Day Trips from Manchester

In Brief. Middleport Pottery is a late 19th century pottery factory on the Trent and Mersey canal in Stoke-on-Trent. Now a visitor attraction, the charity-owned site still hosts a Burleigh Pottery factory, but also serves both as a heritage site with tours of the factory and a collection of art and craft studios.  I took the interesting 90-minute tour,  that featured both the history of the site, built as a state-of-the-art Victorian factory, and the current factory that uses a blend of traditional crafts with some modern equipment. The Kiln Yard, featuring a Bottle Oven. What's Here? Located next to the canal, for the efficient importing of coal and clay, and the smooth exporting of finished pottery, the Middleport Pottery was designed as a best-in-breed pottery in its day.  Now most of the original buildings remain, largely preserved and restored during the 2010s, and different parts of the site have been put to different purposes. This includes the return of pottery ...

In Brief. In February, the gardens at Rode Hall are opened for a Snowdrop Walk. This is exactly what it says on the tin. A path through the gardens leads to an artificial lake (Rode Pool), and various paths meander through a wooded area, with copious snowdrops covering the ground. Combined with a substantial cake from the cafe, this provides some simple pleasures to maintain morale while waiting for Spring. Rode Hall What's Here? Rode Hall is a Georgian country house on grounds that have been in the same family since the 17th century. The house is open to visitors on certain days from April to September, so access does not coincide with the snowdrops. On my visit in a weekday in February, the snowdrop walk was popular with retirees, sometimes with grandchildren in tow. Overall, this is a genteel destination, with visitors sauntering along the paths, and indeed a visit characterised by brisk walking would be over rather quickly.  Stew Pond Now, snowdrops can't be said to be spec...