Staffordshire

3 miles from Shugborough Estate

Shugborough Estate in Staffordshire offers a blend of indoor and outdoor experiences including tours of a Georgian mansion, expansive gardens, parkland, and a working model farm. It features accessible facilities, food outlets, family-friendly activities, and dog-friendly grounds across 900 acres of historic and natural landscapes.

3 miles from The Painted Paradise: 18th century landscapes of Shugborough

7 Oct–1 Nov (another 23 days)

An exhibition of recently conserved watercolours explores Thomas Anson’s vision for Shugborough Estate, including paintings of its monuments by Nicholas Dall, Moses Griffith and Edward Jones.

3 miles from Sinai Park House

Sinai Park House is a historic timber-framed Elizabethan manor house with a 13th-century moat, located on a hilltop overlooking the Trent Valley in Staffordshire. Visitors can explore its rich history through private tours by appointment, enjoying accessible facilities and free parking.

Near Little Moreton Hall

Little Moreton Hall is a historic 16th-century half-timbered moated manor house near Congleton, Cheshire. It features well-preserved Tudor architecture, extensive gardens, and a famous Long Gallery. Visitors can explore the restored house interiors, enjoy the gardens, and dine in the on-site restaurant, making it a comprehensive historic and outdoor experience.

Near Wandering Wolves

7–11 Oct, 14–18 Oct…

A free spotter activity at Little Moreton Hall invites visitors to look for the wolf on the Moreton family crest and find wolves hidden around the hall and courtyard.

Near Haddon Hall

Haddon Hall is a historic stately home in Derbyshire featuring centuries of history, art, and craftsmanship with access to magnificent gardens and regularly hosts events and exhibitions. Visitors can explore the grand house interiors, gardens, and enjoy amenities like a restaurant, making it a rich cultural and outdoor experience.

Located in Bakewell

Bakewell is a picturesque market town in Derbyshire within the Peak District National Park, famous for its historic buildings, traditional markets, and the original Bakewell pudding.

2 miles from Alton Towers

Alton Towers Resort in Staffordshire, England, is a historic estate transformed into a major theme park and resort with diverse attractions including thrill rides, a water park, themed accommodation, and family-friendly areas like CBeebies Land. Visitors can experience both indoor and outdoor entertainment, dining options, and special seasonal events.

2 miles from Gib Hill

Gib Hill is a large Neolithic burial mound in Derbyshire, featuring an Early Bronze Age round barrow and forming part of a prehistoric monument complex near Arbor Low henge.

3 miles from Kedleston Hall

Kedleston Hall is an 18th-century English country house in Derbyshire, featuring Palladian architecture and Neoclassical interiors. Visitors can explore its grand state rooms and extensive landscaped gardens with architectural follies. The historic seat of the Curzon family, it is now managed by the National Trust as a cultural and heritage attraction.

3 miles from Tibetan Outdoor Trail

7–11 Oct (another 2 days)

A self-guided outdoor trail through Kedleston Hall’s park and garden, with seven points exploring the spiritual significance of nature in Tibetan culture. Visitors can follow the points in any order and reflect on the natural surroundings.

2 miles from Arley Arboretum and Gardens

Arley Arboretum & Gardens is a private garden on the banks of the River Severn featuring over 300 species of rare and ancient trees, accessible gardens, and seasonal floral displays. Visitors can enjoy outdoor exploration including a rock garden, herbaceous borders, and Italian-style garden, with facilities such as a children's play area, refreshments, and dog-friendly areas.

3 miles from Winster Market House

Winster Market House is a historic 16th century neoclassical building in Derbyshire featuring an assembly hall now serving as a visitor exhibition centre with displays on the mining history of Winster and a scale model of the village.

3 miles from Peak Wildlife Park

Peak Wildlife Park is a large 75-acre zoo in Staffordshire, England, featuring a diverse range of birds, mammals, and reptiles, including polar bears. It focuses on conservation and education and offers a family-friendly outdoor experience with amenities like a café and gift shop.

2 miles from The Old Manor

Norbury Manor is a historic 17th-century manor with an adjoining medieval hall house, known as The Old Manor, located in Norbury, Derbyshire. The site features distinctive medieval architecture, a herb garden, and the Old Manor is open to visitors seasonally.

