Looking for some good places to visit central England

[Brogues]

South and west of York and down to Nottingham I think would be our ideal slightly strange square and sticking to very North Wales only due to road links.

To suit a 10/11 year old who loves a bit of glamping and adventure playgrounds. Definitely not a walking or cycling holiday and ambivalent about beaches due to unpredictable weather. Don’t mind the odd town and stately home for variety.

I have a few pins in the map for this area from previous Mumsnet threads that so if I could get a few more great places to visit please 🙏 .

Pins:
Magna (Rotherham) - loved this last year
Zip World/Bounce Below (North Wales)
National Coal Mining Museum (Huddersfield/Wakefield)
Quarry Bank House (Wilmslow) - looking at this one again I’m not sure why I pinned it but I think it got a lot of love on here at the time.

Chatsworth
Bakewell (and its puddings)
National Science and Media Museum in Bradford
Saltaire
Chester and its Cathedral

Agree with Chatsworth & saltire both lovely
Yorkshire sculpture park?
Leeds? Armouries/donkey sanctuary/tropical world
Gulliver's kingdom (several locations)

What about the Ironbridge Gorge museums - admittedly I've not been for a few years but when my dc was that age they were a big hit. Loads of stuff for kids but also interesting for adults. We stayed in a family room at the Ironbridge YHA which was very comfortable

Ooh excellent so far thank you. Disappointed to see Saltaire is life size though haha. Model village made it sound tiny. Some little canal cruises to make up for it though.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park - you can camp overnight
https://www.pontcysyllte-aqueduct.co.uk/
Tatton Park
Personally I think your DD is too young for Saltaire. I say that as someone who did enjoy the Hockney exhibition.

Brimham rocks? Friends children love the place regardless of weather!

I’ve always wanted to go across that aqueduct @EwwSprouts but not sure the rest of the family would be brave enough!

Brimham an easy day trip for us.

We did Yorkshire wildlife last year but can’t get the family excited for the Sculpture park unfortunately.

Ironbridge looks similar to Beamish but maybe smaller? Has anyone been to both?

Blists Hill near Ironbridge is similar to Beamish. Ironbridge the village, Ironbridge Gorge and the Iron Bridge are different, but not far.

Unless you have some sort or mining obsession I would probably not bother with the Coal mining museum.
The sculpture Park is really good, why don't your family fancy it?

Stoke-on-Trent?

5* reviews https://www.wetleymooralpacas.com/

Mixed reviews https://monkey-forest.com/

both 30mins from Alton towers (if that's a plus?)

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is fab. My dc loved it

Bolsover Castle (near Chestetfield)
Museum of Science & Industry (Manchester)
Wildshore Delamere Aqua Park
Cannon Hall Farm has lots of stuff going on including an adventure playground. It's also very close to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. You could easily do 2 or 3 hours in each.
A good one for bad weather is Tropical World in Leeds' Roundhay Park.and there a playground in the park.
There's a Go Ape, an adventure playground, a stately home and farm at Temple Newsam in east Leeds.
Also in Leeds, The Royal Armouries, and just down towards Wakefield at Tingley Mission Out is like a mega adventure playground
Clip N Climb has branches in Halifax, Oldham, Leeds and Ilkley

Ironbridge gorge is a series of linked museums, including Blists' Hill Victorian village, which is a lot like Beamish, a hands-on science museum, and several others. Fabulous countryside, and with easy reach of Cosford Air Force Museum if he's that way inclined, or Ludlow for the castle.
https://www.ironbridge.org.uk/visit/

You can do canoeing/kayaking on the river too.

Quarry Bank is an old mill and the associated estate and buildings. It was the last thing we did before lockdown! The DC were 11 and 8, we enjoyed it.

If your DC likes Beamish he might also like the Black Country Living museum, https://bclm.com/ It's about an hour's drive from Ironbridge
Telford town park is also near Ironbridge and is very popular.There is a shopping centre and some restaurants nearby.