Pumpkin Picking at Smithills Open Farm

Three separate Halloween events run here, and knowing which is which saves confusion at the ticket page. The pumpkin patch is the first of them, open on the weekend of 17 and 18 October and then every day from 24 October through to Halloween. It sits in 70 acres of rolling countryside a few miles north of Bolton, is described as suitable for all ages, and is accessible with prams.

The second is the Halloween Special, which runs alongside the patch from 24 to 31 October and is included with farm admission: a spooky sweet hunt, Halloween decorations around the farm and a children's costume competition. Staff are in costume throughout. The third is Halloween Fright Night on Halloween itself, a separate evening event for children over 6, taking in haunted tractor rides, a spooky woodland walk, Zombie Barns, Werewolf Woods and supper.

Pumpkins are charged at £6 each on top of admission, so the ticket gets you onto the farm and into the patch, and the pumpkin is a separate line on the day. Tickets must be booked online rather than bought at the gate.

The farm itself is open all year round, which means the Halloween events sit on top of a working visitor farm rather than replacing it, and families here typically spend three or four hours. It is worth planning around the ages in your party. The daytime patch and the Halloween Special suit everyone, while Fright Night has an age floor and a much later start, with time slots running from half past five in the evening.