3 miles from Biddulph Old Hall

Biddulph Old Hall is a historic Elizabethan mansion and medieval hunting lodge with guided tours covering its rich history, gardens, ruins, and former uses as an artist's home and Buddhist retreat. Visitors can explore both the house interior and extensive grounds, enjoying seasonal gardens and refreshments.

3 miles from Don't go into the cellar presents- Confessions of Sweeney Todd

15 Oct (next Thursday)

A one-man performance of the classic penny dreadful tale of Sweeney Todd, featuring an audience with the infamous Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The show is not a musical.

Near Tissington Hall

Tissington Hall is a historic ancestral home dating back to 1609, offering guided tours of the house and gardens including a large family library and extensive parkland. The venue provides accessible facilities, a cafe, and opportunities to see fine panelling and art collections, making it a distinctive heritage experience in Derbyshire's Peak District.

2 miles from Nine Ladies

The Nine Ladies is a Bronze Age stone circle on Stanton Moor in Derbyshire, notable for its prehistoric origin, consisting of ten millstone grit stones arranged in a circle around 10.8 meters in diameter. It serves as a significant archaeological and cultural site, attracting visitors interested in ancient monuments and modern Pagan rituals.

3 miles from Knowles Mill

Knowles Mill is a historic 18th-century water-powered grain mill ruin in Worcestershire, set within the Wyre Forest National Nature Reserve. Visitors can explore the mill ruins, observe remnants of the mill machinery, and enjoy the surrounding woodland and meadow managed by the National Trust.

2 miles from Dudmaston Estate Comer Woods

Comer Woods is a large working woodland within the Dudmaston Estate in Shropshire offering outdoor activities such as walking, running, cycling, and natural play for families. The site is dog-friendly, accessible with powered mobility vehicle hire, and features a takeaway café with seating. It hosts various family-focused events during the summer and has free access with parking charges for non-members.

2 miles from Wellbeing Walks in Comer Woods

11 Oct, 13 Oct…

A volunteer-guided wellbeing walk through Comer Woods, offering gentle exercise and time to enjoy the woodland and chat with other walkers. Participants can visit the café for tea and cake afterwards.

2 miles from Thornbridge Estate Gardens

Thornbridge Hall features 10 acres of varied and themed gardens including Italian, Water, and Sub-tropical gardens, with a public glasshouse and play area, set in the Peak District National Park. It offers refreshments, plant sales, and welcomes dogs, with free access for RHS members on selected days.

3 miles from Ilam Park

Ilam Park is a 158-acre National Trust country park in Staffordshire featuring the historic Ilam Hall, a Gothic Revival style Grade II* listed building now used as a youth hostel, set amid ancient woodland and scenic river walks.

Located in Ashbourne

Ashbourne is a historic market town in Derbyshire, England, known for its cobbled market place, independent shops, and proximity to the Peak District and Dovedale, making it a gateway for outdoor adventures and cultural experiences.

3 miles from Chatsworth House & Gardens

Chatsworth House & Gardens is a historic estate in Derbyshire featuring a remarkable house with significant art collections, extensive gardens with sculptures and water features, a working farmyard and playground for children. The venue offers full wheelchair accessibility including lift access and facilities such as a cafe and shop, providing a diverse visitor experience both indoors and outdoors.

3 miles from Sandbach Crosses

Sandbach Crosses are two elaborately carved 9th-century Anglo-Saxon stone crosses located in the marketplace of Sandbach, Cheshire. They are outdoor historic monuments known for their religious and Celtic carvings, historically and artistically significant as Grade I listed structures and scheduled ancient monuments.

3 miles from Biddulph Grange Garden

Biddulph Grange Garden is a Victorian formal garden featuring themed garden rooms with international plants, a geological gallery, and distinctive areas like the Chinese Garden and Egyptian Court, offering an adventurous outdoor experience for all ages.

3 miles from History of the Chinese Garden at Biddulph Grange

10 Oct, 17 Oct…

A volunteer-led talk in the Chinese Garden explores its history, design, different elements and sources of inspiration.

2 miles from Arbor Low

Arbor Low is a well-preserved Neolithic henge monument in Derbyshire, featuring a large limestone stone circle surrounded by earthworks and a ditch. It offers an outdoor archaeological experience showcasing ancient ceremonial structures and links to nearby barrows in a significant prehistoric landscape.

