Gawthorpe Hall
Jacobean hall on the edge of Padiham with free gardens, woodland walks and a natural play area. Children go into the hall free with an adult, adults pay £7, and parking is free. A cheap half day with a house thrown in.
Days out with the kids in Burnley
8 places in Burnley, Lancashire, 4 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
8 in Burnley4 free3 indoor
Burnley owns one of the strangest free attractions in the North West. The Singing Ringing Tree is a wind-powered steel sculpture on the moor above town that hums when the weather blows, a half-hour stop with a view that repays the short climb. Wrap up, because the wind on Crown Point cuts even in July, which is of course the whole point, and there are no toilets or cafe up there, so sort both before leaving the house.
Towneley Park is the other half and the sensible base: a big free park around the town's grand old hall, with woodland, play areas and room for the picnic the moor was too windy for. The honest shape of a day out in Burnley with kids is Towneley first, the sculpture when the wind gets up, and home having spent nothing but fuel.
Places in Burnley
The Singing Ringing Tree
A wind-powered steel sculpture on the moor above Burnley that hums when the weather blows, with a view worth the short climb. It is a half-hour stop, not a day out, so pair it with a walk or Towneley Hall.
Thompson Park
Burnley's restored Edwardian park does the full seaside-without-the-sea turn: rowing boats, a paddling pool, a volunteer-run miniature railway and a boathouse cafe. Time it for a sunny weekend when everything is actually running.
Towneley Hall & Park
The hall is back open after its £3.6m restoration, but the park was always the real family day: playgrounds, gardens, woodland trails and a cafe right by the play area. Park free, parking cheap, and kids get into the hall for nothing.
Air Unlimited Burnley
A warehouse of giant inflatables on Craven Street in Burnley: mega ball pit, launch slide, jump tower and ninja walls. Book the hour, buy the socks, and let them tire themselves out on something that cannot bruise.
Discobowl Burnley
Bowling, an arcade, pool tables and Scrapyard Golf crazy golf in central Burnley. A junior game is £8, a family of four £32, and term-time weekdays drop to £5 a game before 5pm. The arcade is where the change goes.
Jurassic Village Adventure Golf
An 18-hole dinosaur-themed adventure golf course at Prairie Sports Village, with rockwork and water features. Juniors £8, adults £10, a family of four £32, free parking, and a bistro upstairs looking out to Pendle Hill.
Queen Street Mill Textile Museum
A Victorian weaving shed still holding 308 Lancashire looms, with the mill's own steam engine, Peace, and demonstrations of cotton becoming cloth. Children free, and the season ends on 31 October.
What’s on in Burnley
5 dated events coming up.
Stay and Play Every Monday from 9.30 to 11.30 (opens on St Andrew's Church with St Margret's and St James's Burnley.)
St Andrew's Church with St Margret's and St James's Burnley.
2 Nov. Monday 2 November, 9.30am
Parents and children can meet in our beautiful church hall to 'Stay and Play'!
Listed by St Andrew's Church with St Margret's and St James's Burnley. · collected 1 Nov
Playgroup (opens on All Saints w St John the Baptist)
All Saints w St John the Baptist · Burnley
4 Nov. Wednesday 4 November, 9.30am
Our baby and toddler group runs every Wednesday morning in term time.
Listed by All Saints w St John the Baptist · collected 1 Nov
Toddler Group (opens on St Matthew The Apostle with Holy Trinity)
St Matthew The Apostle with Holy Trinity · Burnley
5 Nov. Thursday 5 November, 9.30am
Our church toddler group runs every Thursday during school term time.
Listed by St Matthew The Apostle with Holy Trinity · collected 1 Nov
Towneley Bonfire and Fireworks
Towneley Park, Burnley
5 Nov. Thursday 5 November, gates 6pm
Burnley Council's bonfire night at Towneley, on the night itself: funfair from 6pm, bonfire lit at 6.45, a junior fireworks display at 7.15 for the little ones and the main display at 8.15. No tickets on the door and no parking in the park without a pre-bought parking ticket (£8 Woodgrove, £10 Riverside), so sort both online.
Written by us
Sunday School (opens on St Cuthbert)
St Cuthbert · Burnley
8 Nov. Sunday 8 November, 10.30am
Starts at 10.30am. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Listed by St Cuthbert · collected 1 Nov
Also worth the drive
Not in Burnley, but close enough for a day out.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
The big one. Nickelodeon Land covers the primary ages properly while the Big One and the wooden coasters wait for brave older kids. August queues are real; go in expecting them and it is a great day.
Blackpool Tower
Tower Top's glass floor 380 feet up, a proper circus that still knows how to play to kids, and the famous ballroom below for a fancy ice cream. Buy the attractions you want rather than the bundle you will not use.
Sandcastle Waterpark
The UK's biggest indoor waterpark, kept at tropical temperature: proper toddler pools and mini slides at one end, big flumes at the other. Rainy-day Blackpool solved.
Blackpool Zoo
Elephants, gorillas, giraffes and sea lions in 37 acres that are actually walkable with primary-age legs - big enough to feel like a full day, small enough that nobody ends up carried.
Sea Life Blackpool
A solid seafront aquarium with an ocean tunnel and rockpool sessions - the reliable wet-weather hour when the beach plan falls apart.
Stanley Park
Blackpool's grand free option: Italian gardens, a big boating lake, one of the best playgrounds on the coast and model boats on the lake. The antidote to a wristband day.
WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre
Otters at feeding time, flamingos, pond dipping and a canoe safari through the reeds in season. One of those places that quietly turns a nature-indifferent child into a nature child.
Windmill Animal Farm
A friendly hands-on farm whose star turn is the miniature railway running out across the fields. Animal handling sessions, indoor play for wet spells, and it never feels too big.
What’s on near you, every Friday
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.