The Millennium Centre (St. Helens) Ltd

The Millennium Centre sits in the heart of St. Helens, though if you're based over in Skelmersdale at The Secret Garden Glamping, it's an easy enough drive to pop over and have a look. Built at the turn of the century, it's a proper statement piece of post-industrial regeneration - the sort of place where a town decided to shake off its old identity and build something gleaming and new.

What you get is a modern civic hub with exhibition spaces, performance venues, and a good café. It's worth a couple of hours if you're in the area, particularly if there's something on. The architecture itself is the real draw - all clean lines and that early-2000s optimism about public spaces. Kids won't be bored if there's an exhibition running, but this isn't a playground kind of afternoon.

The centre functions as both cultural venue and local meeting point, so you'll see real life happening alongside tourists having a poke about. That's its charm, honestly. It's not trying to be something it's not.

If you're staying at the glamping site nearby, bundle it in with a walk around St. Helens town centre itself - there's proper industrial heritage lurking about if you know where to look. Check their website for what's on before you visit, though, as the offering changes seasonally.