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The best family-friendly things to do around Lancashire this summer
We have you covered…
The six week summer holidays are looming, and I can bet good money that for most parents out there, the annual ‘how will I keep the kids occupied for six whole weeks’ anxiety is beginning to kick in.
Well, if you’re based in the North West, fear not!
With Lancashire right on our doorsteps, families will be spoiled for choice with fun, memorable and, most importantly, cost-effective activities to partake in this summer. Here’re some of the best ones…
The Wellbeing Farm / Facebook
The Wellbeing Farm Llama and Donkey Experience
Let’s start with one of the best ones – the Wellbeing Farm offers an incredible opportunity for families to come and interact with their resident llamas and donkeys.
Guests will get the chance to mingle with the animals as well as take them for a forty minute trail walk with the farm’s very own Dr. Dolittle, who will answer all your animal queries.
Tickets for the experience are £35 per person, and children must be aged ten or over.
Book your day out here.
Wellbeing Farm, Plantation Road, Edgworth, Lancashire, BL7 0BY
Samlesbury Hall
Preston’s very own Samlesbury Hall is offering a wide range of activities to keep the children and adults entertained this summer. Guests can take a tour with one of the Hall’s characterful guides, play in the hidden Mayflower playground, or meet the whole menagerie of adorable animals that take residence
on the grounds.
After all that fun, Dottie’s Wafflery will also be on hand for tasty treats and hot tea.
For tickets and more info, click here.
Samlesbury Hall, Preston New Road, Samlesbury, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 0UP
Visit Lancashire
Heritage Tram Tours
There’s nothing quite as iconic as the Blackpool trams – and now, you and the rest of the family can enjoy a unique experience on one of the original Heritage trams.
Travel the length of Blackpool’s famous coastline on one of these lovingly retained and restored
trams, many of which are over eighty years old.
Book tickets, which are priced at an affordable £6 per person, for your tour here.
Rigby Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 5DD
Windmill Animal Farm
This farm will give you and the family an authentic look into life on a working farm, as well as the opportunity to interact with and feed the resident animals.
As well as this, the farm also boasts three marvellous children’s play areas, with an on-site cafe offering hot and cold meals – though guests are also allowed to bring their own food to enjoy a picnic on the grounds.
Adult tickets are £7.95, while children tickets are £8.95 – under 1s go in free.
Visit the website here for more information.
Visit Lancashire
Ribble Valley Bike Trail
The best way to explore the stunning Lancashire countryside is by E-bike – you and the rest of the family can hire a Ribble Valley E-bike from a number of destinations such as The Inn at Whitewell, The Red Pump Inn, The Spread Eagle at Sawley, and Gisburn Forest Hub.
They can even be delivered to a specified location.
Perfect for cyclists of all abilities, these E-bikes will give you the gusto to tackle the hills, fells and forests that make up Lancashire’s iconic landscape.
Visit the website here for hire prices and availability.
Dunsop Bridge, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 3BB
The Honeybee Experience at the Bee Centre
For ninety minutes, you and the family will don real beekeeping suits and learn everything there is to know about the art of beekeeping, honey and pollonation.
The Honeybee Experience will teach you all about the honeybee and beekeeping techniques from an experienced beekeeper, all while being up close and personal with the bees in their hive.
You’ll also see the bees bringing nectar and pollen back to the hive, making honey, building honeycomb and doing their famous ‘waggle dance.’
Click here for bookings and more information.
Brindle Distillery, Holmes Farm, Sandy Lane, Brindle, Chorley, Lancashire, PR6 8LZ
Bowland Wild Boar Park
Bowland Wild Boar Park
From meercats, owls and boars, to chicks, lambs and llamas, there’s a whole array of wonderful animals to meet and interact with, as well as habitats and nature trails to explore.
Families can explore the sixty-two acres by foot or by unique tractor rides – there will also be the opportunity to refuel in the farm’s newly-refurbished café and Ice Cream Parlor.
Click here for more information.
Forest of Bowland, Chipping, Lancashire, PR3 2QT
Mrs Dowsons Visitor Centre & Farm
Another one for the animal lovers – at Mrs. Dowsons Farm, they are passionate about giving their visitors the opportunity to see, touch and engage with their friendly farm animals, explore the countryside and experience a real working farm.
They also make their own award-winning ice cream using fresh milk from their farm dairy, which will be a fantastic treat on a warm day.
Click here for more information.
Hawkshaw Farm, Longsight Road, Clayton Le Dale, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 7JA
Thornton Hall Country Park
Thornton Hall Country Park
At the Thornton Hall Country Park, families can meet with the friendly farm animals and take part in activities such as lamb feeding and rabbit holding. Tractor rides through the fields are also on offer, as is an indoor play area featuring giant slides.
There is also a cafe on site, dishing up delicious burgers and pizzas for the whole family to enjoy.
You can find more details here.
Thornton-in-Craven, Nr Barnoldswick, Lancashire, BD23 3TS
Go Ape Rivington
The UK’s number 1 forest adventure challenge, Go Ape offers award-winning outdoor adventure activities for all the family.
Boasting Tarzan swings, tree-top obstacle courses and giant zip lines, Go Ape is guaranteed to be a fantastic day out.
