Brereton Heath Local Nature Reserve
Fifty odd acres of birch and oak wrapped round a fifteen acre lake, out between Congleton and Holmes Chapel. Give the children the permanent orienteering map and it stops being a walk.
Astbury Mere Country Park
Congleton, Cheshire
Astbury Mere was a sand quarry until the water came in, and what is left is a fourteen hectare country park with a mere in the middle, ten minutes on foot from Congleton town centre. It is owned by the Astbury Mere Trust and run by the Cheshire East ranger service, it is open from 9am until dusk every day except Christmas Day, and getting in costs nothing. The headline for families is the path. Roughly a mile of wide, flat, all weather surface goes right round the water, with benches at sensible intervals. It takes a double buggy without complaint and it is genuinely one of the more forgiving places to let a small child loose on a balance bike.
There is a visitor centre, public toilets and GG's Coffee Hub at the car park, which puts it ahead of most free country parks in the county. The gap is play equipment. There is none, and the site does not pretend otherwise, so if the day needs a climbing frame you are looking at Congleton Park up the road. Parking is 60p for up to two hours or £1.50 for longer, an annual permit is £40, and the machine takes contactless, which after Macclesfield Forest feels like luxury.
Know before you go
- The circuit is a flat mile on all weather path, which makes it one of the better first bike rides in east Cheshire. No hills, no gates, no traffic. Parking is 60p for two hours and £1.50 beyond that, and the machine takes cards as well as coins, so you are not hunting for change in the glovebox. If someone in the party needs swings, pair it with Congleton Park ten minutes away.
Looking for more parks & outdoors near Congleton?
Also in Congleton
Congleton Park
The free outdoor paddling pool is the summer draw, run for under elevens with an attendant always on duty. The rest is twenty five acres of Victorian park along the River Dane.