Clarence Park opened in 1888 and is still the largest urban park Bury runs, twenty hectares in Moorside about a mile out of the town centre. It has held a Green Flag since 2005, which in practice means the paths are kept up and the grass gets cut, and the council describes it as level throughout and fine for pushchairs and wheelchairs. That is a real advantage over half the parks round here.
The facilities list is genuinely long: children's play area, two tennis courts, two bowling greens, a football pitch, a bandstand, and the Green Cafe and Community Centre on site so you are not hunting for a coffee. The other half of the site is Clarence Lido, a lake with formal seating round it, a model boat club and angling. Feeding the ducks and watching grown men sail radio-controlled boats will hold a small child for longer than you expect.
The newest thing is the wheeled sports park, a 180,000 pound concrete build with manual pads, flat bars, ledges, jump boxes and quarterpipes. Bury opened it in March 2024 and designed it with local skaters and the Friends of Clarence Park to suit a range of ages and abilities. There is also a parkrun here on Saturday mornings, so expect the paths to be busy early.
What it costs: Free. Bury Council publish no admission charge and no parking charge. The car park is at the Lido end, off Milner Avenue. The skate park is free to use and the Green Cafe is inside the park.
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