With the cost of living rising everyone is looking for new ways to save money but no one wants this to affect  quality time with the family.

Here are some activities that you can do with your family to spend some quality time and create special memories in East Lancashire.

 

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

The Museum and Art Gallery is located on the corner of Richmond Terrace and Museum Street and entry is free.

The museum is a 10 minute walk from Blackburn bus and railways stations, and it has collections covering fine art, decorative art, Egyptology, coins, manuscripts, natural history, social history, and South Asia. 

It also has  great facilities such as a gift shop and children’s activities, and is fully accessible for wheelchairs and has baby changing facilities. It also runs learning sessions that may have added cost.

A range of events  are held every month that can be seen on the museum’s website blackburnmuseum.org.uk.

 

Clough Head Visitor Centre and Country Park/Nature Rescue

Clough Head Centre and Country Park is in Grane Road, Haslingden, and is a great place to get information about the industrial heritage and natural sites in the area.

Admission is free and the centre provides car parking, toilets and a dog friendly café, with trails that explore the surrounding moorland, reservoirs, and quarries.

The centre is open Monday to Sunday from 8am to 5pm.

 

Ribble Valley Sculpture trail, Brungerley Park, Citheroe

The Sculpture trail can be found in Brungerley Park, in Waddington Road, and has a free cultural activity that encourages people to enjoy the park and explore the outdoors.

The trail contains sculptures created by selected artists who worked with local community groups to build a body of work for visitors to enjoy.

The aim of the trial was to make art accessible to all as it travels through the park, Cross Hill Quarry, and a local nature reserve managed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

The Ribble River also adds to the experience as it has a range of wildlife such as kingfishers, otters, bats and many more birds and animals, even sometimes including salmon.

 

Forest Of Bowland, Citheroe

The Forest of Bowland has picnic spots, colouring sheets, events, and agricultural shows and is great for all ages.

It has good facilities such as parking, toilets, playgrounds, and amongst the various villages you can find tearooms and village greens to feed the ducks.

Some of the villages you can visit include Barley, Dunsop Bridge, Scorton and the forest has pushchair and family-friendly walks.

The Forest is also located around Cobble Hey Farms & Gardens and some sculpture and nature trails.

For more information visit https://www.forestofbowland.com

 

Barrowford Memorial Park, Pendle Hill

The Memorial Park is in Barrowford and has multiple free family events.

It houses a nine-hole putting green, bowling green, a War Memorial that commemorates both WW1 and WW2 soldiers, and two spacious children’s playgrounds that cater different age groups.

There is also the Pendle Heritage Centre that has a tourist information centre and Pendle’s Art Gallery and café.

Many of the footpaths are wheelchair friendly and there are disabled toilets and disabled car parking bays available at the Heritage Centre.

 

Whitaker Museum, Rawtenstall

The Whitaker is a Museum and Art Gallery in Haslingden Road, Rawtenstall, with free entry but special exhibitions or events are not.

It has a number of art exhibitions covering a range of styles and subjects, along a range of activities for all the family. 

Alongside this it has a bar, kitchen and shop, and is open Wednesday through Sundays from 10am to 4pm.

The museum is open later on Thursdays when it  closes at 8pm.