Day Trips from Manchester

 In Brief. The Bridgemere Show Gardens  bring together a collection of gardens that have been developed for, and that have often won prizes at, garden shows, such as the Chelsea Flower Show . In total there are 15 diverse and compact gardens located around several lawns.  The gardens are designed to be at their best at different times of year, so not all of them will be in top form at a single visit, but in June many were colourful, and the variety is refreshing. This is all attached to the largest garden centre I have ever seen, so if you have a garden project in mind, there are plenty opportunities to go home with more than you brought. The cottage garden. What's Here? My first surprise on arriving was the scale of the carpark; think theme park more than country house or garden. It quickly became clear that most people do not visit for the Show Gardens, and that the intimidatingly large garden centre (or perhaps the other shops, the cafe or the restaurant) is the main d...

In Brief. The World of Wedgwood is a visitor centre located with the main Wedgwood pottery factory. Wedgwood has been making up-market pottery in (or now close to) Stoke-on-Trent since 1759. The factory is now in a suburban location, and has well developed visitor facilities. Factory tours can be booked in advance, there is a modern museum with a comprehensive collection of Wedgwood products covering the whole history of the company, and there is an impressive tea room, reassuringly devoid of disposable cups. Josiah Wedgwood What's Here. There are several different attractions on site that could seem like the focal point of a visit. Having booked the factory tour, my assumption was that it would be the high point, but it seems that for many the tea room is the main draw. The factory tour involves meandering through various spaces where different types of pottery are being worked on, from cups and teapots to pots and ornaments. This factory is in marked contrast to the scale and im...