Lovely and surprisingly large park south of Manchester - a great place for an early morning run…read more On Saturdays there is a park run held here. There is a nice pond home to plenty of ducks and those evil geese that chase you in spring.

A great open green space in South Manchester, where you can feed the ducks. Play tennis , cycle ,…read morerelax and walk around the grounds take part in Saturday's park run hosted by Chorlton Runners free to everyone. Platt fields is home to Manchester dress museum , you can have a coffee and a slice of home made cake in the cafe based in platt hall . Watch the men sail their model Boats on Sunday's-whilst enjoying an ice cream. Take your children to the play arras. Bbq on the hill . Platt is home to Bmf boot camp. The annual Mega Mela, summer fair. A Russian Circus in January. Host one of the largest bonfires in south Manchester. There is so much to do here . My self I like to walk the park run a lest three times a week where over the years I have enjoyed all the features of changing seasons. Not for getting my BMF. Children can also use the BMX track which is very popular along with basketball, tennis and football.

Small but perfectly formed suburban mancunian park…read more It's got football fields, tennis courts, a playground, skate park, a dog park section, allotments to the side, path helpfully divided into cycles and pedestrians, bird sculptures made out of tree stumps, Sure start centre, even a river. Somehow there's still plenty of room to just chill on the grass too. I like it.

I only explored the full park by accident as I was killing time whilst waiting for a friend. I was…read morealready aware of the large football pitches and playing fields which are used by people going for a kickabout with friends and local amateur teams, but if you go further into the park there is also a small but pretty rose garden, some tennis courts and a bowling green. Chorlton Park is a great place to go for a walk or a jog, and is the largest public park in the area. It is well-maintained by the local council. It's not usually too busy, except during the annual Chorlton Park Festival. It's nothing special, but it doesn't have to be. We love it just the way it is.

Heaton Moor Park is a great little park nestled amongst the leafy suburbia of Heaton Moor…read more The park itself is laid out in a fashion I can really best describe as a 4-leaf clover shape, with each "leaf" being a different and unique part of the overall park. There's the "clover green", which is basically just a clover-shaped patch of grass; the tennis courts which are, y'know, tennis courts; the crown bowls green and associated hut; and a children's play area. The park itself is maintained by a local group, the "Friends of Heaton Moor Park", in conjunction with Stockport MBC and they've recently added a new "Woodland Walk" near the clover green. It's essentially a little pathway through the trees and shrubbery which sits in that corner of the park, but it's a neat little idea and one I'm sure will go down well with families once it warms up a bit. The Heatons Summer Festival is hosted in the park every year, and Heaton Moor Road is host to a vast array of pubs and restaurants just a few streets over if you fancy a beer or two. A great little patch of greenery you should definitely check out.

What a great place Heaton Moor Park is (don't get confused with Heaton Park or you could end up in…read morea totally different part of Manchester!) Fantastic parky woodland, some botanical gardens on offer, facilities such as a bowling green and loads of room to chill out - get down here for a nice day out if the sun is shining! Very easily reached in the heart of Heaton Moor and about 5 minutes walk from some great bars, restaurants and shops there's a lot on offer around here if you need to nip and pick up a cooling bottle of wine, a few beers or an ice cream to have while walking around the park. Home to the Heatons festival every yeah which is a great celebration of food and drink - it's also probably only about 5 minutes walk from the Heaton Chapel train station which gets you to Piccadilly in 10 minutes!

Undoubtedly my favourite park in Manchester. There is everything: trees, flowerbeds, a little lake,…read moretables to have a picnic, benches. Also, there's usually plenty of events going on, such as markets, cricket matches and other cultural or social activities. It is the ideal place to do sport. Running is a standard thing to do, and it is possible to find some panels around the park which show the various lengths for the paths you can choose, so that you are always able to figure out which distance you have covered. There is a cricket pitch, where local teams plays over summer, and four tennis courts, which can be booked online for free. In most cases there are a few available, so you can just turn up and play, but especially on weekends I would recommend to book in advance. Recently I have noticed that a ping pong table has been installed close to the tennis courts. Close to the lake there is a cafe that is actually run by Tea Hive, the coffee shop in Chorlton. On weekends it is open until 5pm, while on weekdays it closes at 4.30pm.

In the whole of the United Kingdom, Alexandra Park Manchester comes second! Yep, that's rights, out…read moreoff the whole country, it's the second best... in the category 'parks called Alexandra Park'. Beaten only by its London rival Alexandra Park, which features miles of hills and a palace, this medium sized green space in Moss Side can hardly complain about its ranking. Plus it couldn't complain anyway because its a park not a person. Apparently the park was an important space in the Victorian period, but I've forgotten what it was like then, so I'll just focus on the now. Basically it's a big green space with some nice paths to stroll around and a nice little lake. More impressively is the fact that it plays home to an annual Caribbean Carnival! Less impressive that that but still worth of note is that it host many amateur football games an an annual 5K run. For this kind of thing you'll want the athletics webpage rather that the park one displayed above, that's at : www.openathletics.org.

Unfortunately I've never been able to see Oasis or The Stone Roses perform here…read more However, I've had the pleasure of strolling the grounds of this historic park. It is so big and it has so much! A huge playground, bowling greens, football (soccer) pitches, etc. There's a lake with ducks. You can rent a boat to row on the lake. There are cafes. There's an animal section. Lots and lots of places to picnic. Can't forget Heaton Hall! A wonderful way to spend the day.

