Manchester Parks and Green Spaces: Where to Get a Sunny Day Treat

Mayfield Park opened in 2022 as the first new city park in Manchester for 100 years. It covers 6.5 acres, with the River Medlock, one of Manchester's founding rivers, brought back to the surface to run through the middle. More than 140 trees and 120,000 shrubs and plants make it a green escape in the heart of the city.

The park keeps heritage features including railway arches, three bridges, Victorian wells and tiles from the old Mayfield Baths. Kids can race down the six slides in the play yard, and wildlife fans can look out for kingfisher posts, bat bricks and bird boxes, with brown trout back in the river. The park is free, has won a Green Flag Award and opens from dawn until dusk, with exact times posted at the gate.

Cathedral Gardens sits in Manchester's Medieval Quarter next to Victoria station, surrounded by Manchester Cathedral, Chetham's School of Music, the Corn Exchange and the National Football Museum. Its lawns and mature trees make it a green oasis in the busy city centre. Designers BDP created it as Manchester's first new public park in 70 years.

The design includes a water rill running between pools, decorated with bronze leaves by Stephen Broadbent that show the changing seasons. Its lawns even have names, including the Cathedral Botanical Lawn, the Podium Lawns and the Pillow Lawns. It is free and open 24 hours, so it is an easy place to sit in the sun between sightseeing stops.

Sackville Gardens, beside Canal Street and the Rochdale Canal, is home to a life-size silicon bronze memorial to Alan Turing, the computer pioneer and wartime codebreaker. The statue shows Turing sitting on a bench holding an apple. Manchester Corporation bought the land in 1900 and laid it out with walks, lawns and flower beds.

The memorial by sculptor Glyn Hughes was unveiled on 23 June 2001, Turing's birthday. The bench carries the words 'Alan Mathison Turing 1912–1954' along with a message written in Enigma code. The gardens are also home to the Beacon of Hope, the UK's only permanent HIV and AIDS memorial, and are free and open from dawn to dusk.

Whitworth Park on Oxford Road opened in 1890, created by the Whitworth Institute in honour of the engineer Sir Joseph Whitworth, who standardised the screw thread. The Whitworth Art Gallery sits within the park, and the University of Manchester owns the land. Manchester City Council has looked after it since 1904 on a 1,000-year lease.

Look out for the bronze statue of Edward VII by John Cassidy and the First World War memorial to the 7th Manchesters. There is an adventure play area and a children's play area, and birdwatchers have spotted goldfinches, greenfinches and ring-necked parakeets here. The park is free and open from dawn to dusk.

Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield opened in 1910 and covers 70 hectares. Its lake with a boathouse was dug by hand in 1908 and 1909. A section of the Nico Ditch, an early medieval earthwork and scheduled monument, runs right through the park.

Wander through the Shakespearean Garden, planted only with plants mentioned in Shakespeare's works, or explore the Community Orchard, the Golden Jubilee Rose Garden and the Labyrinth. For more active days there are play areas, a skatepark, a BMX track, tennis courts and 5-a-side pitches. The park is free and open from dawn to dusk.

Alexandra Park in Whalley Range was designed by Alexander Hennell and opened to the public in 1870. His layout of ovals and curving paths broke away from rigid Victorian geometry, and the park is Grade II listed on the Register of Parks and Gardens. A £5 million restoration in 2013 and 2014 brought its historic features back to life.

Stroll around the fishing lake, admire the 1868 lodge and clock tower by Alfred Darbyshire, and walk the half-mile lime avenue built wide enough for carriages. The park has tennis courts, a football pitch, a cricket square, a play area and free wifi. It has its place in history too, hosting a suffragette demonstration in 1908.

Heaton Park is the biggest park in Manchester, with over 600 acres of parkland, and is Grade II listed on the Register of Parks and Gardens. At its heart stands the Grade I listed Heaton Hall, designed by James Wyatt for Sir Thomas Egerton, in grounds landscaped by William Emes. Manchester Corporation bought the estate in 1902.

Climb to the Temple, a rotunda from around 1800 on high ground with views towards the Pennines, and find the Colonnade by the boating lake, which is the front of Manchester's old Town Hall. The free Animal Centre is home to goats, pigs, donkeys, alpacas and peacocks. There are also bowling greens, a golf course and play areas, and the park opens daily from 8am to dusk.