Crosby Beach
A hundred cast-iron men stare out to sea along two miles of sand - Antony Gormley's Another Place, and the strangest, most memorable free afternoon on this coast. Sand, statues, ships from the port gliding past.
Rimrose Valley Country Park
Crosby, Merseyside
Rimrose Valley is a country park stretched out along the strip between the Leeds and Liverpool canal on one side and the Southport to Liverpool railway on the other. Sefton began reclaiming it in 1993 and it has grown into a genuinely large green space, over a hundred hectares of meadow, young woodland, ponds and reedbed running south from Crosby.
Two areas are protected as Sites of Special Local Biological Interest. The better one for a family visit is Brookvale Local Nature Reserve at the western tip, 8.2 hectares of established wetland with raised boardwalks through it, orchids, dragonflies, butterflies, water voles, reed warblers and grasshopper warblers. The other is the extensive reed bed at Fulwood Way.
Sefton's own park finder puts this site in the Crosby group and gives the address as Field Lane in Litherland, which tells you the geography: it is the green lung for the whole of south Sefton and you can enter it from either end. There is no visitor centre and no cafe on the council's pages, so bring what you need.
Know before you go
- Brookvale, at the western tip, is the bit to aim for with children. It is 8.2 hectares of wetland with raised boardwalks over it, which beats a flat field for holding attention.
- Reclamation only started here in 1993, so the woodland is young and there is not much shade. Take hats in July.
- It runs alongside the Leeds and Liverpool canal, which makes a good there-and-back if you want a longer walk without navigation.
Worth knowing: Open water and reedbeds either side of some paths, so keep small children on the surfaced routes.
Seasonal: Orchids and dragonflies at Brookvale in summer. Check before travelling.
Looking for more parks & outdoors near Crosby?
Also in Crosby
Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre
Sefton's watersports centre on Crosby Marine Lake, with pay and play paddle sessions in season and the Gormley iron men on the beach over the road. More of a booked-session place than a turn-up attraction, so plan before you drive.
Crosby Leisure Centre
Two pools a hundred yards from the beach, the smaller one shallow enough for a child who is still learning. On Tuesdays the main pool gets Atlantis Splash, a full length inflatable obstacle course.
Coronation Park
One of Sefton's seven Green Flag parks, in the middle of Crosby, with a play area, tennis courts and a model boating lake. Small, well kept, free, and about as low effort as a Saturday morning gets.
Victoria Park, Waterloo
Waterloo's big multi-use park, with a skate park tucked in the corner by the railway line and sport pitches across the rest. Sefton list play facilities too, but check before you promise a playground.