Skip to main content

Please wait while we create a summary for this..!

Walking in manchester

Walking is great!  And it’s one of the easiest ways to become more active.

Walking more is quite literally the first step you can take to becoming more active. From moving a bit more at home, walking to the shops or school, joining a walking group in your local park or hiking in the hills, there is something for everyone.

There are an abundance of mental and physical health benefits to walking more, and is also a fantastic way to connect with your friends, family and with your community. Try a walking meeting or swap your cuppa and cake for a stroll with a friend!

Furthermore, walking is not only great for your local environment, by reducing carbon emissions in your local area, but walking can also connect you to nature in your local environment too.

YOUR GUIDE TO WALKING IN MANCHESTER

See the links below for ideas and tips to get you; your families, communities and workplaces walking more. Give it a go and see if it works for you!


'MANCHESTER LET'S WALK!' WORKSHOPS'

The Manchester: Let’s Walk! Workshop is a FREE 2 hour online (Teams) interactive workshop aimed at supporting people (individuals and organisations) to encourage and facilitate more walking in workplaces; communities and amongst families and friends.  The workshop includes:
 
·       Benefits of walking,
·       Barriers to walking and how to address them,
·       What informal walking is and how to promote it,
·       Resources to encourage walking in Manchester,
·       Plus the opportunity to share your ideas and learn from others on the workshop. 
 
Get in touch if you’d like to be added to the waiting list for the next course (please note this is not accredited walk leader training). The workshop is run by MCRactive in collaboration with GM Walking. Visit the GMWalking website here.

If you're interested please contact Laurel Kinrade via email at l.kinrade@mcractive.com.

.

MANCHESTER GREEN TRAIL MAPS

The Manchester Green Trail is a walking circuit made up of 14 routes connecting many of the beautiful green spaces, public parks and tree-lined streets around our city.  The entire trail spans the whole city from Heaton Park in the North to Wythenshawe in the south.

The routes were created to encourage more people to explore the many parks, woodlands and open spaces in their local area and beyond; making them livelier, safer, more sustainable and inviting places to visit. 

An overview of the 14 linked trails is here and each of the routes has its own individual map. 

The routes were developed by Manchester and Salford Ramblers (
view their website here), Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester. Take a look at the TfGM wesbite here.


The 14 routes are displayed below. Click the links to take a look at them:

Walk 1: Chapel Street Park to Clayton Hall Park

Walk 2: Clayton Hall Park to Boggart Hole Clough

Walk 3: Boggart Hole Clough to Heaton Park

Walk 4: Heaton park to Queens Park

Walk 5: Queens Park to Ardwick Green

Walk 6: Ardwick Green to Whitworth Park

Walk 7: Whitworth Park to Alexandra Park

Walk 8: Alexandra Park to Chorlton Bus Station

Walk 9: Chorlton Bus Station to Southern Cemetery

Walk 10: Southern Cemetery to Martinscroft

Walk 11: Martinscroft to Peel Hall Metro

Walk 12: Peel Hall Park to Riverside Park

Walk 13: Riverside Park to Fletcher Moss Park

Walk 14: Fletcher Moss Park to Chapel Street Park


 

TECH TO GET YOU WALKING

Go Jauntly offers walking routes in the Manchester area. Simply download the app and off you go. You can also add your own walking routes too.Take a look at the GoJauntly website yourself here

The Love Exploring app offers walking routes, information and games in many Manchester parks. You can download the App here.

There are many apps to help monitor your walking. Track your walking activity through apps and technology solutions such as Strava, Fitbit or the Active 10 app to record your steps and then aim for a little more each day or week.

The list doesnt stop there, with many different apps available, try searching for an app that suits you.
Finally, don't be afraid to get competitive if that’s your thing! 

IDEAS FOR WALKING - GROWN UPS

Walking is great way to get out and about.  Best of all it can revitalise you; helping you feel brighter!  It can connect you to your community and to others and with nature.

Try to think of what you can do to build a little more walking into your life:

Move a little more – this could be getting up and moving a little more in your home, or garden, walking to the shops, or round the block, getting off the bus a stop earlier or using the stairs rather than the lift.  Everyone has different abilities and fitness level, so find what’s right for you.

