A working family farm at Hurleston, just north of Nantwich, that has been making ice cream since 1986 and now churns more than 35 flavours in a converted barn off the cobbled courtyard. The other reason people come is standing in the field by the A51: a giant straw sculpture, rebuilt every few years, currently a 50ft Paddington Bear on a steel frame with hand painted shingles.
Manage expectations and everyone leaves happy. There is no play barn, no animal handling, no admission gate: you buy very good ice cream, eat it in the courtyard, and walk down the field to gawp at the bear. That takes an hour at most, which is precisely why it slots so neatly onto the end of a Nantwich day.
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★★★★★ 4.7 across 5,130 Google reviews.
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A flat, buggy friendly loop round a lake full of ducks and swans, a snack kiosk, a play area along the riverside path, and one of Cheshire's prettiest market towns a few minutes' walk away. All free, parking included.
A real Cold War government bunker in the Cheshire fields south of Nantwich, with most of the kit still in the rooms it was used in. There is a NAAFI canteen, a cinema and a Soviet Spy Mouse Trail. Every ticket is an annual pass.
A small, free, volunteer-run museum in Nantwich's old Victorian library covering salt, shoes and the Civil War. An hour at most, best paired with the riverside, and the half-term craft days are the time to make a special trip.
The teaching zoo at Reaseheath College, with meerkats, otters, lemurs, a porcupine, wallabies and warm indoor reptile and fish rooms. Open to the public only at weekends and in college holidays, which is exactly when you need it, and £7 a child.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.