GM Ringway Summary

Distance walked on route: 202 miles

Total distance walked: 290 miles

This includes the walks to and from public transport and connections, and we had a few days closer to home where we went on foot rather than use transport.

This is the first time we have done a long distance walk in stages using transport rather than staying in accommodation.  The trams, buses and trains were quite convenient and reliable. Only one train was cancelled, one managed to turn around avoiding the points failure at the next station out and thankfully the car crashed into the bus going the other way not ours. 

Walking in the height of summer was a new experience for us, as usually we hibernate (apparently the word is aestivate) and while it was nice to not have to worry about it getting dark, or too cold and wet, it did mean grass rashes, insect bites and more risk of dehydration.

The walk itself was definitely worth doing. It was fun to walk around our home city, through areas that we know well and to new places, some of which we had no idea were there. Unsurprisingly we preferred the more remote moorland sections but even the urban sections had points of interest.

GM Ringway Day 18

Stages - end of 19 and 20: Sale to St Peter's Square

Distance: 12.5 miles

Warm and clammy, turning hot and sweaty

Yesterday we were at the cricket at Old Trafford and stayed the night at the Premier Inn in Media City. We caught the tram from there to Sale to start the walk. Going through Worthington Park and the Priory Gardens, we crossed a footbridge over the many lanes of the M60 motorway and into Sale Water Park, where again we did not buy any ice-creams. The water park was made in the 1970s from the land excavated when they made the Mersey flood defenses and is now home to many species. We saw some cormorants, grey herons and moorhens, and met a lady who was very curious about what I was carrying in my bag and then expressed her surprise at my (lack of) skincare regime. 

From the park we rejoined the Bridgewater Canal towards the city centre, missing out the bits of the route that go up and back from the tram stop in Stretford. The canal passes by the busy freight terminals, the waterside tranquil with fish and dragonflies, and beside Old Trafford football stadium into Salford Quays and Media City.

We had a sit in the shade next to the Blue Peter garden and then walked on around the dock basins to Ordsall Park where the route wiggles around to take in the sights of the bowling green and exercise equipment. We had a look around Ordsall Hall and gardens, which are lovely - and not actually in the park but a few streets over in the housing estate. Then back along the canal into town.  We walked up the hot pavements on Liverpool Road by the Museum of Science and Industry and around Castlefield to see the Roman walls and through Spinningfields where it was quite nice and shady between the tall buildings. We caught up on some local gossip in Parsonage Park and went around the Medieval Quarter (the cathedral, the pubs in Sinclairs square and Cheethams Music School - where a little boy was living his best life with his feet in the water feature and a juice pouch) before walking back up Deansgate, via St Annes Square, to St Peters Square and the end of the walk.

We caught the tram, braving the busker for a few minutes longer to wait for a quieter tram.

GM Ringway Day 17

Stage 19 part one - Altrincham to Sale

Distance 6 miles

Very warm

The walk from the tram station started with a wiggly walk through back streets and into John Leigh park where there were very contented sounding wood pigeons and plenty of squirrels. The day was warm, so it was pleasantly shady under the trees between the playing fields, and with a bit more wiggling we emerged onto the Bridgewater Canal. The rest of the walk was spent along the canal towpath with the occasional detour up into parks and back to break up the monotony. In Sale we walked through the shopping precinct to Tesco to buy some food before taking the tram to Old Trafford for the Hundred cricket (Originals vs London Spirit  - women lost but men won.)

GM Ringway Day 16

Stage 18 Irlam to Altrincham

Distance 11 miles

We were a little later than usual setting off today but still made it to Manchester and Irlam on the tram and train in decent time. We wiggled our way through streets of terraced housing and allotments to Glazebrook and stopped for lunch on a handy bench on a small green near the outskirts of town. We met a beautiful and friendly cat at the edge of the fields, the first of three friendly cats that we met today - appropriate as it is International Cat Day.

We crossed the fields, with occasional bangs from bird-scarers going off that were putting the pigeons up for seconds, to the road and bridge crossing over the Manchester Ship Canal. This was quite interesting as there are engineering works being done at the moment, there is one lane with traffic lights and no pavement, although there was a narrow gap behind the low traffic barrier that we were able to get along quite easily, with a bit of care needed at either end. Today's walk has some busy road crossings, and even if the bridge was open properly it would still be quite a tricky section.

Away from the road we took the slight detour to see the old church in Warburton, which is a very picturesque village with old cottages and very neat hedges, in very bucolic countryside. We walked around fields of wheat, barley and oats with attractive wildflower borders passing pretty villages and old farms into Dunham Woodhouses (with friendly cat) before crossing a narrow footbridge over a stream and entering Dunham Massey park. The sun came out as we had a sit on a bench in front of the house, next to big trees with parakeets squawking and deer wandering around.

From the park the path goes through the golf course, a pleasant path under the trees, and then through Devisdale and Denzel gardens into Altrincham, where we passed some very posh houses (and met shy, but friendly cat number 3) and many Pilates studios to reach the tram station.

