Brockholes — Attraction in Preston

Took a trip to Brockholes with my uni and had a very interesting day. Upon arriving i was surprised to find a little slice of tranquility only up the road in Preston as i wasn't even aware it even existed! The floating structures of the buildings that make up the Cafe, Education Centres and gift shops are quite breathtaking and made me think I wouldn't mind a house like that myself haha The conservation work of all the volunteers is so admirable and all there hard work goes to show in the amazing nature reserve they have there. We bird watched for a while and there was an abundance of species from Grey Herons to the usual Coots and Mallards as well as lots of Swans and their babies. We also had a look at how the staff survey the insect species in the reserve with a few methods such as simple ones banging on the trees while holding a net or making up traps in the ground with distilled water and anti-freeze for the insects to fall into and be preserved and collected for observation. We saw a few little creepy crawlies like a beetle and some slugs but what we didn't see that I was quite disappointed about was the wild Deer. According to the staff there is many wild deer roaming the site which is fascinating and I might have to take a trip back to try and see them for myself. Overall it is a very impressive ode to conservation and an...

Nice nature reserve. No dogs allowed which means kids can run wild which is nice. Overly priced cafe as expected so taking picnic is a better idea. Ice cream tubs are terribly priced for the size you get. Activities such as pond dipping are good but wouldn’t waste on money on the explorer walks unless your kids are approx age 7 and above and care about writing down notes, because you could just find the animals or mythical creatures on the posts yourself, while on a walk and point them out to your toddler. Has a good adventure playground although it’s probably aimed at kids 5+ there are no baby swings. Good toilet facilities and parking - parking is card only but not Apple Pay. Walks are partly uphill with gravely paths - buggy was needed for toddler as it was further than expected to do the circular walk. Good place for kids to see bugs etc and burn off energy. Would go again. Would go on a week day again. Would buy tickets in advance for activities as they...

I felt robbed. The cafe was super expensive. We could have gone to a quality restaurant for less. The food was shocking to say the least, the plates are tiny and the food is terrible. Proper overpriced. I wouldnt spend another penny. The server was lovely, however she overcharged and i was refunded for a meal. And even at half the price it was way too much. Really bad , i cant stress enough. The cafe could be great especially with the location which attracted us, but felt duped. The pics actually do it justice :/

On a side note , i did overhear you can take your own food to enjoy there. I reccomend that option!. You can pay around a fiver or more for an ice cream.

I just dont understand where they get their prices from and they could do with a better chef, who washes the salad.

Please bare in mind it would have cost £30 for 2...