This medium size park in the centre of Royton is quite good. The playground has recently been…read moreupdated and is OK but not the best. The tennis/basketball courts, football area, and park in general is nice and plenty of room for riding bikes, hanging with friends, jogging and just for having s little walk. A place of my child hood which includes an ice cream van in the pm with volcano ice cream! Overall not a bad park

I'd prefer to keep this place to myself but seeing as I'm trying to share some pretty cool places…read moreI'll only tell all my Yelp friends about how nice this place is - we can keep it to ourselves and those who are smart enough to use our app regularly! Basically this place is super cool, situated in lovely woods just through from Cheadle Hulme with an entrance very close to Life Leisure swimming pools - a perfect place to spend a lovely summer day - maybe with friends, maybe with family, maybe with a special someone - or maybe all together at the same time. There's a carpark which was £1 for 2 hours and from here you can walk up to their gardens and park area which are rather secluded but still have plenty of opportunity to sunbathe - in fact there were loads of groups of people when we visited enjoying picnics, ball games and good times - very very chilled atmosphere! There's also a full free BMX track if that floats your boat, a kiddie play ground and a cafe and ice cream huts. Overall a lovely place to spend a nice day - now it's time to zoom off and look at those weather forecasts!

Bruntwood Park provides recreational and sporting facilities to all. it also offers a play area of…read moreexcellence to the Borough of Stockport and to many visitors from the North West region. There are a variety of facilities available in the Park. An eighteen-hole par 3 pitch and putt course utilises existing contours and is in harmony with the existing mature trees. A fully accessible child's playground occupies a central position providing adventure and fun for children with all the equipment carefully chosen and landscaped. Refreshments are offered at a refreshment kiosk and the original Victorian conservatory has been converted into a restaurant catering for Park users wishing to relax in pleasant surroundings. A great day out for all tastes and interests.

Thank heavens for Head Over Heels! Finally a children's play area that doesn't stink of smelly…read morefeet! I have been coming here for years with children and it is a well organised, well designed soft play area for birth to 10 years old. The infants' section is small but integrated with the larger children's area and toddlers race around on the equipment without a care in the world. The bigger play area is a large fairy tale castle like structure with three levels of fun and a great ball pit where the rugrats can have a ball shower. What sets Head Over Heels apart from other indoor play areas is that parents can watch children from the sidelines on soft leather couches as opposed to on harsh plastic chairs that other places seem to favour. The restaurant is lovely if not a little expensive and they do panninis, pizzas, an all day breakfast , and a nice cappucino and cake which you can indulge in as the older children zoom down the red astro slide. Head over Heels is just a nice, clean and well air-conditioned place for kids and adults alike and £5 is a small price to pay for peace whilst your little ones are occupied for an hour and a half. My children have held several parties here and the staff have been amazing. For £11 per child, the party group have 60 minutes play downstairs and then go into a disco room while parents can relax in the restaurant watching their children on tv screens. Then its off to the separate party area where they are served healthy snacks including: fish goujons, cucumber, carrot sticks, grapes, olives and pizza. Each guest takes home a balloon and a party bag and have a good night's sleep afterwards. It is advisable to book a few months in advance if you are interested in having your child's party here though as it gets booked up early. This place is head over heels above any other the kids have been to. Well worth a visit!

This is quite simply the best children's activity centre I've been to. I've been taking kids here…read moreever since it first opened and the standards have remained exceptionally high. The play equipment is well maintained, clean and replaced regularly. It's bright and inviting and the big red slide is great for adults as much as kids. There's comfy sofas for when you're not chasing them round and the facilities are clean, and functional. The sections for younger and older children are clearly defined and the cafe is amazing. The menu has tasty, healthy options, the food's freshly prepared and cooked on the premises. There's no frozen processed deep fat fried nuggets here - it's chicken breast goujons! We've had 3 parties ourselves here and attended numerous others. The staff are warm, welcoming and helpful. It might seem pricy per head, but the food's included and of a higher standard than most places and you don't have to tidy up afterwards. All you have to do is bring party bags and a cake and the kids. It does get ridiculously busy on Saturdays, rainy days, school holidays and the only negative comment is that they seem to have relaxed their maximum capacity rule and it gets a bit too rowdy. I've witnessed some serious head on collisions with far too many kids running round. My suggestion is to go out side of peak times to get the maximum out of the place, a longer stay and less anxiety about a bump and tears at the end of a great day out. And DO try the ginger bread men - they're the best by far

A lovely open plan green park not too far from the hustle and bustle of Rusholme and the university…read moreareas, yet nonetheless surprisingly quiet and peaceful. Birchfields Park was acquired by the City Council in 1887 for £9,930 from local landowner Sir William Anson! Isnt that interesting! Cheers manchester Citty Council. I like talking about the history of park that I review, but in this case there is literally diddlie squat to say about it. Its got a boring history. The most notable thing is a huge boulder in the middle of the park, which turns out to weight an amazing 13 tonnes! Meaningless boulder aside, the park is a great place for walks, picnics and football. Its also quite alright for children, unlike some of Manchester's more dodgy green spaces.

*ahem* And now...a haiku:…read more Birchfields Park is big The summer destination Many festivals Thank you, thank you. No need for fan mail. The park has a habit of getting swamped whenever it rains enough, but if you happen to get lucky and have a stretch of good weather, Birchfields is a good place to spend a summer-style day. Barbecues, people playing in the park, little kiddos running all over the place, this is a typical park when the sun comes out. It's fairly large as well so you're bound to find a spot to park yourself. There's often festivals or other events held here, so if you check out the local calendar you'll be able to attend some, convenient if you're living nearby.

