Bury Playgrounds and Parks for Children

The Bury playgrounds most families head for are Burrs Country Park, with a playground at the gates, a free car park and the Lamppost Cafe; Clarence Park in Walmersley, the borough’s largest town park, with a lido and a skate park; Nuttall Park in Ramsbottom; and, over the Prestwich boundary, Heaton Park. Every entry was checked against Bury Council’s or Manchester City Council’s own pages on 26 October 2026.

We have not reviewed these playgrounds and nothing here is a rating. Each entry sets out what the council publishes about the park: the play area, the other facilities, whether there is a car park, a cafe or toilets, and any recent rebuild. Where the council did not say, we have not guessed.

62 play areas, and which have been rebuilt. Bury Council says the borough has 62 play areas, 24 ball zones and 11 outdoor gyms, and its outdoor play areas page lists every one by town. In March 2024 it reported £300,000 spent on six play areas over the previous year, including Nuttall Park, Ramsbottom Pool, Bolton Road Park and Philips Park, and a further £280,000 planned for seven more: Hamilton Road Park, Victoria Park in Besses, Bright Street in Radcliffe, Old Kay’s Park in Tottington, Top Park on Bolton Road West in Ramsbottom, Elms Playing Fields and Ostrich Lane. The council has not published a notice saying all seven are finished. In Prestwich, St Mary’s Park, Kersal Road and Fairways are next, with £270,000 from the Government’s Playground Fund; the residents’ survey closed on 9 August and no start date has been given.

Bury town

Burrs Country Park

The council’s Burrs page describes 36 hectares on the River Irwell a mile north-west of the town centre, with a playground, picnic tables and a free car park. In 2023 to 2024 the council added a £30,000 trim trail. The Lamppost Cafe is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, by the council’s listing, and The Brown Cow pub is next to it. The council’s page lists no public toilets. The East Lancashire Railway stops at Burrs, and the Irwell Sculpture Trail runs through. Green Flag since 2005. Woodhill Road (bottom end), Bury, BL8 1DA.

Clarence Park, Walmersley

Opened in 1888 and, at 20 hectares, the council calls it the largest urban community park in the borough. The park page lists a children’s play area, a skate park, two tennis courts, a bandstand and the Clarence Lido, a lake with model boats and anglers, and the outdoor play list adds an outdoor gym and a multi-ball zone. The Green Cafe and Community Centre is in the park. The council says the park is “fairly level throughout” and accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs. Parking is at the lido, off Milner Avenue; the park entrance is on Walmersley Road. Clarence parkrun uses it on Saturday mornings.

Whitehead Park, Elton

A park of about 7.8 hectares including the King George V playing fields, opened by Prince Albert Victor in 1888. The council page lists a children’s play area and youth zone, a multi-play ball zone, two tennis courts and a croquet and boules lawn kept by Bury Croquet Club, with an outdoor gym in the play list. Car parks are at the Lonsdale Street and Newbold Street entrances, and the council says the paths are level and suit wheelchairs and pushchairs. Ainsworth Road, Bury, just over a mile from the town centre. Green Flag since 2005.

Openshaw Park, Pimhole

Another of the four parks opened on the same day in 1888, about 5 hectares on Rochdale Road. The council page lists a children’s play area, two multi-play ball zones (one floodlit), two floodlit tennis courts, crown green bowling and a Bury Bike Library, and describes the park as level with paths suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. The council does not list a car park. Green Flag since 2005.

Manchester Road Park, Redvales

A 2.88-hectare park half a mile from the town centre, first opened in 1890. The council page lists a children’s play area, a multi-play ball zone, two tennis courts and two bowling greens, with the Welly Cafe and Community Hub in the park, and the play list adds an outdoor gym. Level paths, accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs. No car park is listed. Manchester Road, Bury.

Ramsbottom and Summerseat

Nuttall Park

The 10.7-hectare park on Nuttall Hall Road, opened in 1928, about 600 metres on foot from Ramsbottom centre. Its play area was one of the six the council refurbished in 2023 to 2024, at £90,000, the largest of that round. The park page also lists an outdoor gym, two tennis courts, two bowling greens, an orienteering course, a running route and the National Cycle Route through the park, and says the paths are level in most places and suit wheelchairs and pushchairs. The car park is at the Nuttall Hall Road entrance. Green Flag since 2005.

Ramsbottom Baths play area

The play area by Ramsbottom Pool and Fitness Centre on Porritt Way, refurbished by the council in 2023 to 2024 for £40,000 under the name Ramsbottom Pool. The council’s play list puts a tennis court, football and a running route here too. The leisure centre has a free car park, which makes this the easiest Ramsbottom play area to pair with a swim; our things to do guide has the pool prices.

Summerseat play area

A new play area that the council opened in March 2024 after more than £145,000 was raised, most of it from FCC Recycling UK and Suez. Children at Summerseat Methodist School helped shape the design, which the council describes as rustic and mostly wooden, with a climbing frame, a toddler swing, a basket swing, a dish roundabout, a ground-level trampoline, an aerial runway and a trim trail. The Summerseat Collective and the community company Proffitts ran the fundraising and the consultation. The council’s release does not mention parking or toilets.

