looking to put some dates on the calender for this summer/autumn. days out for the family (wife & 4yr old).

places ideally in the north

last year we did things like – todmorden county show, poynton show, coniston county fair etc.

cheers!

Walking. Find lots of interesting places – waterfalls, samll hills with scrambles etc. Find places with ice cream or cake shop at the end for motivation. It never ceased to amaze me how far the little ones would walk given time and motivation.
Cycling. See above, with added trailer or tag-along.
Swimming is always a winner.
Find out when a steam train is running on the Settle Carlisle (or similar), or visit North York Moors railway.
Museums – Eureka in Leeds, Science Museum in Manchester etc.

Science Museum in Manchester

yeah this place is great – free too!

Chatsworth Show (I forget its proper name). Good last year.

A ride along the Monsal Trail. I took my 4yo on a tag-a-long (can be hired from Hassop Station on the trail) on Saturday. Flat traffic-free trail with tunnels and beautiful scenery. Hassop Station also has a cafe.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway – look for their gala days, they’re good fun, especially if you like steam trains. One of their stations is the one used as the ststion for Hogwarts.

Eureka in Leeds

Eureka in Leeds Halifax

I strongly recommend Cannon Hall Farm near Barnsley – great for kids of all ages, amazing outdoor play areas and a fantastic cafe serving *REAL* home-cooked food.

Home

big sheep little cow is a lovely place to visit in Bedale excellent food, soft play and a farmyard tour. Well worth the money.

Chester Zoo

air show in lakes
keswick mtn festival

In the same boat as you. Our current favourites are…

http://www.ashton-under-lyne.com/places/portlandbasinmuseum.htm

New family bike trails in Philips Park (home of HTN) opening in June

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/speke-hall/

http://www.bolton.org.uk/mossbank.html

http://www.tattonpark.org.uk/

http://www.heatonpark.org.uk/HeatonPark/

Smithills Open Farm

We went here a couple of weeks ago and it was worth the drive.

http://www.nrm.org.uk/

Going here in a couple of weeks. Again, it is a bit of a trek but it should be worth it.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/

Sunderland Air Show is good if the weather holds

Monsal Trail?

Bike ride a,long a relatively flat old railway line, under bridges, over bridges and tunnels.

air show in lakes

Cancelled

Quarry Bank Mill and Dunham Massey both good (free if NT member)

Good call on Quarry Bank! I forgot to add it to my list. There is a Scarecrow festival on there in a couple of weeks too.

Family Day Rover ticket for the train?
York – railway museum, if that’s your kind of thing, lots of other things to do there as well?

Check the Haworth village website they have weekend events during the summer

Highly recommend Buttefly House near sheffield.
http://www.butterflyhouse.co.uk

Also a Butterfy House in Leeds that has meerkats in it (always a hit).