It’s a beautiful place for a walk this summer
Burrs Country Park, Bury (Image: Liv Clarke)
Greater Manchester has no shortage of parks and gardens, each one offering an escape from our busy daily lives and providing a chance to reconnect with nature.
That’s exactly the experience I had during a visit to Burrs Country Park in Bury. A 25 minute walk from the town centre took me to a landscape of intriguing waterways, woodland paths and green meadows.
Occupying 36 hectares along the River Irwell, in the summer months it’s full of lush greenery and with a network of paths weaving through it there’s lots to explore.
Today Burrs Country Park may look rural and picturesque, but like many of Greater Manchester’s parks that was not always the case.
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The park was previously the site of a complex of cotton mills and was once a bustling location for industrial activity.
The park is the perfect place for a walk this summer (Image: MEN Staff)
As the mills closed down the site became derelict. But in 1986 Bury Council acquired the land and transformed it into a country park.
Walking around the park you can still see evidence of its former life. As I entered the park from the south I walked over the former mill floor of the Higher Woodhill Mill, now dotted with flower beds.
Looking out from its vantage point you can see other industrial features including the water wheel pit and mill pond.
Head deeper in the park and you’ll see the huge Burrs Mill chimney towering above the landscape.
The River Irwell (Image: Liv Clarke)
The park contains several waterways including a feeder canal for Elton Reservoir, a duck pond (complete with handy feeder dispensing food for £1) and of course the River Irwell.
I crossed the river via a footbridge which offered incredible views of the river below and of the railway bridge which traverses the park – time your visit right and you may even see an East Lancashire Railway steam train passing over.
I then followed a path through the trees, which led me to The Lampost Cafe, nestled in the heart of the park.
The cafe has its own ice cream parlour serving a range of flavours and even has dog-friendly ice cream.
Enjoy an ice cream at the lampost cafe(Image: Liv Clarke)
Sitting down with my ice cream and looking around at my surroundings, it really did feel like I was in the middle of the countryside, not in Greater Manchester.
Burrs Country Park is the sort of place you can still for as long or as short as you want. Even a short visit like mine will leave you feeling reconnected with nature.
But if you want an afternoon out with the family this summer, it’s big enough to explore for a few hours, especially if you bring a picnic along too.
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