Tottington

Private Peachment VC Town Meadow Park

A 1.9-hectare park off Market Street in the middle of Tottington, named after Private George Peachment VC; the picture at the top of this page shows its play area. The council page lists a children’s play area and ball shoot, two tennis courts, a football pitch, a bowling green and a memorial garden, and says the park is level and suits wheelchairs and pushchairs. The car park and the multi-ball zone are at the Laurel Street entrance, and the Kirklees Trail is close by for a longer walk. Green Flag since 2005.

Radcliffe

Close Park

The former grounds of the Bealey family’s Close House, about 11 hectares on Dumers Lane, a mile from Radcliffe centre. The council page lists a children’s play area, a multi-play ball zone, a children’s football pitch, an outdoor gym, three tennis courts, a sensory garden and the Terry Nortley mile, a one-mile jogging track around the park. A heritage trail runs to the medieval Radcliffe Tower. The car park is at the main entrance on Dumers Lane, and the council calls the park level and accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs. Green Flag since 2004.

Outwood Country Park

More than 125 acres of woodland, meadow and playing fields on the River Irwell, two minutes’ drive from Radcliffe centre. The council page lists a children’s playground, basketball, cricket and five-a-side courts and free car parking, plus the old Ringley Road railway platform, a weir and the Urban Cycling Centre, which runs cycling lessons. National Cycle Route 6 passes through. James Street North, Radcliffe, M26 1AG.

Whitefield and Prestwich

Hamilton Road Park, Whitefield

A small 1.3-hectare park four minutes’ walk from Whitefield centre, on the 2024 list for a £40,000 play area upgrade. The council page lists a children’s play area (the toddler area on the play list), three tennis courts and an outdoor gym, and says there is a ramp from the Bury New Road entrance for wheelchairs and pushchairs. The council says it has received its first Green Flag Award. Bury New Road, Whitefield, M45 8QN.

St Mary’s Park, Prestwich

The playing field side of St Mary’s Park, on St Mary’s Road in the centre of Prestwich. It is the only park page in the borough where the council lists toilets and says the children’s play area is dog-free. The park page also lists a youth play area, a multi-play ball zone, an outdoor gym, four tennis courts and two bowling greens, with a car park at the St Mary’s Road entrance. Across Bury New Road, the flower park leads into Prestwich Clough. It is one of the three Prestwich play areas in line for Playground Fund money.

Philips Park and Prestwich Forest

Bury’s largest local nature reserve, a former deer park, with a play area that the council refurbished in 2023 to 2024 for £50,000. The council’s nature reserve leaflet starts its walks from the play area and gives the main entrance as Park Lane, Whitefield, with limited parking inside. The play list adds accessible walks and a mountain bike trail.

Heaton Park

Run by Manchester City Council, not Bury, but on the Prestwich boundary and the biggest park most Bury families use. Its Lakeside Adventure woodland playground, by the boating lake and cafe in the south of the park, opened in July 2019 after a £500,000 investment, as reported at the time, with treetop forts, slides, dens, in-ground trampolines and wheelchair access; there is a second play area in the north of the park. The park opens 8am to dusk; parking is charged 10am to 5pm every day, from £1.50 for an hour to £3.50 for over three hours, with Blue Badge holders free. The animal centre is free. Heaton Hall and the tramway are not open; our things to do guide has the detail and the council’s park pages carry the latest.

How we chose

These are the parks with play areas that Bury families search for and that publish details we could check: the borough’s Green Flag parks with play areas, the two country parks, the play areas the council has rebuilt since 2023, and Heaton Park because so many people in Prestwich and Whitefield use it. The facts come from Bury Council’s park pages and press releases, Manchester City Council, and the report linked in each entry. To report broken equipment, use the link on the council’s outdoor play areas page. Run a park cafe, a Friends group, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@theburypost.co.uk.

For more ideas, see things to do in Bury, October half term in Bury, what’s on in Bury this month, our guides to Bury cafes, restaurants, pubs and Sunday roasts, or browse local businesses in Bury in our directory.

Frequently asked questions

Which Bury park has a playground and a free car park?

Burrs Country Park on Woodhill Road, BL8 1DA, which Bury Council lists with a playground, picnic tables and a free car park, and Outwood Country Park in Radcliffe, M26 1AG, which the council lists with a children’s playground and free parking. Nuttall Park, Close Park, Clarence Park, Whitehead Park, Hoyles Park, Town Meadow Park and St Mary’s Park all have their own car parks too; the council does not say whether those charge.

Which Bury park has public toilets by the playground?

Of the council’s own park pages, only St Mary’s Park in Prestwich lists toilets, alongside a dog-free children’s play area and a youth play area. Burrs, Clarence Park and Manchester Road Park have cafes in the park, but the council does not list public toilets there.

Are dogs allowed in Bury playgrounds?

St Mary’s Park in Prestwich is the one park page where Bury Council says the children’s play area is dog-free. Elsewhere, check the signs at the gate. All of the borough’s formal play areas have been smoke-free since 2012.