As the nights draw in and the transitory gloom begins to settle lower above Greater Manchester, October offers its usual reprieve: Spooky Season has arrived, and with it a sudden, astonishingly broad selection of pumpkin patches across the region.
From Oldham to Cheshire, here are some of the best gourd-grabbing hotspots around the city this month.
Running from Sat 30 Sep – Sun 29 Oct, the Dunham Pumpkin Patch offers several types of pumpkin – traditional, gourds, knobbly and their popular Ghost Rider variety – from over 30,000 plants. True to its upmarket pastoral charm, visitors can enjoy artisanal woodfired pizza and homebrewed cider after a day of picking pumpkins straight from the vine.
Taking place from Sun 8 Oct – Mon 30 Oct, Lancaster Park’s Halloween on the Farm promises pumpkin picking and carving, a haunted house, stories from the Wicked Witch, animal petting, mini quad bikes, a pirate shootout, pictures with some ominously advertised ‘Giant Spooky Friends’ and, somehow, much more in the Chadderton farm’s festive answer to Alton Towers.
Nestled inside the enormous Reddish Vale Country Park, the serene suburban farm hosts pumpkin picking, an indoor play barn, a haunted tractor ride and more alongside its usual fun farm activities as part of their Halloween Festival, which runs from Sat 7 Oct – Sun 29 Oct.
Featuring farm staff in elaborate costumes, presumably outside harvest season, a children’s fancy dress competition, a ‘spooky sweet hunt’ and ticket prices per pumpkin rather than per person, the Bolton farm’s Pumpkin Picking and Halloween Special events take place from Sat 21 Oct – Tue 31 Oct.
The working family farm in the heart of Dunham Massey opens to the public from Sat 7 Oct – Sun 29 Oct. Brookheys’ patch features thousands of pumpkins including Jack O’ Lanterns, White Polar Bears, mini gourds and more.
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Thu 5 Oct 2023
Nine miles east of the city centre, Cockfields Farm is a seasonal idyll with an extensive array of family-friendly entertainment alongside its pumpkin patch. Running from Mon 9 – Fri 13 Oct, and then again from Mon 16 – Fri 20 Oct the farm offers tractor rides, marshmallow toasting, animal handling and more.