Make a change – swap inactive things you do, for walking instead – e.g. walk and talk with a friend, rather than going to their house.  Walk with a family member rather than meeting in a café (or what’s better – walk and then grab that cuppa at the end!); walk that short journey instead of driving (it won’t take as long as you think!). 

Become a walking champion – YOU can encourage others to walk too!  Encourage family, friends, colleagues and neighbours to walk more. Come along to our Manchester: Let’s Walk! workshop for ideas and inspiration.

Try something different on your walks – capture your surroundings on a photography walk; tune into what’s around you on a Mindfullness Walk; Learn about your local area on a history walk; or see what you can spot on a nature walk. Come to our Let’s Walk! workshop for more ideas.

Search here for walks in your local area.  New local walks are starting up all the time, so ask in your local community or on local social media to see if there are any new walks you can join.  Or start your own!

 Click here to see GM Walking’s Daily Mile resources for ideas to encourage more walking.

IDEAS FOR WALKING - WORKPLACES

Having an active workforce has many benefits in the workplace. 

Take time out of your working day to go for a stroll. Just 10 minutes will help you feel more revitalised and able to focus better on your work. Try walking to work, just one mile of walking takes just 20 minutes approx.  Blow the cobwebs away walking home after a day in the office.

Sport England have provided information on the benefits of and active workforce which you can view here.

Working at home? Go for lunchtime stroll, or a walk round the block before or after work.

What you wear can affect how much you move. Give staff (or yourself!) permission to wear flat shoes and more comfortable clothing. It can make all the difference to how much we move. Read more here about GM #activesoles.

Being active can also make us more productive.

Have a walking meeting, rather than sitting in that stuffy meeting room! Connect to colleagues and let the ideas flow!

For more ideas on workplace walking see Sport England’s Active Employee Toolkit or see GM Walking’s Daily Mile Workplaces Toolkit.

IDEAS FOR WALKING - FAMILIES

Walking with your family is a great way to connect, have fun and burn off some of that endless energy that children seem to have!

Try exploring with your family in your local park or green space.  Just get out there and see what you can find, or what you can see.

The Love Exploring app has exciting games and trails for families. Click here to take a look!

GM Walking has resources and ideas to encourage families to walk – including making nature mobiles, journey sticks, mindful mandalas, Leaf creatures and Waterside bingo. Click here to find out more. See also their Daily Mile toolkit to encourage more family walking.

Try to think of any family trips where you can swap the car for going on foot e.g. walking to school or to the shops. Start small (e.g. once a week) and do what you can! Get your children moving more for their health and for the environment!  Check out Sustrans or Living Streets for information on a more active school run. Kids love moving!

Shh.. don’t mention walking!  Some young people and children may not be interested in ‘going for a walk’. Try to think of ways to encourage your young people outdoors and exploring without mentioning walking! 

Ladybird Walking also have some great resources for walks with the family which you can find here.

MANCHESTER RAMBLERS GROUPS
 
The Ramblers - Britain's walking charity working to protect and expand the places people love to walk and promote walking for health and pleasure.
 
There are several Ramblers groups in the Manchester area offering different types of walks, so see what suits you.

Click the links to find out more:

  • Manchester and Salford Ramblers offer shorter weekday, evening and Saturday walks of around 3 - 7 miles in and around Greater Manchester. The group is friendly and always keen to encourage newcomers.  Get in touch for further information or if you want to find out more. 
  • Manchester Coach Rambles organise Sunday walks in the region, accessed by public transport or coach (from the city centre and other pick-up points on route).  Walks are usually around 10 miles.
  • Manchester Weekend Walkers offer weekend and weekday evening walks and socials, as well as weekends away. Their main audience is people in their 40s.
  • Greater Manchester Area Walks make use of public transport to get to the starting point. There are moderate Sunday walks and longer and shorter Wednesday walks.
Many of the Ramblers groups offer more than just walking; there’s often food and drinks at the end and other social events.  They’re a friendly bunch, so give it a go!       
      
All the Ramblers groups encourage public transport usage to access their walks whenever possible.
 