A last minute decision on a damp, drizzly winter Sunday, but a good one. Forgot how vast this place…read moreis! Walked down the hill past the hall and round the lake, slowing to admire the signets and stop the dog munching all the food left for the birds! Round the other side of the lake, the woods are incredibly quiet; it's easy to forget you're right on the edge of such a large city and the motorway is about a mile away. This is the highest point in the city and the views are amazing.

When I lived in Whitworth Park (the halls, for I am not a vagrant) my parents came to pick me up on…read morethe way up to visit family in the north-east. Due to the fact that my Mum is always early and my Dad is always thrifty, they had brought a picnic and suggested eating it in the park. The problem was that it was March and not even a particularly warm or dry March, so we huddled up against each other and sat on a cold, graffitied bench and ate our tuna sarnies. That was the only picnic I've eaten in Whitworth Park and pretty much the only time I've sat down in there. On the other occasions I was put off by the combination of tramps, builders and school kids, which made it hard to relax. I found it much more pleasant to sit in Whitworth Park (the halls) or walk for 20 minutes to Platt Fields Park. But still, I quite like this park. It is a nice green break from the monotony of curry houses (if approaching from Rusholme direction) and university buildings (if approaching from other direction). I just want to know how they keep on putting the cone back on top of King James' head. Anyone?

After trekking around, looking for a place to relax, I saw this well-sized park and figured it'll…read moredo. And it did! Fairly decently sized, this is a good park right near the university that offers visitors the chance to choose from a plethora of space. Thankfully, my visit did not coincide with hordes of screaming children, so I was able to stroll about and find a seat and enjoy a quiet park. Even sitting next to the playground I was free of yelling and gallivanting children. Although there was a random woman who walked up to the Hamster Wheel and decided she needed a workout (she seriously just walked in it for a couple minutes like it was a treadmill...see my photo for proof!). Granted, this time of year the ground was a bit wet and muddy, but I think this could be a lovely space on a warm (and dry) day to just sit under a tree and breathe the fresh air.

Platt Fields is the biggest and best park in the area. Its green hills stretch out, well, about a…read morefive-minute walk, behind Fallowfield. So Manchester is not the best for green spaces. Nonetheless, Platt Fields isn't bad. I couldn't recommend it for a long afternoon walk or a day-trip with the extended family, but for a kick around with a bunch of mates or walking a dog it'll do just fine (as long as your dog isn't a fussy one). Its got plenty of open green space for football, and during the summer its pretty busy so you can always find people to have a game with. It does have a little cage for 5-a-side games but its gets so muddy its practically unplayable and you're better off setting up your own goal posts with jumpers just like you did as school. If you didn't do this at school, its achieved by taking two jumpers and placing them on the ground, creating a space in between them that serves the function of a goal. You then kick the ball into this structure. Its also got a skate park, if that's your thing, but later on this tends to be frequented by hoodlums and WKD. The lake is absolutely the highlight, and contains plenty of floating birds to feed. It does have boats which apparently can be rented out, though I have yet to see this occur, possibly through lack of demand, as you would be able to cross the lake in well under a minute. The boats can be put to good use collecting balls that are inadvertently kicked into the lake, but the park wardens are an obstacle. It also has some swings, but they're rubbish.

Coming from a village where it cost you about 3 quid to see a rubbish fireworks display, I was…read morehappy to see the abundance of free bonfire night celebrations organised by Manchester Council. This bonfire night is not as big as those in Heaton Park and Wythenshawe Park, but unlike the village celebrations, it is always on bonfire night itself (remember remember the 5th of November, not the 9th or 10th!) and is always packed with students and families. It's a pretty standard affair - everyone crowds around the barriers forgetting that the fireworks are actually going to be high in the sky, then rushes over to crowd around the giant bonfire. There are of course the obligatory hot dog and donut stands with plenty of rides including the one which launches a pair of you high into the sky above the park (it's good fun, trust me). If you want some free bonfire night fun but don't have a car and don't fancy the crush on the metro to get out to Heaton Park, then PFP is the place to go.

Actually quite a nice big park. Mature trees, and lots of…read moredifferent segments to wonder around when the weather allows. There's also a duck pond with a variety of birdlife, and their offspring. I was super surprised to find parrots in the trees around the pond! Probably at least 5 or 6 of them too. One day some enterprising music promoter will hold a small music festival in the old band stand. Or so I hope.

A pleasant park for a sunny day. I came to Fog Lane Park when some mates invited me to play…read morecricket (for the first time in my life). It was one of those rare sunny weekends in Manchester where everyone was out and the city was crowded. Having spent Saturday morning in city centre, I figured it'd be even more packed at the parks, seeing as how when the sun's out most spaces of green are covered with blankets and barbecues. Shockingly, Fog Lane remained fairly empty - seems most people stick closer to the centre of town or at Platt Fields. A fairly large park, this place has a bit for everyone looking to do something outdoorsy. There are a handful of tennis courts and a basketball court (broken backboards, but meh), a little skateboarding area, playground equipment for the kiddos, a bocce ball field, a huge open field for assorted sport, and several winding pathways leading through scenic regions of various flora if you're just looking for a stroll. That being said, that's only what I've seen, and I doubt I even saw half of this place. It's huge! Getting there from city centre is fairly easy - just take the magic bus down and walk a few streets over to get to the park. The surrounding neighbourhoods look nice, too - feels like a very family friendly sort of place.