Outdoors: Get a buzz out of Beecraigs Country Park

I can never get over the capacity teenage boys have for sitting in a darkened room for hours on end. There's no witty banter, merely three boys attached to a piece of electronic equipment going bleary-eyed at a screen.

Of course, their scant regard for personal hygiene also means that entering the room is not for the fainthearted (or indeed, anyone not carrying a can of Oust).

Outside it was a fine day, so we took the three 13-year-olds by the scruff of the neck and announced that we were going out. "It'll be boring," they protested, but we heeded not their complaints and set off for Beecraigs Country Park. We'd never been before so it was definitely not somewhere they could write off before getting there.

Of course, by the time we arrived it had started drizzling, but it was light enough to walk in and as soon as they saw the acres (913 in total to be exact) in front of them, they were dashing about like mad puppies. The dog was also having a rare old time.

We walked past the deer, who aroused some interest in the boys and a bit of alarm in the spaniel, towards the little loch where there were anglers out on boats and some other people canoeing. The drizzle began to subside and we went over to watch some archery practice before heading on to the play area.

We passed families barbecuing, which made us wish we had stopped at a butcher's shop on the way, but we had to make do with ice-creams from the van parked by the Balvornie car park.

At the play area we hit trumps - there was plenty to get their adrenaline going, including a flying fox and a tall pyramid-like rope climbing frame which made me a tad nervous, as they scrambled to the pinnacle. Dogs aren't allowed in this area, although no-one, apart from us, seemed to be bothered.

As you might imagine, in a park this large there are many more activities than just the ones we saw. There's horse-riding, gorge scrambling, snowboarding and orienteering. On the way home I asked the boys what they had thought of Beecraigs and you know what - not one of them used the word "boring". That's what I call a result!

Beecraigs Country Park is signposted from Linlithgow. Entrance is free, www.beecraigs.com

This article was first published in The Scotsman on 2 October, 2010