Farmer Ted's Adventure Farm
Built precisely for the under-9s: animal encounters, giant jumping pillows, tractor rides and a big indoor play barn that rescues wet days. Older siblings will tolerate it; little ones adore it.
Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve
Ormskirk, Lancashire
This was a silica sand quarry, and it grew into something better: a set of shallow lakes, woodland and heath half a mile west of Rufford, run by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. Six hides and a viewing platform look over the water, and the bird list through the year is long enough that serious birders show up in the car park with scopes. The Trust says 95 per cent of the paths suit a wheelchair or a pram, and only the shortcut through the pine wood is off limits.
Add a visitor centre with a cafe, a shop, accessible toilets, baby changing and a picnic area, and it becomes a place you can spend a morning in. The car park is open around the clock but costs £4, which pays for the reserve's upkeep, and the visitor centre and cafe run Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Dogs are allowed on a lead.
What it costs: No admission charge. Parking is £4, and three, six and twelve month parking passes are available. The car park is open 24 hours a day.
Know before you go
- The visitor centre and cafe only open Wednesday to Sunday. On Mondays and Tuesdays the toilets in the Field Studies Centre are open 10am to 3pm and that is your lot, so pack accordingly.
- Six hides is more than any child will sit still in. Pick two, make it a mission to spot something in each, and walk the rest.
- Parking is £4 with card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or coins, and there are longer passes if you are going to come back. Free entry does not mean free parking, and that catches people.
- Rufford Old Hall is roughly ten minutes away, which is how you turn a two hour reserve into a full day at the Ormskirk end of West Lancashire.
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