Day Trips from Manchester

In Brief. The Thornbridge Estate , near Bakewell, hosts a vibrant garden and a distinctive hall that is a historic building, family home and events venue in one. Many will visit for the garden, for which the well established view from the house to the lake boasts a thousand shades of green, and there are several other areas with quite different character. The house can only be visited by tour groups, which is understandable given that it is someone's home (we met one of the owners), and blends period and modern features as a result of extensive renovations. The hall from the Koi Lake What's Here? Thornbridge is a privately owned country house, of recent wider significance as the original site of the Thornbridge Brewery , best known for its Jaipur IPA, which can be sampled at the cafe.  The gardens provide considerable variety, including the trees and bushes that lead from the lake up to the house, lawns with views over rolling hills, a herbaceous border, a scented terrace that ...

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. The Yorkshire Wildlife Park is essentially a Zoo in a rural setting. Thus the site is particularly green, like an area of countryside, that happens to contain a variety of fenced-off enclosures. These house a wide range of animals from throughout the world, as diverse as Polar Bears and Tigers. The enclosures are typically substantial, often with different types of terrain, and there is a large wetland area for local wildlife. Lunchtime for the giraffes. What's Here? The Yorkshire Wildlife Park was established in 2009, and thus is a modern take on the traditional zoo.  This translates into enclosures that include fields and/or wooded areas, with little use of concrete and absolutely nothing resembling a cage.  The park is entered through a new area known as The Hive, which includes a modern shopping centre and a hotel. This includes the expected Safari Store with cuddly wildlife and animal themed merchandise, but there are also a variety of clothes, craft and househ...

In Brief. An earlier blog visited the extensively renovated Leeds Waterfront , anchored by the Royal Armouries Museum ,  whereas this reports on a visit to the City Centre, for which the Leeds Art Gallery and Leeds City Museum were the target destinations. I walked up from the waterfront, and overall Leeds City Centre gives a good impression; it is much larger than I had expected, and includes an interesting blend of historic buildings and modern shops, offices and flats. The museum and art gallery provide pleasant modern exhibition spaces, though they aren't huge, and there are many retail opportunities, especially in some grand historic arcades. The Victoria Quarter What's Here? The rather austere frontage of the Leeds City Museum opens into spaces that sympathetically combine the existing historic building with modern galleries and a light, spacious coffee shop. The museum is not on the same scale as, say the World Museum in Liverpool, but contains an interesting history...

 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. Harewood is an imposing country house in West Yorkshire, designed, furnished and landscaped by the best 18th century architects, furniture makers and garden designers that money could buy. The result is impressive, with the carefully balanced house overlooking restrained formal gardens and rolling parkland. Inside, the interiors are grand without becoming too showy, and include sensitively displayed artworks, old and new. All this good taste was funded off the back of sugar plantations in the West Indies, as is reflected on explicitly inside the house and in some artworks. Harewood House from the Terrace. What's Here? Harewood house is surrounded by a variety of landscaped gardens.  Immediately to the rear of the property is the terrace (pictured), which is fine in itself, but perhaps most noteworthy for its wider views over rolling countryside. The terrace cafe provides a civilised location for taking it all in. However, there are also a variety of walks to other parts ...

In Brief. Haddon Hall is an imposing country house that occupies an elevated position overlooking the River Wye near Bakewell. The hall has its origins in the 11th Century, has remained in the same family since the 12th Century, and continues to be a family home. The public areas include one of the courtyards, the original hall, the chapel, a long gallery and the compact but pleasant gardens. Several of these are striking and distinctive, for example with the chapel featuring extensive medieval wall paintings. Haddon hall from the gardens. What's Here? Haddon Hall is a substantial building, built around two courtyards, though one of these is private. However, the lower courtyard gives access to a portion of the 12th century wall as well as the 14th century hall and kitchens. The hall was originally used for most aspects of communal living, and includes a large fireplace, as an early example of a home improvement. The hall featured a log fire during my visit, and provides access to...