Saturday 24 August 2019

Blackburn's #Brickburn PAW Patrol Brick Trail - until 1st September! (Ad)

Until 1st September Blackburn has changed it's name to Brickburn, as the world's first PAW Patrol brick trail has arrived and there are brick-built characters dotted throughout the town centre,

These incredible brick models of characters and buildings from the hit Nick Jr TV show is brought and presented to you by BRICKLIVE. The pups are big and range in size from 75cm to 120cm high. There is also a 2m tall Lookout Tower, a head in the hole wall and a Marshall’s Fire Truck selfie-zone. Each of the 21 models has it's own fun facts sheet, and if you scan the QR codes you get an extra treat.

Collage showing some of the PAW Patrol models Marshall Everest Rumble Fire Truck

Closest parking is multi-storey on Church Street, but we found tons of car parks right in the centre of Blackburn Brickburn and prices were very fair at £3.70 for 4 hours. We used to visit often for the ice skating and swimming pool, but haven't really been into town before, so being able to park across the road was a nice surprise!


Arriving at Blackburn Shopping Mall for the LEGO Paw Patrol Trail 3 people walking

Blackburn Mall is easy to find and so is the Ask Me Point - right next to free soft play.

Blackburn Mall Map showing Ask Me Point and all shops 2019


This is where you collect two of the quiz sheets, which have a map showing the location of the models.

Blackburn Mall Shopping Centre Customer Service Desk is called Ask Me Station and is next to the free Soft Play

Blackburn #Brickburn Paw Patrol LEGO Trail Maps at Ask Me Point in the mall

It's also where you find the first model, and a great photo opportunity! Marshall's Fire Truck is big and kids can get into it and pretend to drive. At 9 and 10 my boys are a bit old...

#Brickburn Paw Patrol LEGO Trail Fire Engine kids can sit in and pretend to drive

Only joking - they couldn't wait. Huge sized brick models even bring out the kid in pre-teens. Look at his happy face.

Blackburn #Brickburn Paw Patrol LEGO Trail My 10 year old sitting in Marshall's Fire Truck grinning

The Blackburn Mall map was a great thing because we had no clue, and it was great to see which shops were there! It's a good sized shopping centre with some huge stores, but the pedestrian routes inside are well designed for minimal walking - and there are toilets in each corner.

We only had to take a few strides before we had found Zuma in The Entertainer Toy Shop.

Blackburn #Brickburn Paw Patrol LEGO Trail The Entertainer Toy Shop Zuma

Mayor Goodway was standing in the Virgin Media shop holding a chicken. Naturally. She's made from 33,673 bricks and took model builders Jenny Etherington and Katie Grove 87.5 hours to build. I think counting the bricks would be the least fun part!

Blackburn Mall #Brickburn Paw Patrol Trail inside Virgin Media with LEGO model of Mayor Goodway

Our next find was a bit trickier to spot. Upstairs in Debenhams, near the cafe.... we met loads of really lovely people today, including the family who winked as they told us where to find it! You are rewarded with a special photo opportunity with Paw Patrol favourite Chase.

Blackburn Mall #Brickburn Paw Patrol LEGO Trail Debenhams upstairs near cafe photo opportunity with Chase

Although we were there primarily for the PAW Patrol Brick Trail, Blackburn Mall had their own Active August Challenge which we were just in time to join in with - it added an extra dimension to our trip and the boys loved finding and trying the challenges around the shopping mall.

Blackburn Mall Active August Challenge my 10 year old leaping as far as he can above a measuring chart on the floor

How cute is Everest - and perfectly placed just inside Primark. It's a nice big store and we picked up some T-shirts and other bits while we were there. I think it's the only time I've ever been to Primark and not bought any socks!

Blackburn #Brickburn Paw Patrol Everest White Puppy LEGO model in Primark

Everest took 2 builders (Jakub Vetrak and Tomas Novak) 90 hours to complete, and she is made from 27,770 bricks. Possibly my favourite model of the day. She is beautiful.

Paw Patrol LEGO Everest Dog with woolly hat jacket and backpack

We ventured outside Blackburn Mall next, to find some of the PAW Patrol cast elsewhere in the centre of town. Marshall was in the library and he was very popular! There were a queue of children waiting to take a photo with him - and hopefully pick up a few books too...

Blackburn #Brickburn Paw Patrol LEGO Marshall character in Blackburn library

Rubble was sitting in the window of King George's Hall, and there's me in the reflection. A rare appearance in one of my own days out...

Blackburn #Brickburn Paw Patrol LEGO Rubble in window of King Georges Hall Theatre

We headed back now to Blackburn Market, which is sort of underneath the shopping mall. We knew there was another competition to enter if you found all 6 Catastrophe Kittens hidden in the market. We genuinely only found 5! I'm only showing you a hint of those too, it would be cheating if I gave away the locations.


In this photo my boys know there's a kitten nearby because they've seen the 'model information/fun facts sheet', but they haven't yet spotted the kitten....

Paw Patrol LEGO Trail #Brickburn Catastrophe Kittens hidden in blackburn market

We had a pit stop back in the Blackburn Mall for food and a drink before we headed home. There are a host of nice places to eat all around the shopping centre, but we didn't want to sit down. Greggs vegan sausage rolls for me and Hasty Tasty Pizza for everyone else...

My 10 year old eating Hasty Tasty Pizza from Blackburn Mall

Our  final stop of the day was a bit of a cheat, but we were going past Townsmoor Retail Park anyway, so we popped to see which model was in Argos. We didn't find all of the models in the end, but we didn't do too badly. Best of all we had a leisurely and fun walk of about 5k!

Blackburn Argos LEGO trail model of Ryder from Paw Patrol in store with my 9 year old

The Brickburn PAW Patrol Brick Trail will be in place until September 1st. There are 3 competitions which all have a grand prize of £100 in high street vouchers and entry is FREE - just pick up the leaflets in Blackburn Mall and Blackburn Market. They even supply recycled pencils to complete your answers! 

Brickburn has been organised by Blackburn BID - a strategy to improve life for shoppers, visitors and businesses in Blackburn Town Centre - and is brought to us by BRICKLIVE.

Brickburn Blackburn Paw Patrol LEGO trail maps and quiz leaflets laid out on a table

We were given a voucher to cover our fuel, parking and a snack, and as a thank you the boys were each given a LEGO set to take home. Whoever chose was spot on, they were delighted and the sets were built within half an hour! Thank YOU!

LEGO Ninjago minifigures and accessories standing and arranged in a little scene




4 comments:

  1. I wish we lived closer, Piglet would love this

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    1. I know that it's going to be moving on, and I'm pretty certain it'll be at BrickLive next time, so there's plenty of chance to see it for everyone hopefully :)

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  2. That looks so much fun. My little one would enjoy this x

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    Replies
    1. It really was an excellent day out - we all had a great time looking for the models. I don't think the boys minded PAW Patrol is maybe a bit young for them at all!

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