Mow Cop Castle - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The National Trust's Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire, is an iconic Tudor manor house, moat and manicured knot garden. It is a superb example of a timber-framed moated house with rich ornamental panelling. A National Trust guidebook describes Little Moreton Hall as being "lifted straight from a fairy story, a gingerbread house". The house's top-heavy appearance, "like a stranded Noah's Ark", is due to the Long Gallery that runs the length of the south range's upper floor.

Rode Hall is a fine early 18th century country house set in a Repton landscape. It has been the home of the Wilbraham family since 1669 and the extensive grounds include a woodland garden. The formal garden terraces were designed by Nesfield in 1860. There is a large walled kitchen garden, growing many varieties of fruit, vegetables and flowers; including world record gooseberries.

The National Trust's Biddulph Grange Garden is a landscaped Victorian garden, located near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.These gardens let you follow paths, steps, and tunnels on a global journey from an Egyptian Court to a Chinese landscape based on the Willow pattern, and a Himalayan glen. This Grade I listed garden is one of the most exciting survivals of the great age of Victorian gardening.

Knypersley Reservoir is a canal feeder reservoir near Biddulph in Staffordshire. It is located south-east of Biddulph and named after the local Knypersley area. The reservoir was built in 1827 to supply water to the Caldon Canal, along with two others at Stanley Pool and Rudyard Lake. There are actually two adjacent lakes at the site, the upper one being the Serpentine Pool which feeds the lower Knypersley Pool or reservoir.

Astbury Mere Country Park occupies the site of a former sand quarry, just off Newcastle Road in Congleton, Cheshire. The Country Park and Visitors Centre attracts over 140,000 visitors a year. The 14 acre site includes a 3km all-weather path around the Mere, open space, extensive woodlands and wildflower meadow.

Rudyard Lake is a haven of peace and tranquility, the two-and-a-half-mile-long lake was created more than two centuries ago to supply water for the then-expanding canal system of the West Midlands. The lake is still used for many water activities such as boating, canoeing, fishing and also for walks and recreational steam train trips.