Partridge Lakes, tucked into the countryside at Culcheth near Warrington, is getting itself summer-ready with the sort of upgrades that make families start eyeing up picnic blankets and sensible shoes. The big headline is a new fleet of colourful pedalos, including bird, dragon and unicorn-themed options, which is wonderfully daft in the best possible way.
Are they truly “exotic”? Well, that word is doing a bit of heavy lifting, unless Culcheth has quietly become the Riviera with better roundabouts. Still, a unicorn pedalo on a lake is exactly the kind of wholesome nonsense summer outings were made for.
The new additions follow Partridge Lakes’ Springland event, which brought a fairytale-style start to the season. Now the venue is pushing on with the Partridge Park Walk, a lakeside trail through the natural surroundings, complete with points of interest and diversions including giant games of Connect 4 and Kerplunk. Quite frankly, if you can resist an oversized Kerplunk, you may need to have a stern word with yourself.
Importantly, the route is wheelchair and pram friendly, which is not just a nice detail but a properly useful one. Too many outdoor attractions treat accessibility like an afterthought, so credit where it is due.
Visitors can also make use of the sandy beach, benches and picnic benches dotted around the route. There is the already popular Partridge Lakes Café, a bar serving alcohol, a new lakeside outdoor seating area and extra refreshment outlets placed throughout the site, though these will be open on selected days. Translation: lovely if they are open, mildly annoying if you have promised the children a treat and misjudged the timing.
The café is dog-friendly inside and out, with treats available to buy, along with food for feeding the fish and ducks. This is the kind of detail that makes the place feel more local and less like a corporate day-out machine, which is always welcome.
Partridge Lakes will also host the Cheshire Wellness Festival on Sunday, June 28, billed as bigger, more beautiful and more transformative than before, with a day focused on pausing, resetting and reconnecting. Whether you arrive zen or simply desperate for five minutes without someone asking where their shoes are, the lakeside setting should do some of the heavy lifting.
Owners Barbara Ikin and Callum Morgan said they have enjoyed a strong start to the year and that the lakes are looking “absolutely stunning” in the spring sunshine. They added that they are looking forward to a fantastic summer, with new attractions and facilities for 2026 including the Partridge Park trail, extra refreshment outlets, the Partridge Lakes Café and the new pedalo fleet available for hire over the summer months.
The pedalos will be available for hire on selected weekend dates during spring and summer. Availability and ticket details are listed at https://partridgelakesevents.co.uk/.
All in all, it is a solid win for Culcheth: more family-friendly outdoor space, more reasons for people to visit, and just enough theatrical pedalo energy to stop things feeling too worthy. The only mild grumble is the usual one, selected dates and selected openings mean planning matters. But as local attractions go, this one is looking rather pleased with itself, and annoyingly, it has earned the right.