Dog and Wildlife Friendly Bonfire Night

Lunt Meadows is hosting a Dog and Wildlife Friendly Bonfire Night on Thursday 5 November, starting at 17:30. The main event is a bonfire, but there are no fireworks, so it's a quieter way to mark the night if you're not one for the bangs and flashes. The cafe stays open all evening, so you can grab a drink and a bite to eat while you hang around the fire.

It's a good shout if you've got a dog that hates fireworks, or if you're just not keen on them yourself. Most bonfire nights are a bit of a stress for pets, but this one is designed to be dog-friendly, and the wildlife-friendly side of things means it's a bit more considerate of the birds and animals around the site. You can bring your dog along and still get the bonfire experience without the noise that usually sends them hiding under the sofa.

Lunt Meadows itself is worth a mention if you haven't spent much time there. It's tucked along the River Alt in North Merseyside, and it wasn't always a nature reserve — it used to be intensively farmed arable land. It only became a wildlife destination after the Environment Agency bought it to develop as a flood storage reservoir and nature reserve. Beyond the wildlife, it's also a bit of an archaeological site, home to one of only a few surviving Mesolithic settlements, so there's a lot of history underfoot.

It's a straightforward evening: a bonfire, no fireworks, and the cafe open for as long as you want to stay. Tickets start from £1, and it kicks off at 17:30 on Thursday 5 November at Lunt Meadows, near Maghull, Liverpool L29 8YA.