Free trial walks and Ramblers membership:

The Ramblers offer walkers the chance to try up to three walks for free, after which you should become a member to continue to walk with them.  Membership starts from as little as £3.05 per month to join or £2.15 per month for concessions. Membership information can be found hMembership information can be found here or pricing for concessions here.

Joint membership is available and accompanied under 18s can walk for free.  Membership includes a variety of benefits and supports the work of the Ramblers organisation.
 
Volunteer with the Ramblers:
The Ramblers are always looking for volunteers to help assist with walks, help with path maintenance and support campaigns.  Contact one of the groups listed above for further information.


WALKING MUM'S CLUB

Buzz are pleased to announce we have funded Walking Mum’s Club to deliver walks at a number of parks across Manchester. These walks have previously been really well received and are a great way for new parents to meet other parents, talk to and learn from each other in a safe, friendly environment.
 
Sign up to a walk here!
 
Find out more information about Walking Mums Club here

DEMENTIA FRIENDLY WALKS

City of Trees and the Whitworth Art Gallery have teamed up to offer a FREE monthly gentle stroll and chat for those with dementia and their friends, family, carers and support network. 

The morning and afternoon walks are in Whitworth Park on the second Tuesday of every month.

- Afternoon walk at 2pm-3pm

Each walk will have a different nature-theme. 

For more information and to book see here, or contact: Rachel Greaves on 07759 369227 or email rach@cityoftrees.org.uk, and Megan hall on 07759369235 or email megan@cityoftrees.org.uk

Booking essential.

'MADE TO MOVE' and THE BEE NETWORK

Did you know Greater Manchester is delivering the UK’s largest walking and cycling network?  The Bee Network is a plan to revolutionise walking and cycling across Greater Manchester making active travel the number one choice for travelling to work, to school and to the shops. 

“In Greater Manchester we’re connecting up every area and community, making it easy, safe and attractive for people to travel on foot or by bike for everyday trips”.  

The Bee Network was unveiled in 2018 by the Cycling and Walking commissioner Chris Boardman (read more about Chris here), and forms part of his Made to Move plan, with its 15 steps for putting people first to enable active and sustainable travel.

In Manchester, these plans include Beswick Active Neighbourhood; Levenshulme and Burnage Active Neighbourhoods; Northern and Eastern Gateway (Ancoats);  Fallowfield Loop Line with Stockport Branch Canal and Yellow Brick Road; Rochdale Canal (into Manchester); Northern Quarter and Chorlton Busy Beeway.

Find out more and see what’s happening near you on the Transport for Greater Manchester (TFGM) Active Travel pages. Click here to visit TfGM Active Travel website to know more.

Swapping shorter car journeys for walking and cycling, enables everyone to contribute to Manchester’s carbon reduction targets to tackle climate change. Visit the Manchester Climate website here.

MANCHESTER PARKS AND GREEN SPACES

Did you know there are 143 parks in Manchester?

With so many dotted around the city, there is bound to be one near you! Each park provides opportunities to get out in nature, walk, and explore your local area; on your own or with others. 

Manchester’s parks have many facilities including green gyms, sports facilities and cafés for the cuppa after the walk!  Find your local park or green space with the MCRactive's Activity Finder here.

New local walks are starting up all the time, so ask in your local community or look on local social media to see if there are any new walks you can join.  Or start your own!

LOVE EXPLORING

Love Exploring has come to Manchester! 

Love Exploring is an free app you can download to bring a whole new dimension to exploring Manchester’s parks! 

Love Exploring offers augmented reality games and guided tours. It’s aimed at little kids, big kids, explorers and challenging minds. As you walk around the park, you will find large and flying dinosaurs and even have your photo taken with them; discover and learn about the solar system and find out more about your local park.

The app is a perfect way for you to get your steps in whilst keeping the whole family entertained. 

Love Exploring adventures can be found in the following parks - Platt Fields; Wythenshawe; Heaton; Alexandra; Debdale; Fog Lane; Chorlton Park, Whitworth; Philips Park, Boggart Hole Clough, and Hulme Park.

Download the Love exploring app here for free and start exploring. 

IN FOCUS 

'In Focus' is a monthly spotlight where we highlight an individual, club or group and find out a little more about what they do, and how you can get involved. 

