Wigan, Greater Manchester
Wigan's big woodland estate stacks free and paid neatly: the woods, lawns and playgrounds cost nothing, while the miniature railway, high ropes and crazy golf sit there as optional upgrades.
It is genuinely possible to have a full free afternoon here and spend only the parking fee - or to turn it into a mini adventure park day. Both versions work.
The hall lawn is the picnic, the woodland is the walk, and the paid extras are what stretch it to a full day: the miniature railway, high ropes in the trees, crazy golf and a climbing wall, each a few pounds rather than a wristband. The kitchen courtyard cafes have proper coffee, which parents of early risers rate above every other fact here.
Entry is free and you pay to park, which makes it Wigan's default big day and busy accordingly on fine weekends. Go before ten or after two and the car park behaves; arrive at half eleven with the rest of the borough and it does not.
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Three colliery spoil heaps turned into a proper nature reserve: a lake with swans and kingfishers, 3km of flat pram-friendly paths, a playground and a woodland trail with a xylophone in it. Free parking, free everything.
Wigan's grand Victorian park after a £6.1m restoration: playground, bandstand, waterfall, formal gardens and an ornate iron pavilion with a Frederick's ice cream cafe inside. Free and right on the edge of the town centre.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.