I'm a big fan of Cringle Park, it's still relatively untouched which has it's good and bad points…read moreto think about. It's only about a 10 minute walk from Levenhulme train station and is easily accessed from Levenshulme, Heaton Chapel and Burnage so why is it always so quiet??? When the sun is shining and grass is green i've spent many an afternoon lying lazily on giant field that is cringle park. The odd thing is i'm usually one of only about 5 people there.... I've had BBQ's there in 28degrees heat and literally only 4 people have walked past with dogs! So what is the mystery about why Cringle Park is so quiet? After a quick google it seems it's been there a very long time, so that put to rest the idea that it's built upon an old asbestos factory or indian grave. To be fair the the children park usually has a few kids on it and the free tennis courts have seen some use on the sunnier days. ----- SO WHATS THERE TO DO AT CRINGLE PARK I HEAR YOU ASK? ----- There's running tracks with the distance handily measured on coloured posts. There FREE tennis courts There FREE backetball courts Childrens Play area Some carved mushroom hidden in a bit of overgrowth One humongous usally well kept bit of grass surrounded on all sides by beautiful trees! Whats not to love, well there are a few things. You can get groups if brrap brrap teenagers mouthing off from time to time. Nothing malicious but a bit off putting when your trying to perfect your already pretty pathetic tennis serve. Oh yeah and the travellors like to park their funfaire from time to time, which can fun but usually ends in half the field being recked for 6 months.

Cringle Park in the Burnage area is one of the larger and more walkable parks in southern…read moreManchester. Its not far from Ladybarn Park, but its larger and more interesting. Its 14 hectares in size, and includes a multi-sports court (not as impressive as it sounds), a children's playground and a bowling green and bowls pavilion. In addition, there is some grassland, and a large wooded area with trees. Apparently the bowls played here is crown green, which I think means there's a lump in the middle of the green which one has to bowl over. This is really unusual so check it out, though I've never seen the bowlers in action myself! Its also good for normal park activities such as picnics and small-scale ball games.

Unfortunately I've never been able to see Oasis or The Stone Roses perform here…read more However, I've had the pleasure of strolling the grounds of this historic park. It is so big and it has so much! A huge playground, bowling greens, football (soccer) pitches, etc. There's a lake with ducks. You can rent a boat to row on the lake. There are cafes. There's an animal section. Lots and lots of places to picnic. Can't forget Heaton Hall! A wonderful way to spend the day.

A last minute decision on a damp, drizzly winter Sunday, but a good one. Forgot how vast this place…read moreis! Walked down the hill past the hall and round the lake, slowing to admire the signets and stop the dog munching all the food left for the birds! Round the other side of the lake, the woods are incredibly quiet; it's easy to forget you're right on the edge of such a large city and the motorway is about a mile away. This is the highest point in the city and the views are amazing.

A bittersweet experience was had on my first ever visit to Chorlton water park. Driving here is a…read morelittle strange with it being situated in such a densely populated area. You get the feeling your Satnav is taking you to the wrong place. Don't worry it's not. An old reservoir was transformed into a huge lake a while back and that's the park's main feature. A mile radius around the lake acts as a perfect biking/ hiking trail which isn't too strenuous and is littered with relaxing spots with great views. There's an icecream van to cater for all your refreshment needs and does a lot of business on a hot summer's afternoon. It's a perfect venue to have a picnic and for young families (There's a large play area for kids) All in all a lovely green space in a heavily populated urban area. My only beef with the place was the unsafe nature of the car park. Make sure you park in an area that's camera visible. I returned after a pleasent afternoon to find my windscreen cracked quite badly. I hadn't parked under a tree, falling debree was thus out the question so I suspected some sort of foul play. My little trip therefore cost me nearly £150. Perhaps the place is cursed for me, but don't let that put you off.

When I first moved to Chorlton and I heard people talking about this water park I had visions in my…read morehead of chutes and river rapids. Sadly, the water park bears absolutely no resemblance to Stoke-on-Trent's Water World or Florida's Blizzard Beach. Instead it is a large man-made lake with a path around the edge which attracts walkers, joggers and cyclists. The path is well-surfaced and links on to the Mersey Valley trail, which is unsurfaced. However, there is a car park and visitor centre if you don't fancy the trek down from Chorlton or Didsbury. The water park was formed in the 1970s when gravel was dug up from this area to build the M60, and the area was flooded to form the lake. Despite the fact that the water park is surrounded by the M60, the busy Princess Parkway and Chorlton town centre it is a surprisingly peaceful and serene place - so peaceful that it is the place that the hippies flock to for the summer solstice.

A great community park. Our kids (aged 3 and 5) love going there -- the play facilities are really…read moregood. Indeed, they call it Big Slide Park because of one particular climbing-frame/slide construction. We like going there too because the children who play there always seem really helpful -- if our 3-year-old is struggling to get to the top of the Big Slide they will happily help him up there. There are other facilities on site too -- a big enclosed 5-a-side area, and Heywood Playworld -- but we've not used those so can't really comment. Car parking (on Peabody Street) is conveniently close by. All in all -- one of Bolton's friendlier parks.