wanted to see how well the play equipment had performed over the wet winters and hot summers – in particular to check if there had been any colour fade.

The result

It was great to see the equipment looking in fantastic condition – as the photos show, it looks like the children are playing on new equipment.

The play trail is proving as popular as ever and staff said the bespoke design was really successful in promoting physical play, as it provided a wide range of challenges which had helped to develop pupils’ self-confidence – the clamber logs encouraged the children to help each other, the balance beams, tumble bars and climbing trunks developed co-ordination skills and the monkey bars improved their strength.

School Secretary, Lesley Bain, who oversaw the original installation said that the play equipment has exceeded the school's expectations:

“We were pleased to choose sustainable play equipment as the pupils were really interested to learn about how household plastic waste was transformed into their new playground. The equipment is excellent quality – it has been in since 2021 and is still looking as good as new and is as popular as ever with pupils. Since the play trail was installed, we have purchased a sandpit and bespoke planters, again made from recycled plastic and they are also tough enough to stand up to the rigours of play. Recycled plastic is worth the additional cost outlay over a wood alternative as the equipment does not rot, or get slimy during our wet Cornish winters and there is practically no maintenance involved!”