School trip friendly venues across the county include the recently opened £40million 'Islands' attraction at Chester Zoo, the biggest development in the history of zoos. The large and complex build is now home to a number of animals classed as critically endangered in the wild, and takes visitors on an expedition through the recreated South East Asian habitats of Panay, Papua, Bali, Sumatra, Sumba and Sulawesi.
This includes a Monsoon Forest, the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the UK and home to Sumatran orangutans, Sulawesi macaques and a new species for the zoo, the Sunda gharial crocodile.
Another major attraction drawing in crowds is Tatton Park, winner of England's Large Visitor Attraction of the Year for 2014. The site includes award-winning gardens, a 1000 acre deer park, the neo-classical Mansion House and a Tudor Old Hall as a working farm and even a cafe set in the idyllic gardens of the Old Head Gardener's Cottage.
No field trip would be complete though without a visit to the instantly recognisable Jodrell Bank, famous for the Lovell Telescope and its recent links with BBC Stargazing Live as well as its new status as the HQ for the global Square Kilometre Array project, it is certainly top of the teachers' list. And for those with a healthy appetite for the past as well an interest in the future there is the new Lion Saltworks Museum; Britain's newest heritage attraction recently opened after a £10million re-development that offers a fascinating journey through the life of the country's last open-pan salt making site.
The Museum near Northwich in Cheshire is proving a huge visitor success despite being open for just two months with more than 4,000 paying visitors already as well as winning two restoration awards. It has fun, interactive and educational exhibits, including a dramatic sound and film exhibit and a 'subsiding house'. Restored with a generous grant of over £5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Museum is located right next to the Trent & Mersey Canal and is one of the few attractions in the UK with its own canal moorings.
Close by in Northwich you can also learn a great deal about industrial heritage at the site of the world's first boat lift at Anderton Boat Lift. Built in 1875, it is a scheduled monument and connects the Trent & Mersey Canal with the River Weaver 50 feet below. The lift was originally constructed as a commercial boost to the regional salt and pottery industries but is now the centrepiece of a popular visitor attraction, offering public boat trips through the lift aboard the Edwin Clark boat.
To continue the tale of industrial heritage there is the must-see Quarry Bank Mill. The cotton mill was built in 1784 and powered by Europe's most powerful working waterwheel and recently played a starring role in the recent Channel 4 period drama TV series 'The Mill'.
The city of Chester holds the secrets of over 2000 years of history. Chester Cathedral is free for all to enter and is now home to the new visitor attraction - Cathedral at Height - a tower tour with enables visitors to see views one city, two countries and five counties from the top of the cathedral tower. Visitors will climb through 900 years of history, experiencing the interactive bell-ringing chamber, ambling along the ancient galleries and enjoying the panoramic views of the city. Time does not stand still as they have just opened a new falconry attraction wowing visitors in the Cathedral Gardens.
And finally, to celebrate a literary hero outside the classroom a story about the county wouldn't be complete without a nod to the famous Cheshire Cat, as the nation marks 150 years since the publication of Lewis Carroll's children's story, 'Alice in Wonderland'. Cheshire was the birthplace of Lewis Carroll and tourism partners will be celebrating with Mad Hatters tea parties and themed events throughout the year..
