Ashton-under-Lyne & Tameside, Greater Manchester
Portland Basin is Tameside's local history museum, right on the canal at Ashton. It covers the borough's industry, mines, farms and crafts, but the part children remember is the 1920s street, where the sights and sounds of old Tameside are brought back, with a kitchen and parlour to walk into.
Entry is free and it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10 till 4. Under fives get their own play space, the Nuts and Bolts zone, so a toddler and an eight year old can both be kept busy. There are trails and activities for older children, and the Bridge View Cafe is on site when someone needs a sit down.
The towpath outside is the other half of the visit. Walk a few minutes along the water before or after, and bank on the car park being busy in the holidays.
What it costs: Free entry. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, and on bank holidays except Christmas and New Year.
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A council-run indoor adventure centre in Droylsden: Clip 'n Climb walls, a 54 metre crawl-through cave, a high ropes course hung from the ceiling, bouldering and soft play, at leisure-centre prices. Weekends and school holidays only for most of it.
A big family-run farm park on the Ashton and Oldham border: feed the cows, alpacas and goats, hold the rabbits, then lose an hour on the jumping pillow. Card only, and from October most days are ticketed events.
Tameside's fun pool, with a wave machine, a wild water rapids ride, bubble beds and the Red Ripster slide. Only open for fun sessions on Thursday and Friday evenings and at weekends, and they sell out.
Tameside's all-rounder on the Ashton and Stalybridge border: a big sandpit playground, summer water fountains, a boating lake, a miniature train, crazy golf and an aviary. Free to get in, pocket money for the extras.
A 200 acre hilltop above Hyde with views across Manchester to the Welsh mountains on a clear day, and a proper hill for a kite. Very little else, and that is the point.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.