3 miles from Consall Woods

Consall Woods is a large nature reserve in a steep-sided valley featuring woodland and wetland habitats. Visitors can enjoy varied birdlife along waymarked trails, picnic areas, and scenic views in a peaceful outdoor setting.

3 miles from Cascades Gardens

Cascades Gardens is a natural four-acre garden featuring Japanese-inspired water and rock gardens, a historic limestone quarry, waterfalls, and various quiet seating areas designed for meditation, set in Derbyshire.

3 miles from Dudmaston Hall

Dudmaston Hall in Shropshire offers a historic family home with modern art galleries, expansive gardens featuring outdoor sculptures, traditional parkland, and woodland trails. Visitors can enjoy indoor and outdoor attractions including a tea-room, second-hand bookshops, and family-friendly play areas.

Located in Leek

Leek is a historic market town in Staffordshire known for its Victorian architecture, cultural festivals, scenic parks, and proximity to the Peak District National Park, attracting tourists for its natural and cultural heritage.

3 miles from Aldenham Park

Aldenham Park is a Grade II* Palladian historic house with significant ties to Charles I, featuring guided tours of the main rooms and gardens, and tea served in the saloon. It is a lived-in family home open to visitors by paid tour, offering both indoor and outdoor experiences with some child-friendly aspects.

3 miles from Hawksmoor

Hawksmoor is an ancient woodland in Staffordshire's Churnet valley, known for its birdlife, wildflowers, and archaeological interest, offering visitors a natural outdoor experience with steep, rough paths and limited parking.

2 miles from Lilleshall Abbey

Lilleshall Abbey is a historic ruined Augustinian abbey in Shropshire with substantial 12th and 13th century stone remains set in a large monastic precinct. Visitors can explore the evocative outdoor ruins of the church and domestic buildings, surrounded by a cloister garden. The site is open to the public without charge and managed by English Heritage.

Located in Telford

Telford is a planned new town in Shropshire, England, known for its strong industrial heritage and proximity to the Ironbridge Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features a bustling town centre with shopping, cultural amenities, and extensive parkland, surrounded by historic towns and scenic landscapes.

2 miles from Goldstone Hall Hotel & Gardens

Goldstone Hall Gardens is a mature and intricately designed five-acre garden in North Shropshire, featuring formal and informal plantings, a kitchen garden with diverse herbs, a walled garden, and a Georgian Manor House with restaurant and bedrooms.

2 miles from Carsington Water

Carsington Water is a large reservoir nature reserve featuring diverse wildlife habitats and extensive outdoor activities such as cycling, sailing, and playgrounds, complemented by an accessible visitor shop and facilities. It offers a welcoming environment for families and visitors with disabilities, including wheelchair-accessible trails and play areas.

2 miles from Coombes Valley

Coombes Valley is a woodland nature reserve in Staffordshire ideal for nature lovers and families, offering wildlife viewing, nature trails, a seasonal visitor centre café, and outdoor play areas. Dogs are not permitted except assistance dogs, and some rugged terrain limits full wheelchair access.

2 miles from Rode Hall Gardens

Rode Hall & Gardens offers a historic landscape designed by Humphry Repton featuring formal gardens, woodland walks, a rock garden, and unique plant collections including snowdrops and bluebells, alongside a kitchen garden supplying produce to onsite tearooms and markets.

2 miles from Design Detective

7–11 Oct, 14–18 Oct…

Visitors can use a free spotter guide to explore the wall paintings and protective marks at Little Moreton Hall, learning about Tudor interior design and how conservators care for historic paintings.

3 miles from Twycross Zoo

Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire is a specialist primate zoo home to over 500 animals and 125 species, including all four great apes. It features extensive outdoor exhibits, conservation programs, a children's Gruffalo Discovery Land, and on-site dining.

3 miles from Middleton Lakes

Middleton Lakes is a tranquil nature reserve featuring wetlands, meadows, and woodland, home to diverse birdlife and wildlife. Visitors can enjoy nature trails, wildlife viewing, a play meadow for children, and light refreshments at the Welcome Hub.

Near Dudmaston Hall

Dudmaston Hall is a 17th-century country house and estate in Shropshire featuring historic architecture, extensive gardens, parkland, woodlands, lakes, and a distinguished collection of modern art. Visitors can explore both indoor historic interiors and outdoor landscaped grounds within a traditional English country estate setting.