The event starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday September 13.

Hundreds of attractions and properties in the North West are taking part. For more details visit the official Heritage Open Days website.

Highlights include:

Barrow

Furness Abbey – Impressive remains of a Cistercian monastery.
Barrow Town Hall
Dalton Castle, Dalton-in-Furness – 14th century tower.

Birkenhead

Birkenhead Park – Grade I listed public space.
Birkenhead Priory – The oldest standing building in Merseyside.
Oxton Village
Port Sunlight Museum

Blackburn

Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington – Tudor-style Edwardian house in 9 acres of parkland. Home of Europe’s largest public collection of Tiffany Glass.

Blackpool

Blackpool Tower – Guided tour of the aquarium, circus, and ballroom.
Funny Girls – Opened as the biggest Odeon cinema outside London. Now one of Blackpool’s premier entertainment venues.
Marton Mere Local Nature Reserve – Nature reserve on the outskirts of Blackpool.
Stanley Park
Grand Theatre Blackpool – 1100-seat theatre designed by Frank Matcham in 1894.
Winter Gardens
Lytham Hall, Lytham St Annes – Grade I 18th century manor house in 80 acres of mature parkland.
The White Church, Lytham St Annes – Fairhaven United Reform Church.

Bolton

Bolton Steam Museum – Houses 25 steam engines that once drove the cotton mills of Northern England.
Hall i’th’ Wood – Tudor wooden-framed house.
Smithills Hall – Manor house.

Burnley

Burnley Football Club – Tour of Turf Moor, home of Burnley FC.
Oak Mount Hill Engine House – Cotton mill engine house dating from 1887 with recently restored steam engine.
Queen Street Mill Textile Museum
Rourke’s Forge – Watch blacksmiths at work.
Towneley Hall – Historic house, art gallery and museums, natural history centre, woodland walks and nature trails.
Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham

Bury

Bury Transport Museum
Fusiliers’ Museum – Tour of the new museum
East Lancashire Railway – Tour behind the scenes at the East Lancashire Railway, including a ride from Bolton Street station to Ramsbottom.
Peel Tower – Climb to the top of Bury’s famous landmark, built in 1852 in tribute to Bury-born Sir Robert Peel.

Carlisle

Carlisle Castle

Lake District

Beatrix Potter Gallery, Hawkshead – Home to original watercolours and sketches of Beatrix Potter.
Hill Top, Hawkshead – 17th century farmhouse where Beatrix Potter wrote many of her stories.
Townend, Windermere – 17th century stone and slate house.

Chester & Cheshire

Bear & Billet – One of the oldest pubs in Chester.
Chester Racecourse
Grosvenor Museum
Grosvenor Park
Little Moreton Hall, Congleton – Cheshire’s most iconic black and white house.
Beeston Castle, Tarporley – Former Royal Castle perched high on a rocky sandstone crag.

Kendal

Sizergh Castle

Lancaster

Lune Aqueduct – Canal cruise from Lancaster city centre to the Lune Aqueduct.

Liverpool

Britannia Adelphi
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral – Roman catholic cathedral.
Liverpool Town Hall
St George’s Hall – Grade I listed building opposite Lime Street station.
The Bluecoat – The oldest building in Liverpool city centre.

Macclesfield

Silk Museum
Quarry Bank Mill, Wilmslow – Former cotton mill.

Manchester

Manchester Town Hall
Monastery – Restored monastery in Gorton.
Victoria Baths

Morecambe

Morecambe Town Hall
Morecambe Winter Gardens

Oldham

Saddleworth Museum & Art Gallery

Penrith

Acorn Bank Garden & Watermill – Tours of the herb garden and Acorn Bank house.
Penrith & Eden Museum – Local history museum and Tourist Information Centre.

Preston

Museum of Lancashire – Museum in Preston’s Old Court House.
Samlesbury Hall – Historic house dating back to 1325.

Rochdale

Greater Manchester Fire Museum – Official museum of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
Healey Dell Nature Reserve – Guided walk.
Hollingworth Lake
Rochdale Pioneers Museum – The world’s first successfully operated co-operative store. Now a museum with restored historic shop.
Three Owls Bird Sanctuary – Wild bird hospital.
Touchstones – Arts and heritage centre with museum, art gallery, local studies library, tourist information, shop and café.

St Helens

Dream – Spectacular sculpture designed by world-renowned artist Jaume Plensa.
World of Glass – Explores the history of St Helens and its glass making heritage.

Stockport

Bramall Hall – One of Cheshire’s grandest black and white timber-framed Tudor manor houses.
Hat Works – The only museum in the UK dedicated to the hatting industry.
Lyme Park – Mansion house, gardens, and ancient deer park.
Staircase House
Stockport Air Raid Shelters – Underground labyrinth of tunnels built for shelter during World War II.

Warrington

Norton Priory, Runcorn – 38 acre site with excavated remains of the Augustinian Priory and woodland gardens.

Wigan

Trencherfield Mill – Restored steam engine.

Last week the council terminated the lease of Angela David and Lidstone, claiming they had not paid any rent since early 2008.

Councillor Tony Williams said, ‘Mr & Mrs Lidstone owe the Council a large sum of money which has been growing. But the reality is that the outstanding money is owed to every single person in Blackpool who pays Council Tax. As a Council we really have bent over backwards to offer every assistance to the Stanley Park tenants but reluctantly, despite numerous meetings, we now have no option but to take this action.’