Lancashire Mining Museum
Lancashire's only surviving colliery headgear and a 3,300 horsepower steam winding engine at Astley Green, run by volunteers and free to walk round. Afternoons only, four days a week.
Days out with the kids in Leigh
6 places in Leigh, Greater Manchester, 4 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
6 in Leigh4 free1 indoor
Pennington Flash is still Leigh's big free afternoon: a lake formed when old coal workings flooded, flat paths, bird hides children can see out of and a decent playground, for the price of parking. Lilford Park and Pennington Hall Park are the smaller, closer options for an hour rather than a day.
Coal made this landscape, and the Lancashire Mining Museum at Astley Green, between Leigh and Tyldesley, keeps the last colliery headgear in the Lancashire coalfield and a 3,300 horsepower winding engine. It is free to walk round, open afternoons on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends, and runs a bonfire in November and Santa trains in December.
Places in Leigh
Lilford Park
Fifty-odd acres of Leigh parkland with an inclusive playground, free disc golf through the woods and enough open grass to empty any child. Toilets open at weekends only, courtesy of the volunteers.
Pennington Flash
A big lake with easy flat paths, bird hides and a decent play area. Free, close, and a good one for scooters and a picnic.
Pennington Hall Park
Leigh's town park, handed to the corporation by local brewers in 1920 and still doing the job: play areas, tennis courts, bowling greens, a bandstand, flower gardens and a community cafe called Caffeina.
Charlie Park
Enchanted-forest soft play on the first floor of an Atherton mill, with a baby and under-3s area, sensory and craft rooms and a cafe. Over-3s are £9, adults £1, and weekend sessions are capped at two hours.
Grange Farm, Lowton
A farm shop and restaurant just off the A580 at Lowton that throws a proper Pumpkin Festival every October: a pumpkin field with wheelbarrows, live entertainment and a funfair. The rest of the year it is lunch and a look for the Highland cows.
What’s on in Leigh
4 dated events coming up.
Lego club at Golborne Library (opens on Wigan Libraries)
Golborne Library · Leigh
5 Nov to 10 Dec. Every Thursday, 3.30pm
For children 5 years and up, free session, no need to book.
Listed by Wigan Libraries · collected 1 Nov
Bonfire and fireworks at Lancashire Mining Museum
Lancashire Mining Museum, Higher Green Lane, Astley · Leigh
7 Nov. Saturday 7 November
A bonfire and fireworks night under the old colliery headgear at Astley Green, run by the volunteers who keep the museum going. Tickets from £8.80. There is no parking on site, no sparklers and no dogs, and heritage rides are cash only.
Written by us
Aladdin (Tyldesley Little Theatre pantomime) (opens in a new tab)
Tyldesley Little Theatre, Lemon Street, Tyldesley · Leigh
27 Nov to 5 Dec. 27, 28 November and 1, 2, 4, 5 December 7.30pm; matinees 28, 29 November and 5 December 2.30pm
Tyldesley Little Theatre's traditional family panto Aladdin runs 27 November to 5 December, with matinees at 2.30pm on 28 and 29 November and 5 December. Tickets £8 go on sale online at 8am on 31 October.
Written by us
Santa Special at Lancashire Mining Museum
Lancashire Mining Museum, Higher Green Lane, Astley · Leigh
12 Dec to 13 Dec. Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December
A ride on the museum's little railway, then Santa in the replica miner's cottage and a small gift for each child, with a chance to write him a letter. Tickets from £4.40, hot and cold drinks on sale, and it is run by the people who keep the museum going. Small, cheap and friendly.
Written by us
Also worth the drive
Not in Leigh, but close enough for a day out.
Zip World Manchester
Treetop nets, high ropes and forest tubing in the woods of Heaton Park, and it is outdoors, not indoors. The cheap one is Treetot Nets: an hour bouncing on nets in the trees for ages 1 to 5, from £5, with a grown-up joining in.
Science and Industry Museum
Working steam engines, the story of Cottonopolis, and hands-on galleries in the world's oldest surviving passenger railway station. Free, and the live demonstrations are the bit kids actually remember.
Manchester Museum
A T. rex skeleton cast, live frogs in the vivarium, Egyptian mummies and a genuinely good natural history floor. Free, university-run, and less overwhelming than the big London equivalents.
National Football Museum
Shirts, trophies and match footage across four gallery floors, with a penalty shootout and skills games that football-mad kids refuse to leave. If yours do not care about football, skip it: it is exactly what it says.
Imperial War Museum North
War told through people's stories in a building designed to feel like a shattered globe. The hourly Big Picture Show projections fill the whole gallery and stop everyone mid-step. Heavy themes, handled well, and better for the top end of primary.
RHS Garden Bridgewater
One of the biggest garden projects in Europe, and more fun for kids than a flower garden has any right to be: a huge walled kitchen garden, lake walks, and space to run that feels endless.
Legoland Discovery Centre
Two rides, a 4D cinema, build zones and Manchester's skyline done in miniature bricks. Squarely aimed at 3 to 10, and it knows it: adults can only visit with a child.
Sea Life Manchester
Ocean tunnel, rays, seahorses and rockpool touch sessions, sized for smaller legs - you can do the whole thing in a morning and pair it with Legoland next door.
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.