GM Ringway active travel walking trail completes
The 200mile route calls at all 10 Greater Manchester boroughs and has been plotted to maximise public transport connections.
Ten information boards are being positioned around the trail, showing the entire GM Ringway and individual, localised sections, broken down into 20 interconnected stages, that can be completed in a day.
The route takes in nature reserves such as Pennington Flash, manmade landmarks like the Huddersfield Narrow Canal at Uppermill, Sale Water Park and Smithfields Hall. A guide has been compiled and published online, showing famous attractions and advising on the best public transport modes and routes to reach different waypoints.
These are divided into the South Start Up, which roughly runs along the River Mersey Valley and takes in suburbs such as Chorlton, Sale, and Didsbury, alongside Stockport, the more challenging Exhilarating East and Noble North, heading into the Pennine hills, moors and uplands, the flatter Western Wind-Down, ending at Salford Quays.
Marked by 3,200 specially designed discs, in a first for UK footpaths these include 1,600 roundels featuring a QR code. Walkers simply scan the code to receive information about the trail and surrounding countryside. Prior to its official ‘completion, 5,000 people are thought to have followed at least one section of the route over the course of this summer.
‘Getting the information boards installed is the final stage of the work on this project and marks its completion,’ said GM Ringway Project Lead, Andrew Read. ‘We hope that the panels inform even more people about the trail, which is designed to benefit all of Greater Manchester’s residents and visitors.’
The development has been financed through a Heritage Fund grant of £250,000, with £2,000 from the Ramble Outdoor Worldwide Trust, and £10,000 coming through TfGM’s Stride for Active Lives initiative.
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Image: GM Ringway Walking Route