Day Trips from Manchester

In Brief. Brockholes is a nature reserve, adjacent to the River Ribble and the M6 motorway near Preston. The reserve occupies a site that has previously been quarried, and that has been developed to provide a variety of habitats including reed beds, lakes, woodland areas and a marsh. The centrepiece is a floating visitor centre that hosts a cafe, a welcome building with some information on wildlife and habitats, and some meeting spaces.  Seemingly you can also get married here!  Visitor Village and Meadow Lake What's Here? Having recently visited more than one inland Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reserve (the one at Leighton Moss features in a blog ), some features are beginning to recur that are shared with Brockholes.  These include calm areas of water, paths that navigate trough a variety of habitats, views over the waterways, and hides that the very patient can use to get closer to the local wildlife (not being so patient, I moved on from one promp...

In Brief. Hare Hill is a compact but varied garden run by the National Trust. The centrepiece is a spacious walled garden, with borders and sculptures, but there are a variety of areas with different characters, including ponds and rock gardens. The walled garden. What's Here? Hare Hill was once the garden of the adjacent, late 18th Century, Hare Hill Hall, which is visible from parts of the garden. The garden was redeveloped in the mid 20th Century by Colonel Charles Brocklehurst, who bequeathed the garden to the National Trust.  The walled garden contains statues in memory of the twin brother of Charles Brocklehurst, who was killed at 26 in a riding accident. The borders. The garden itself is a relaxing place; it is not not grand enough to be imposing, and given its modest scale, seems like a place for leisurely meandering.  There are a wide variety of trees, colourful rhododendrons in the spring, and different areas have varying characters - there is an area with ponds and...