Halloween At Quarry Bank Mill Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS EXPERIENCE WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST/S FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.
Reviewed by Deborah Banasko
“A spooky Halloween spectacle of lights, sounds and creepy ghouls”
I adore visiting National Trust properties, and my children and I have had an annual pass for several years. However we have never attended an evening event at one of their locations before so we were delighted to have the opportunity to attend the opening night of their Halloween experience.
I had a little trepidation as I have a 7-year-old who doesn’t like the dark and a 10-year-old who is terrified of life-like mannequins, so I was living life on the edge a little with this review. That said, they (along with the 14-year-old) do love all things Halloween, enjoy nothing more than scaring one-another and are partial to a good hot chocolate and a toasted marshmallow so we took the chance and went along. Thank goodness that we did; what an amazing night!
We have visited Quarry Bank numerous times as it is such an interesting location, but it felt so different in the dark thinking about the long-gone people whose lives once revolved around the mill. For those who haven’t visited before, Quarry Bank is a mill that was built in 1784 by Samuel Greg but over the years it has doubled in size. It is set amongst beautiful grounds, where (during the day) you can also visit the house which was once a home to the Gregg family, as well as the apprentice house which homed the children of the Mill. Quarry Bank is soaked in history, and well worth a day visit as well where you can watch demonstrations of the original machinery.
The parking at the event is easy and there are staff all around to direct you to, and this is the case along the trail also. Make sure that you add a parking pass to your order, and you are advised to pre-book tickets due to staggered trail start times from 4.30pm.
As you approach the entrance there are welcoming food and drinks kiosks selling anything from hog roast, to Greek street food, alcohol and Churros. We opted for the latter with some hot chocolate. As you’d expect at these sorts of events they are priced a little high, but I was so disappointed to be overcharged by a few pounds. When I realised and pointed this out, they tried to tell me that the prices had just increased that day and the board hadn’t been updated (cue member of staff rubbing out the hot chocolate price). They couldn’t even give me a receipt. So, my top tip would be to check before you pay! As a guide, the churros were priced at £7.70 and the hot chocolate was £6.50.
There are several sections to the trail, and clearly a lot of money and effort has been put into this as it was very professionally done. There were creepy red eyes lurking in the undergrowth, giant skeletons with moving eyes, a spooky cemetery and evil pumpkins. You can venture into the mill and look for bug infested figures. The light effects were fantastic, and there were even two giant skeleton projected onto the mill walls.
The various sound effects really added to the spooky vibe; we particularly liked the scuttling sound of the spiders as this, coupled with the forest of giant webs and skeletal spiders, really unsettled big sister!
There are a couple of actors dotted around and honestly we would have loved even more. There was an actual headless horseman trotting on an actual horse, and in the Mill I had the fright of my life when an actor snook up on us and asked my son why he wasn’t working!
Then to top it all off there was a fire performer just beside the marshmallow toasting pit, which was really unexpected.
Some sections may be a little scary for some younger children as there were darker creepy areas, and some very sinister models, but my 7-year-old was fine as long as he had my hand so I wouldn’t imagine too much of an issue.
Every section of the trail delivers in terms of creating the spooky yet family-friendly scene, and is so well designed and considered. My three kids spent the night gasping, laughing, pointing and just having the best time as a family… and no-one fell out which (as a Mum attending without any other adults) was a joy! With the bonus of two out of three children sleeping on the way home before collapsing into bed after a fun-filled evening.
The Halloween trail is 0.7miles and expected to take one to two hours. I would say that as a family we do take our time, but it still only took us around 1 hour 10 and that included a food stop off. I would have liked it to be a little longer for the price, although you can draw out the evening with a meal or marshmallows
It really is a spectacle for the whole family no matter what your age, and this really has got us into the Halloween spirit as we embraced the cold, dark nights with a warm drink and a (fiendish) smile on our faces. Wrap up warm and enjoy!
We would award Halloween at Quarry Bank Mill 4 stars out of 5. It was truly amazing, so professional and a great night out. I would have just liked it to be a little longer, and I had to deduct half a point for the issue with the food.
Rating overall: 4/5 stars
The Halloween event runs from from 23rd October until 1st November and tickets are priced at £18 for adults and £14 for children, with the option of a family of four pass charged at £60 (further discounts available for larger groups).
You can book tickets directly here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshire-greater-manchester/quarry-bank/halloween-at-quarry-bank