'It seems Indian summer is welcomed by all - except my springer spaniel'

An Indian summer blazing through Manchester is welcome to all. But not my springer spaniel.

The lad, Reggie, can't handle the heat and flops around the house looking for a cool spot behind closed curtains. An early morning walk before temperatures rise and another as dusk approaches keep him happy in this glorious early September.

He arrived in August last year, via a ferry crossing from a farm in Northern Ireland, aged 12 weeks. He and I have sniffed many corners of Whitefield where I live. His favourite haunt is Springwater Park, which this week was given a new status as an official nature reserve by Bury Council.

Springwater is still green before autumn's spectacular golds, reds, and browns emerge. The sand martins that make nests and bolt holes in the banks of the River Irwell that winds through departed last month, taking a direct flight from Whitefield to Sahel, the zone south of Sahara, where they feed in damp places that offer plentiful supplies of flying insects.

Hurst Wood, and the recently "green flagged" Hamilton Park, are also regular places for Reggie K to stretch his legs, steal balls, and strut his stuff. One location in Whitefield you will not find Reg and I is an estate highlighted by MEN reporter Phoebe Jobling.

It is found via a ginnel opposite the conservation area around the Cenotaph and the magnificent Grade I listed All Saints Church.

Phoebe describes the sought-after estate as looking "just like a posh London neighbourhood." It is hidden just off Ringley Road, which is known as 'millionaire's row' and is the prestigious Georgian-style development named The Square, which has become one of the town's most desirable locations.

Built in 1989 by bespoke developer PJ Livesey, the exclusive estate