Opened in 1847 to a Joseph Paxton design, and the park Frederick Law Olmsted visited before he drew up Central Park. Whether it was the world's first publicly funded park or merely one of the first depends on who you ask, since Salford's Peel Park opened months earlier, but Birkenhead is the one New York copied. None of this matters to a six-year-old, so: two lakes, woodland paths, a playground with a climbing boulder, and enough flat grass to absorb bikes, scooters and a full afternoon.
It costs nothing. Park at the visitor centre side on Park Drive, where the cafe, toilets and baby change live, then walk the lower lake past the Roman Boathouse to the Swiss Bridge, a covered wooden footbridge that children treat as a den. Paths, cafe and play area are all pram and wheelchair friendly, and the park itself never shuts.
What it costs: Entry is free. Lake fishing needs a permit.
A woodland light trail, grotto, fairground and family shows in Birkenhead Park, 10 to 13 December. Everyone needs a ticket except babies under 1. Tickets are non-refundable and it goes ahead in any weather.
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One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.