The Greater Manchester walk with rivers, lakes, woods and gardens perfect for summer

It’s nearly summer and when the weather does behave you can’t beat a going for a good walk, especially when the sun is shining. You don’t have to travel far for a scenic route, either, in fact there are some amazing trails to follow right on our doorstep.

Celebrating the walks we have in Greater Manchester is the GM Ringway, a new route stretching 200 miles which, as its name suggests, loops through all ten boroughs. Now of course you can’t walk all 200 miles in one fell swoop, so it’s handily divided up into four broad sections, each one made up of five one-day stages.

The sections are the Southern Start-Up, the Exhilarating East, the Noble North and the Western Wind-Down. Each of the 20 stages are easily accessible by public transport.

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One walk which particularly beautiful at this time of year is stage 2 of the Southern Start-Up from Sale Waterpark to Didsbury Village. The 6.5 mile long route should take around three and a half hours, but there’s complete flexibility with how to follow it; you can pick and choose which parts you want to walk, or take it at a completely leisurely pace and make a day of it.

The route begins at the Sale Water Park Tram stop, across Jackson’s Bridge and then heads south along the River Mersey until it reaches Chorlton Water Park. You can walk around the small lake at the heart of the park, following the tree-lined path which encriles it.

Keep your eyes peeled along the way for the birds and wildlife which call the water park home. There’s a children’s play area at the park, lots of picnic tables and toilet facilities, so a great stopping point for a picnic. Usually an ice cream van makes an