Liverpudlians take great pride in the green spaces of their city, and Sefton Park is always bustling with groups of friends enjoying the sun, children playing tennis, or families taking a Sunday stroll. Of all the parks in Liverpool, Sefton is arguably the best known and most loved of them all.

“Park” seems too humble a term for everything Tatton Park is and does. Occupying over 1,000 acres of land in Cheshire, the estate could more appropriately be called a pleasure garden, much h like the outdoor spaces used for entertainment that were popular in the 18^th century, Tatton offers a range of diversions across its vast grounds. It also showcases the blend of rural geographies that once caught the attention of author Elizabeth Gaskell, who grew up in nearby Knutsford. In her 1866 novel, Wives and Daughters, Gaskell describes Tatton (re-named Cumnor Towers for the purposes of fiction), as seen through the eyes of young Molly Gibson: “the melting away of exquisite cultivation into the wilderness had an inexplicable charm.”

Lyme Park is a grand country house, gardens and estate close to Stockport – and something of a National Trust beauty. The Grade I-listed house dates back (in parts) to the 16th century, the formal gardens offer a pleasant meander, while the sprawling grounds include a 15-acre deer park and an odd tower-on-the-hill (called the Cage; it was once a hunting lodge but has also served as a prison). We recommend the courtyard cafe and, if you have kids, the excellent Crow Wood adventure playground. Two cafes and two shops round out the offer.

It was no small feat for Stanley Park to be voted in the best park in the UK in 2017 by the Fields in Trust Awards. But going on to win the award again 2 years later sealed Stanley Park’s place at the top of the nations favourite parks. And it is a well-deserved title – with attractions from lakes, to cricket grounds, to an art deco café the park has much to recommend it. No wonder 2 million people visit each year!

Set apart from the Manchester suburb of Sale’s more obvious distractions is a garden whose very unexpectedness is part of its charm. Known locally as The Secret Garden, Walkden Gardens echoes its counterparts in children’s novels: happened upon for the first time, it can feel at once too extensive and too unreal to be hidden by nondescript suburban streets. Fittingly, the gardens are a gift. Harry Walkden, a noted hybridist of golden rod and orchids, left them as a bequest to Sale Borough Council, with the stipulation that they be put to use for the public good. The current – entirely voluntary – Friends of Walkden Gardens and their predecessors have honoured this stipulation in ground and vision.