Quarry Bank Mill
A working cotton mill where the looms still clatter and the Apprentice House tells the children's side of the industrial revolution straight. A new Play Hub inside the mill and river walks outside round it off.
Lindow Common and Black Lake
Wilmslow & Styal, Cheshire
Lowland heath is one of the rarer habitats left in Cheshire and Lindow Common is the reason Wilmslow still has some. It is an SSSI and a Local Nature Reserve, and the mix is heather, birch scrub, wet mire and Black Lake in the centre, which is where the town's name comes from by way of the Welsh for black lake. Small piece of trivia, but it lands well with a nine year old.
For a family the appeal is straightforward. There is a proper surfaced path to the water and round the site, so a pushchair works, and Cheshire East describes the route as wheelchair and pushchair accessible. Access is open at all times and free, and there are two parking areas with dog bins, one of them opposite Hickory's Smokehouse on Racecourse Road.
Cheshire East lists paths, parking and dog bins, and that is the whole facility list. No toilets, no kiosk, no swings. What you get is a forty minute loop with something to look at, which is worth an hour of a Wilmslow morning and will not fill one.
What it costs: Free, with access available at all times. Cheshire East does not publish any parking charge for the two parking areas, so the parking price is not listed. No overnight parking.
Know before you go
- Park in the area opposite Hickory's Smokehouse if you want the option of feeding everyone afterwards without moving the car. The surfaced loop is the only pushchair route, because the informal paths criss-crossing the heath turn to bog after rain and will defeat wheels. If you need a play area and toilets in the same trip, combine it with The Carrs on the other side of Wilmslow.
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The Carrs Park
71 acres of riverside parkland on the edge of Wilmslow: play area, tennis courts, outdoor gym, and a flat path along the River Bollin that runs all the way to Quarry Bank at Styal. The best free walk-to-somewhere in this corner of Cheshire.
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