Children need to be a minimum of ten years old to take part with a height of at least 4ft7″.
Check out their website here for more details.
Go Ape Rivington, Rivington Lane, Rivington, Bolton, Lancashire, BL6 7SB
What's On
Huge ’80s vs ’90s music festival featuring Vengaboys, 911, Five and more coming to Manchester
The ultimate event for pop music nostalgia
All your favourite music acts from the ’80s and ’90s are set to make an epic comeback at a new music festival here in Manchester.
Now, there’s no disputing that the music born from these two decades is perhaps the best and most iconic the world has to offer – so the idea of an entire music festival built upon it sounds a little too good to be true, doesn’t it?
The ‘80s V ’90s Festival will be taking over the Bowlers Exhibition Centre where a number of iconic acts from the (you guessed it) 1980s and 1990s will be going head-to-head to put on the show of your lives.
Bowlers Manchester / Facebook
Nostalgic artists confirmed for the line up include the Vengaboys, Five, Limahal, Chesney Hawkes, 911, Lee Latchford Evans, Andi Peters, Samantha Fox and Gary Davies.
Throughout the event, guests will be able to meet and greet the artists, so make sure you get an old school poster ready to sign for those real ’80s and ’90s vibes.
And this line up isn’t the only blast from the past in store for the event – there will also be a number of vendors in attendance who will be selling retro garms and goods.
@vengaboys / Instagram
Sound good?
Well, luckily for you tickets are on sale now! To buy your own, head here.
The festival will be taking place at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre on Saturday January 29th, 2022 between 2pm – 11pm. All guests must provide valid ID proving they are over the age of eighteen.
What's On
You can now spend the night at a haunted museum sleeping in a bodybag
This experience is not for the faint-hearted…
Calling all horror fans: You can now spend the night sleeping in a bodybag in an actual haunted museum.
Held at the Haunted Museum and Spirit Shop Stoke in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, the popular Ghost Hunters of Stoke team will be giving keen ghost-hunters the opportunity to partake in their very own ghost hunt.
They are offering visitors guided tours, tarot card readings, a seance and spirit board sessions and haunted sleepovers – with the chance to sleep in an actual bodybag, too.
Ghost Hunters of Stoke on Trent / Facebook
The museum boasts ghostly artefacts from all over the world, including a poltergeist mirror containing the spirit of a ‘little girl and a shadow person’ and a replica of the famous Annabelle Doll.
Business owners and long-time ghost hunters Craig Longson and Jason Dean wanted to create somewhere that could put Stoke-on-Trent on the map as a paranormal destination.
Craig told Stoke on Trent Live: “I’ve always wanted to open something like this… We took on the building five weeks ago, and a lot of hard work has gone into turning it into what you see now. We want to give people the wow factor.
“Whether you’re part of an investigations team, or a member of the public, there will always be team members on hand to help. We’ve got the most advanced equipment from all across the world, so we can give everyone the ultimate experience, all under one roof.”
Ghost Hunters of Stoke on Trent / Facebook
Lead investigator Justine Farley also added: “With the space that we’ve got, we’ve got the opportunity to change things up quite regularly, if we want to. As we get new artefacts, we can move things around and add new things. Our team have also got such unique ideas so we can keep things fresh.”
And for any skeptics out there, the ghost hunters themselves claim to have witnessed genuine paranormal activity in the building. Craig said: “Occasionally… It depends what happens. If you’re in a pitch black room and you see something or feel something.”
Justine added: “We’ve all felt that shiver from the top of your head, all the way down to your toes. When we’ve witnessed things like the pram moving on our live video, it made us all go completely cold. It’s a heavy pram, with metal wheels. Witnessing something like that is just amazing.”
You can find out more about The Haunted Museum and Spirit Shop on Facebook, and also keep up to date with the latest investigations from Ghost Hunters of Stoke-on-Trent on Facebook and YouTube.
What's On
The Cube Live Experience is coming to the Arndale if you’re up to the challenge
Know anyone who could take this on?
A live experience version of the hit ITV gameshow The Cube is set to land at Manchester’s Arndale, new plans have revealed today.
First airing back in 2009, The Cube sees contestants complete a variety of physically and mentally challenging tasks from within a 4m × 4m × 4m perspex cube in order to win a top prize of £250,000.
The show has proven to be a huge hit among viewers at home and now, they will get the chance to compete in the famed cube themselves.
Urban Playground
Urban Playground, the entertainment complex nestled within the Arndale, has announced that The Cube Live Experience will be coming to the shopping centre for guests to partake in their very own gameshow.
The Cube Live will feature a whole array of the most popular games and challenges from the original TV series, and will allow teams of up to four to compete as both single and two players.
According to Urban Playground, participants will have to ‘overcome extreme nerves and intense pressure’ to take on the ‘deceptively simple’ tasks.
Urban Playground
The Cube Live will also come with its very own Cube Bar for participants to enjoy a celebratory drink after their challenge (or one to soften the blow of being defeated by a Cube, in some instances.)
While it is known that The Cube Live Experience will definitely be located in the Arndale, further details surrounding the exact location and opening date are yet to be revealed.
But to be the first to hear news and updates on the opening date and ticket sales, register your interest here.
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