The Baptist Church Hall at 19 Gerrard Street is the hall of Castle Hill Baptist Church, a couple of minutes' walk from the church in the middle of Warwick. In November we set up our 3D Dinosaur castle here for a second birthday. It's £130, with a 4.5ft slide off the front, and it needs 18.1 x 24.4ft of floor and 10.7ft of height, so the ceiling clears at least that. We put it near the back of the hall, which leaves room in front for a soft play set, such as our Jurassic Tots dinosaur set (£85, needs 11 x 11ft).
Where do guests park?
This is the part to plan for. There are only four or five parking spaces, and the rest of the street is double yellow lines, so tell your guests before the day. The church's own website points people to these car parks, all within a few minutes' walk:
- Priory Road car park (CV34 4NA), about 3 minutes
- On-street parking on The Butts (CV34 4ST), about 3 minutes
- St Nicholas car park (CV34 4NL), about 5 minutes, uphill on the way back
The church says these charge from 8am to 6pm.
Getting in
We bring the kit in through the side door. There's a kitchen for the party food. The church describes it as an old building in a conservation area. A ramp to the downstairs entrance can be arranged if you ask the church, but there isn't an accessible toilet, and the men's toilets are down two steps. Worth knowing if you've got grandparents or a buggy coming.
I'm Luke, and I put up every castle myself. This wasn't my first time in this hall: I'd last been here about five years before. Set-up takes about 30 minutes, the castle runs from a normal 13-amp socket, and like all our inflatables it's cleaned with Bio-San between hires. There's no delivery charge in Warwick as long as the order comes to £110. Booking costs £25 up front, with the balance due a fortnight before the party, and over 400 parents have given us five stars on Google. If you'd like something other than the dino, tell me the date and I'll tell you what will fit. Other Warwick halls we know well include St Paul's Church Hall on Friars Street and the TS Norton Sea Scout HQ by St Nicholas Park.