Tandle Hill Country Park
110 acres of beech wood and open grass above Royton, with a play area, an orienteering course and a hilltop war memorial you can see Manchester from. Free car park, small.
Alexandra Park
Oldham, Greater Manchester
Alexandra Park was dug out by Oldham men put out of work when the American Civil War cut off the cotton supply, which is a grim origin for what is now 72 acres of lake, lawn and Victorian planting off Kings Road. The boating lake runs down the western side with a half-timbered boathouse at the top of it, and that boathouse holds the cafe.
For children the draw is the play area, which has a sand pit and, unusually, a properly thought-out accessible section: sensory paths, accessible swings and a boardwalk so a wheelchair can get to the sand. Add seven free tennis courts, three bowling greens, a heated conservatory and a duck pond and you have a morning without spending anything except on cake.
Marked walks lead out of the park towards Snipe Clough, Brushes Clough and eventually Park Bridge, so there is more than the 72 acres if anyone still has legs. Oldham's own green walk is about 18 minutes and the blue about 32, which is a useful yardstick when a five year old asks how much further.
Know before you go
- The accessible play kit here is better than most: Oldham list a sensory path, accessible swings and a boardwalk that takes a wheelchair right up to the sand play. Worth the drive if that is your family.
- Seven tennis courts, free, no booking mentioned. Throw two rackets in the boot.
- The heated conservatory is your wet-weather fallback without leaving the park. It is not big, but it buys you twenty dry minutes.
- The cafe sells birdseed for the ducks. Cheaper than bread and better for them.
Looking for more parks & outdoors near Oldham?
Also in Oldham
Chadderton Hall Park
The Chadderton park with the cafe, and therefore the toilets. Play area with a sand pit and accessible swings, free tennis, a river walk and ornamental gardens, all on a flat site with parking.
Dunwood Park
Small, tidy and 300 metres from a tram stop, which makes Dunwood the one you can do without a car. Playground, three tennis courts, a bowling green and free parking if you do drive.