![\"Burrs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_MEN-reporter-Liv-Clarke-enjoys-a-day-out-in-Bury-visiting-the-market-trying-Black-Pudding-going.jp.jpeg\")
Burrs Country Park, Bury (Image: Liv Clarke)<\/p>\nIt’s a beautiful place for a walk this summerBurrs Country Park, Bury (Image: Liv Clarke)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s exactly the experience I had during a visit to Burrs Country Park in Bury<\/a>. A 25 minute walk from the town centre took me to a landscape of intriguing waterways, woodland paths and green meadows.<\/a><\/p>\n Occupying 36 hectares along the River Irwell, in the summer months it\u2019s full of lush greenery and with a network of paths weaving through it there\u2019s lots to explore.<\/p>\n Today Burrs Country Park may look rural and picturesque, but like many of Greater Manchester\u2019s parks that was not always the case.<\/p>\n For the best ideas on days out, shopping and parenting issues, get the Manchester Family newsletter here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The park was previously the site of a complex of cotton mills and was once a bustling location for industrial activity.<\/p>\n As the mills closed down the site became derelict. But in 1986 Bury Council acquired the land and transformed it into a country park.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Looking out from its vantage point you can see other industrial features including the water wheel pit and mill pond.<\/p>\n Head deeper in the park and you\u2019ll see the huge Burrs Mill chimney towering above the landscape.<\/p>\n The park contains several waterways including a feeder canal for Elton Reservoir, a duck pond (complete with handy feeder dispensing food for \u00a31) and of course the River Irwell.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I then followed a path through the trees, which led me to The Lampost Cafe, nestled in the heart of the park.<\/p>\n The cafe has its own ice cream parlour serving a range of flavours and even has dog-friendly ice cream.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Burrs-Country-Park-Bury.jpg\")
The park is the perfect place for a walk this summer (Image: MEN Staff)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754979016_150_0_MEN-reporter-Liv-Clarke-enjoys-a-day-out-in-Bury-visiting-the-market-trying-Black-Pudding-going.jp.jpeg\")
The River Irwell (Image: Liv Clarke)<\/p>\n![\"Enjoy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754979017_490_0_MEN-reporter-Liv-Clarke-enjoys-a-day-out-in-Bury-visiting-the-market-trying-Black-Pudding-going.jp.jpeg\")
Enjoy an ice cream at the lampost cafe(Image: Liv Clarke)<\/p>\n