Helping Hands

Rixton Claypits Local Nature Reserve

Hollins Green · 4.3 miles

The former clay-extraction site at Rixton, close to the village of Hollins Green in Warrington, has reverted to a mosaic of ponds, scrub, woodland and damp grassland. Work on the boulder-clay began in the 1920s to supply a nearby brickworks and stopped in 1965; since then natural regeneration has created a range of habitats that are now managed as a local amenity by Warrington Borough Council. Two sections covering a total of 15 hectares are designated both as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation, recognised for their calcareous grassland and for supporting the largest breeding population of great crested newts in Cheshire. The reserve, formally created in 1996, offers waymarked paths that guide visitors around the water bodies and grassland, and a small visitor centre provides information about the site’s ecology. Angling is allowed on the lake that lies between the two protected sections, with the Warrington Anglers Association overseeing the activity; the principal fish species are tench, bream and roach, while carp and pike are also present. Access is via the surrounding countryside, and the reserve is under the care of the local council, which maintains the facilities for public use.

Mesnes Park

Earlestown · 4.3 miles

Outdoor green space offering sports facilities, a playground & fitness equipment

Pennington Flash County Park

Aspull Common · 6.2 miles

Pennington Flashes Local Nature Reserve is part of the wider country park. The lake and surrounding marshland are home to a diverse group of mammals, birds and insects.

Sherdley Park

Sutton Leach · 6.8 miles

Spanning 336 acres (136 ha), this urban park lies on the outskirts of Sutton in St Helens, Merseyside, with Sutton Leach noted as the nearest settlement. The grounds were once part of the estate owned by 19th-century coal and copper magnate Michael Hughes, who erected the now-demolished Sherdley Hall. After the Second World War the local authority acquired the land to provide a recreational space for Sutton’s residents. A petting zoo operated on the site from 1965 until its closure in 2017, after which the area was restored to open parkland. Today the park is recognised as the town’s largest green space. It incorporates an 18-hole golf course, a formal garden, expanses of woodland and a lake, all of which support a programme of summer events. Historically the venue hosted the St Helens Show, once described as the largest free show in Europe, and more recently it has become the setting for the Sherdley Festival, a three-day music gathering featuring a range of genres. Facilities for visitors include the usual amenities associated with a municipal park, and the open landscape offers ample opportunity for walking, picnicking and informal sport.

Downall Croft

Downall Green · 8.1 miles

Doorstep Greens (Polygons). The Doorstep Greens initiative provides new or renovated areas of public open space close to people's homes that could be enjoyed permanently by the local community.

Lancashire Mining Museum

Lower Green · 8.7 miles

A former deep-coal mine on the edge of the Bridgewater Canal now operates as a heritage museum, offering insight into the Lancashire Coalfield’s industrial past. Situated on a 15-acre site near the village of Lower Green in Greater Manchester, the attraction is run by the Red Rose Steam Society and is listed under the name Lancashire Mining Museum. Visitors can view the only surviving pit headgear on the Lancashire Coalfield—a wrought-iron lattice structure rising almost 30 metres, built by Head Wrightson of Stockton-on-Tees in 1912—and the adjoining engine house that houses the largest steam winding engine ever used on the coalfield, a 3,300 horse-power twin-tandem compound unit supplied by Yates & Thom of Blackburn. The museum’s collection includes twenty-eight colliery locomotives, described by sources as the most extensive assemblage of its kind in the United Kingdom, and a short restored railway line of roughly 200 metres. As of 2019, one locomotive on this line was operational, with another undergoing essential maintenance before passenger services can resume. The site’s history stretches back to shaft sinking in 1908 by the Pilkington Colliery Company, production from 1912, amalgamation into Manchester Collieries in 1928, modernisation after nationalisation in 1947, and closure in 1970 before its conversion to a public museum. Opening times are published on the museum’s listing, and the venue is classified as a history museum, providing a tangible link to the region’s mining heritage.