Ulverston, Cumbria
Ford Park is Ulverston's community park, run by a local charity, and it does a lot for a free park: an inclusive playground that opened in 2022, wide fields for running about, a Woodland Animal Trail along the zig-zag path, an orchard with a picnic bench and a walled kitchen garden with a plant nursery.
It sits just below Hoad Hill, so the obvious add-on is the climb to the Sir John Barrow Monument above the town. Parking is by donation, and that money keeps the park going.
The events calendar is a good reason to come back. Apple Day on 3 October and Meet Santa on 5 and 6 December are both on the 2026 list.
What it costs: Free entry. The car park is paid by donation, in the boxes on the car park or through the park's website.
Ford Park's free community Apple Day: apple pressing, an Apple Day bake off, children's crafts, traditional games, plant and apple sales and a makers' market.
The walled garden is lit up for the evening: a sleigh for photos, an elves' workshop to make a tree decoration and write a list, a reindeer trail and Santa in his grotto with a gift for each child. A charity-run alternative to the big-attraction grottos.
Looking for more days out in Ulverston?
★★★★★ 4.6 across 759 Google reviews.
Read all 759 reviews on Google - filter by star rating there
Not an open farm but a booked session with a herd of 40 to 60 alpacas and llamas in Bardsea, on the coast just south of Ulverston. Walk one round the grounds, or just hand-feed the herd as it crowds round you.
Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston, and the town's museum now fills the old Roxy cinema with memorabilia and the films themselves on the big screen. Cheap, dry, and funnier for children than you might expect.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.