When the Queensway Tunnel was dug beneath the river, the subsequent rubbish pulled from the ground…read morewas dumped and landscaped into what is now Otterspool Prom. Here you can do everything there is to possibly do on a riverside promenade; things such as walk, ride a bike, look at the water and...um...well that's about it. I suppose you could rollerblade if you wanted. If it's a warm day and you don't mind the style your hair will be sculpted into by the blustering gales, you can follow the prom and its interconnecting paths right up to the Pier Head. If you don't fancy that, try and unearth the ruins of the 1984 Garden Festival, which lies hidden by tree trunks and weeds. You don't know how overtly creepy something is until you accidentally stumble across a kid's overgrown swing park. I still have nightmares.

What a spectacular view. Did you ever see such a coastline? Especially when the waves are choppy…read moreand the wind blustery. I absolutely love the promenade; walking along beside the river with the breathtaking view of the Welsh hills in the background is really relaxing, there's lots of cyclists and dog-walkers around and it's a lovely environment on a clear sunny day. The park which was renovated through the 'Pride in our Proms' project is Amazing. It's a mini world of Big Kid heaven... for me anyway I regressed about 10 years and was on the swings, seesaw and monkey bars, and when we'd totally worn ourselves out running around and taking cool scenic pictures of the sunset we went for a well earned pint from the Otterspool pub which is handily a hop skip and a cartwheel across the park. Go fly a kite, see the sights, play on the park and grab a pint!

A little know gem of Warrington with bucket loads of history attached. It's got 2 main areas, open…read moregrass land and the willow marshes. Great dog walking area.

This is a wonderful, natural environment. Excellent for those who like to walk away from all the…read moretraffic and noise, but still be in contact with civilisation. It can be accessed from Farrell Street or Manchester Road (via Peacock Avenue) and has some pathways laid out, suitable for wheelchairs or buggies. Once again, it is often necessary to watch out for bicyclists, but most are very courteous here. The odd kids on stolen and/or illegal motorcycles are not. Contrary to popular knowledge of the law, these are not legal on what used to be called common land and still need a license, tax and insurance - none of which they have. Rant over! Just off the laid paths is a quite large area which is the actual twiggery - water and marshland completely enclosed in shrubbery which is more akin to jungle than parkland. The authorities have had built raised, wooden walkways throughout this area without destroying the natural aspects - it is possible to see all manner of animal and birdlife if one is quiet enough. I have watched heron fishing in the pond near the entrance as well as kingfishers and wagtails. On St George's Day, we usually manage to pick enough dandelions for the next year's dandelion wine - more than two gallons some years.

The Jungle Parc is an absolutely amazing place for kids, and not too bad for adults too. I never…read moreeven knew this place existed until I was searching the net and then came across this place. I would strongly recommend this for age 7 - 10 though smaller ones are able to come along too, height restrictions do apply to certain parts of the adventure courses, so to avoid disappointed I would recommend you go onto their website and check first. This place is all about fun and fitness for the whole family. They have a massive high wire forest adventure course; which is set within the countryside and developed to encourage you to get moving, and trust me by the end you the adventure a good cuppa and sleep is what you'll need, though if it is for the family then keeping the kids active by getting them tired then Jungle Parc is the place to bring them. It is a very safe environment and with all the proper equipment it is very enjoyable. The X-plorer course is for anyone over 1.35m in height and the Adventurer course is for children from 4 years old and with minimum height of 1.05m. The Jungle Parc is situated in Croxteth Country Park which is only 10 minutes from the city centre.

The Jungle Parc which (like Gemma) I also never knew existed until I came across a flyer, is based…read moreat Croxteth Country Park. The site is generally an incredible place for outdoor activities for those looking to burn off more than a bit of energy (adults and children alike). The premises consists of two different courses: X-Plorer course and Adventurer course (for the little ones). Each course is ideally designed with a practical element, almost like an assault course but with the fun involved. There are 40 amazing activities to enjoy as you glide through trees on rope bridges, zip lines and cargo! It definitely sounds exciting as it really is. Adults are just £20 and Juniors £15. Prices include full training and all equipment to make sure you are fully prepared and safe. Not bad at all for an adventourous day in jungle like surroundings.

Victoria park has recently undergone a huge makeover, including a new lake being put in with a…read morefountain, a fountain from the town hall being installed, the gladstone fountain, a new cafe area and restored band stand, a new play park for kids with a water park area and a little ice cream kiosk nearby. There is also the butterfly house which houses not only butterflies, but iguanas, rabbits and guinea pigs! Victoria Park is a great place to spend the day with kids. The new improved facilities mean you can spend the whole day there, even have your lunch in the little cafe which served starbucks coffee and a variety of sandwiches and paninis.

Stadt Moers Park is a bit of an oasis, sandwiched between Whiston and Prescot. It's basically a few…read moreacres of open parkland, much of it left to grow wild. There are footpaths you can take, and a large lake that's quite popular for fishing. It's a nice getaway for half an hour if you live in the area, the only drawback being that it's close to the motorway, so there's a steady hum of traffic in the background. There's a visitors centre open for occasional events, such as a weekly walking group and various educational stuff. There are also yearly events such as Whistonbury, a music-festival-cum-arts-and-craft-fair.