Name: City of Trees

  1. WHERE DO YOU WALK IN MANCHESTER
We currently run a series of events mainly at Whitworth Park in Central Manchester.

  1. TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR WALKS 
Our upcoming walk is open to the public and is for all ages. Walks such as these in the past have attracted city tourists, families, keen conservationists and amazing individuals that want to learn more about nature in order to make a difference in their everyday lifestyle. As these are site-based walks, Whitworth Park is regularly ‘passed by’ by commuters, university students and residents. We always aim to walk at a leisurely pace ensuring our participants get the chance to ask any questions about a specific part of the park or just stop and connect to nature, it has been useful to point out and highlight the importance of nature through sound, colour, smell. As this site is a public park, it has all the amenities to make it accessible for all. Access points are quite easily identified, there are pathways leading on to other facilities and we would say this walk would be very easy.

  1. HOW DO YOUR WALKERS BENEFIT FROM THE WALKS
The benefits of connecting to nature is dependant entirely on the individual, through our partnership with the Whitworth Art Gallery on the Natural Cultural Health Service programme. Our wellbeing surveys have highlighted that participants feel a lot better after the events but emotions can vary. Nature for sure has a positive effect on wellbeing, but there is also knowledge exchange, learning, empowering others to do better, sense of belonging and friendship!

  1. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT WALKING
Walking on your own is positively peaceful, but walking as part of a group is even better. You get to meet new people, listen to the colourful memories and learn new things. Walking in itself especially within local greenspaces is incredibly rewarding, you’re getting exercise, sensory fun, fresh air and a great excuse to nip into a local café for a coffee and some cake?

  1. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SHARE ABOUT YOUR WALKS?
Come join us on our walks, we have a brilliant team that are always happy to help or answer any questions regarding any upcoming walks. At City of Trees, we strive to make sure our walkers are happy when they leave and always aim to improve access for participants!

Walk leader: Zainuldeen Muhammad

Contact number: 07759369223

Contact email: zain@cityoftrees.org.uk
 

You can find out more information about City of Trees here, or find out more about the walk here.

GET IN TOUCH

We’d love to hear about your walking plans and to help support and promote them, so do get in touch. 

Please sign up for our Manchester: Let’s Walk! workshop.  We can give advice and point you in the direction of useful resources and may be able to support you with some start-up funding to support your community walking plans.  

Contact Details:

Angela Martin: a.martin@mcractive.com
 
Laurel Kinrade: l.kinrade@mcractive.com  

GM Moving Podcast
 
The GM Moving podcast features episodes from each locality where they share how they've been working, what's worked, what's not and what they've learnt so far. The Manchester podcast, released 15 September 2022 features MCRactive's Angela Martin and Stacy Partridge
 
You can listen to it wherever you normally listen to podcasts or can be found here along with further information.

What is Nordic Walking?
 
Nordic Walking uses poles to enhance your walking experiences incorporating all the major muscle groups, so you get a full body work out.
The benefits of Nordic walking are:

Burn around 20% more calories compared to walking without poles.

- Release tension in your neck and shoulders.
- Improve your posture and gait.
- Strengthen your back and abdominal muscles.
- Reduce the impact on your joints.
 
Nordic walking is accessible for all.  If you can walk unaided, you can Nordic walk. The poles mean that effort is shared between the upper and lower body. Nordic Walking puts less strain on joints than other activities and can be very effective for people with mobility issues or those recovering from illness or injury. It’s also great exercise for toning problem areas such as the upper arms and abdominal muscles.
 
Why should I try Nordic Walking?
 
- If you haven’t exercised for a while or dislike traditional sports or gym activities, then its for you.
- It is helpful if you have had an injury as the poles can support and guide you while you work to improve fitness as part of your rehabilitation.
- It provides community groups with a sociable way to keep fit.
- And it’s fantastic if you’d like to shed a few pounds.
 
 The PARS Nordic Walking Group meet on a Thursday at 9:45am preparing to start the walk at 10am.  They split into three groups low, medium and high intensity to incorporate all abilities and requirements.
 
For more information, please contact physicalactivityteam@mcractive.com

GET INVOLVED AT THESE LOCATIONS

GET INVOLVED AT THESE LOCATIONS