GM Ringway Day 15

 Stage 17 Leigh to Irlam

Distance 10 miles

Windy

Reed warbler (although the app reckoned it was a wood pigeon), linnet, swallows, goat and emu, kestrel, buzzard, shaggy sheep.

Insect bites: 1 each

Yesterday we were at Old Trafford Cricket Ground watching the Hundred games (the Originals both lost to the Southern Brave) and spent last night at a Premier Inn in Salford Quays. After loading up on breakfast, we headed off to catch the V1 bus to Leigh. It rained as we were traveling but stopped just as we arrived in Leigh and the sun came out which made the roads and shed roofs steam.

We left the streets and onto a slightly muddy footpath leading to early wet feet. After a tricky road crossing by a busy roundabout we were on to quiet country lanes and farm tracks towards Little Woolden Moss nature reserve. We had a sit at what used to be a bird hide but was now just a bench and a large information sign annd watched the kestrels and buzzards. After crossing the M62 on a quiet bridge, there was more farmland with horses, goats and a very cute shaggy sheep. We turned off up a footpath that was quite overgrown with nettles, clearly not many people come this way.

A lumpy lane brought is into Irlam through a housing estate to Irlam station heritage trail, where it appears that the station was run by hobbits. We caught the train to Oxford Road and the tram home from St Peters Square.

GM Ringway Day 14

Stage 16 Wigan to Leigh

Distance 10 miles

Mute swans, cetti's warbler, big fish, tiny toad, kestrels, great crested grebes, little grebes, cormorants, common terns, grey heron, roe deer, eqyptian geese, kingfisher

We bought joint tram/train/bus tickets today and took the tram and then train to Wigan, with some busy road crossings before joining the Leeds and Liverpool Canal almost at Wigan pier, which we missed. There was a lot of boat movement on the water today. At Wigan Flashes nature reserve, the canal goes straight between Pearson's Flash and Scotsman Flash, the lakes having been created from old collapsed mines. According to Wikipedia the mines collapsed in about 1902 and the name flash comes from the flash floods that resulted. There are some big lakes but mostly the paths were lined with trees and shrubs with just the occasional clearing giving some views of water. Leaving the nature reserve we followed a path through farmland into woodland near Bryn Hall where there is an enchanted tree trail (although it seems some fairies prefer fence posts) and the Three Sisters race circuit.

We had lunch in Viridian Woods, which has the look of a rewilded landfill site and was surrounded by industrial activity. There were some swallows and housemartens but mostly pigeons. The path leds through grassy meadows dotted with young trees, with duckboards through the wet reedy areas. There was yellow birdsfoot trefoil, queen anne's lace and thistles with many butterflies and moths but mostly flies.

At Pennington Flash we spent a while watching a kingfisher at one of the pools, and then walked through the woodland and meadows to the visitor centre. We walked into Leigh to the bus station and caught the V1 bus into Manchester. The route goes along the guided busway which is interesting, there are about 8 buses an hour and it took about 40 minutes to get to St Peters Square.

GM Ringway Day 13

 Stage 15 Blackrod to Wigan

Distance 10 miles

Cloudy start, warm and sunny later

Pied wagtail, thrush, heron, nuthatch, jay, moorhen, small blue butterfly

We took the tram to Deansgate and caught the train at Castlefield to Blackrod. They run every hour so there was plenty of time to go and buy supplies for lunch. There was a slime incident on the train.

The route leaves directly from the station platform in Blackrod and goes up a stone flagged path through houses to join the road. At the other end of the village, we turn up a farm track and over stiles through small fields, paddocks and grassy pastures. There was a definite smell of farming in the air.

As we walked along the lane at Little Scotland it rained a little but not enough to make the ground muddy, which was good as when we turned off the lane up a farm track, it was being dug up and we had to pick our way through the churned up ground. We walked along a disused railway and through a golf course to reach Apley Woods, which are being taken over by himalayan balsam, with only the bindweed and brambles putting up a bit of resistance.

At Worthington Lakes, the sun came out and we had a sit on a bench to eat our lunch - under the watchful eye of some ducks. We walked around the reservoir and out on to the main road at Standish, crossing the main road and passing some big new town houses up a track into world of horse. Leaving the yard, we joined the canal towpath where the canal was covered in lilypads, with swallows and dragonflies darting about. Some boys were fishing, but not very successfully judging by their expressions.

We made use of the facilities at Haigh Hall country park, which was very popular. The miniature railway is closed while they rebuild the tracks and the bird watching screen area was very quiet, although we did see a robin a bit further on. There were lots of people walking through the woods, at various stages of family days out, some of it was funny but I did feel sorry for the little girl with a bee sting. We left the main track to meander through some quieter paths through the woodland (with lots of warning signs but not much chance of flooding today) and then joined the Douglas Valley Way into Wigan. The path and river were very urban and concrete lined here but there were definitely trolls under the bridges.

We walked through the town centre to the train station just in time to catch the train.