This place is lovely for walks and great views. You can take the kids or your dog and have a really…read moregood walk and feel great. If you only want a brief stop though, you can always park up and just go on the grassy area with your kids or dog, just remember to clean up after either, keeping the area nice and clean! Sadly it's not got any play things for children, but if you take a ball or a kite (if it's windy)etc, then you should be able to have some good old fashioned fun!

Lots of activities for young kids to enjoy, including swings, slides, roundabouts, baby sized…read moreclimbing slopes, and much more

Pickerings Pasture isn't easy to find. Squashed on the edge of an industrial park in Hale, south…read moreLiverpool, it's in a pretty odd location and if you haven't been before, there's a chance you may get lost. But that doesn't detract from its superb view. To the left lies the Runcorn Bridge. On a bright day sun glints off it and the glass panels on the other side of the water. To the right off this grassy stretch is a delightful bird watching spot. Nuts adorn every other tree alongside fat balls, meaning there are many types of birds you won't find in the average garden. The watching spot looks onto a mere, which it has to be said isn't that impressive. You do see the odd heron, mind you. For photographers it's a real challenge to snap the birds before they fly away - besides the cocky robin that is.

Pickerings Pasture is a stretch of small nature reserve on the banks of the Mersey estuary with…read moreviews of the turbid river and the Runcorn bridge glinting faraway in the sun, even at night. It was constructed in the early eighties, when a thick duvet of clay was draped over the pungent industrial detritus that had been accumulating on the site since the 1950s. While this sounds like the beginnings of a zombie film (and believe me nobody would want that more than myself) there's still a sublime stroll to be had around this wildflower grassland. In the far corner of the reserve stands a shoddy bird hide that you should probably avoid. There's always one grubby old man sat here staring out at the wastes beyond. You get the feeling striking up a conversation with him would result in a flash of eyes and an inhuman shriek, followed by him walking from a shallow grave a week later. Yes, I'm just scaremongering. Visit Pickerings Pasture on a sunny afternoon and you can sit on a bench and watch the river go by, wondering just what the hell it is those petrochemical plants across the river are pumping up your nostrils.

Henley Park is a pleasant area providing respite from the hectic pace of activity in the adjacent…read moreWhiston Hospital and the surrounding area. It's made up of a large field - great for kids and families on sunny days - surrounded by trees, shrubbery and a footpath around the perimeter. At the back is a rose garden and rockery that provides lots of hiding places for mischievous youngsters. There are plenty of benches, making it a great place to sit down with a book and relax after a leisurely stroll. The local council puts on regular events there; a noticeboard by the entrance will update you on what's happening.

I love this little park. I was taken there as a kid and roll forward took my own child there. It's…read morea good meeting place and a space to sit and think, a place to go when leaving hospital.l beg of all park uses don't disrespect our little park l look at it today and love watching it being used. Dog people pick up your s%#£, cafe up your game and arseholes go elsewhere. Let the little people enjoy it treasure it or it will be taken off us and made into housing. We have nothing around here apart from this little park let everyone enjoy it. From a Prescot resident.

Not at all impressed by our visit to Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park today. We took our 5 month…read moreold baby but will not be returning. When we paid we were asked if we had brought a padlock - puzzled, I replied no, why? Apparently now you need to bring a padlock if you want to be able to use a locker in the changing rooms. If not, you have to come out of the changing rooms in your sopping wet swimming stuff, juggling baby, to retrieve your things from the lockers in the main foyer. In addition, the keys for the lockers in the foyer do not have any wristbands on, so what you're meant to do with them is beyond us; we were told we could hand them to the lifeguard but seeing as we couldn't find the same lifeguard twice we thought that adding searching for them to get our key when we left wasn't really something we wanted to be doing, so we opted to tie the key onto my partners swim shorts. I asked if there was a safe place we could leave the pram and was told we could leave it in the cleaning cupboard. Grateful that the young lady was trying to be helpful but surely a new facility such as this should have something better than a cleaning cupboard for people to leave prams? In the end we couldn't find the young lady again to ask her to put the pram in the cupboard so we had to leave it in our view in the changing rooms at the side of the pool. Normally we wouldn't be bothered about it being in our view but seeing as they already seem to have had some sort of security issue with the lockers (the only reason we can think of for them asking people to bring their own padlocks), we didn't want to leave it to chance. Prams are expensive. Scallies are the reason we can't have nice things folks! In the changing rooms it took us a little while to figure out where the baby change facilities were. They are inside some changing cubicles but not very obvious (especially if all are being currently used and you can't see inside). It's quite a squeeze inside, especially with pram and two adults. The changing table itself was disgusting, it looked like it hadn't had a good clean since the place opened. The pool itself was good, much improved on the disgusting old Huyton Leisure, but we didn't get much time in there - we got in at 12:10 and at 12:30 we were told it was closing and we had to get out! Nobody at the front desk had informed us of this when we arrived, so all the effort we had gone to to get out with the baby, get all three of us changed and into the pool felt like a massive waste of time. Really not impressed. We were given a refund, but only once we could find the receipt; so make sure you keep your receipt people, you may not be impressed, and at £4 a swim that's not what you would expect!

Probably one of the largest and best nature reserves in Warrington…read more Very good for bird spotting and walking the dogs.