East Lancashire Railway
Real steam trains between Bury, Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall, with themed family days all summer - Peppa Pig, fairytale specials, the lot. The day rover means you can hop off for lunch and catch the next one back.
Whitehead Park
Bury, Greater Manchester
Whitehead Park sits in Elton, just over a mile from Bury town centre, and covers about 7.8 hectares once you count the King George V playing fields attached to it. It was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1888 after Sir Henry Whitehead and Lord Derby put money in, and it has held a Green Flag Award every year since 2005. The council describe it as level throughout with well-maintained footways, which matters if you are pushing a buggy.
For families the useful bit is the spread of kit: a children's play area, a separate youth zone, a multi-play ball zone and two tennis courts, with the football pitches and a croquet and boules lawn round the edges. Two free car parks, at Lonsdale Street and Newbold Street. What it does not have is refreshments, so treat it as an hour of running about instead of a whole morning out.
Know before you go
- There are two age bands of kit here, a play area and a separate youth zone, plus a fenced multi-play ball court. That combination is what makes it work if you have a six year old and an eleven year old in the same car.
- No cafe, no listed toilets. Bring a flask and use the loo before you leave the house, or plan it as a stop on the way somewhere else.
Looking for more parks & outdoors near Bury?
Also in Bury
Burrs Country Park
Riverside country park on the Irwell with a playground, old mill remains and its own East Lancashire Railway station, so a heritage steam train can be part of the day rather than the whole of it.
Bury Transport Museum
A restored 1848 railway goods warehouse filled with buses, trams and hands-on exhibits, two minutes from the East Lancashire Railway's Bolton Street station. Weekend opening, and the natural rainy-day half of a steam train day.
Imagination Bay Adventure Play
Beach-themed play in a converted mill: indoor sand, role play, a craft corner and a dance floor rather than the usual three-storey frame. Timed two-hour sessions and no walk-ins.
Little Luxe Soft Play
A small independent built around inclusive play, with a multi-sensory calming room off the main floor. The one to try if a big noisy centre has gone badly before.
Jungle Mayhem
Radcliffe's jungle-themed centre: a four-lane slide, a ball pool with suction tubes, a sports zone and a disco room. Adults get in for nothing, which is rarer than it should be.