Feature

The Trinnacle – the lesser-known beauty spot above one of Greater Manchester’s most popular destinations

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 21st January 2022

Standing high up above one of Greater Manchester’s most popular beauty spots is a lesser-known attraction, which has just been named one of the UK’s best winter hikes.

The Trinnacle is an enormous rock formation carved by centuries of extreme weather.

The view of its jagged edges with the Saddleworth Moors and reservoirs in the background is easily one of the best in the north west.

It’s also a real hidden gem, despite being directly above a notoriously busy beauty spot.

The Trinnacle above Dove Stone Reservoir. Credit: Instagram @joe.dambra

The Trinnacle is actually part of the gritstone ridge directly above Dove Stone reservoir, right on the border where Oldham meets Yorkshire.

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Perched on the very edge of the Peak District, it’s one of the easiest hiking destinations to drive to from Manchester.

The beautiful natural wonder was recently named one of the best winter hikes by outdoor clothing retailer Blacks, nominated by Joe Dambra.

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The Trinnacle above Dove Stone Reservoir. Credit: Instagram @peopleofthepeak

Joe said: “The Trinnacle has got to be one of my favourite places to go for a winter hike.

“Nestled above Greenfield Reservoir, this fantastic rock formation with a view is certainly worth visiting.

“Personally, I like to start the hike from Binn Green Car Park. From there you go clockwise, past Greenfield Reservoir, then climb the brook up onto the moors. Follow the moors for around 20 minutes and you will have arrived at the Trinnacle.

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The Trinnacle above Dove Stone Reservoir. Credit: Instagram @acwilkinson88

The scenery around here is spectacular, especially when you reach the top. The walk itself is quite easy, bar the climb up the brook (particularly in the snow).

“There are great vistas to enjoy the whole way there; however, the view from the Trinnacle itself is my absolute favourite!”

You can hike up to The Trinnacle in a circular route just short of 8km to soak in these incredible views, or extend the walk by a few more kilometres to include a loop of Dove Stone reservoir itself.

The Trinnacle above Dove Stone Reservoir. Credit: Instagram @maddy_aspinall

Be warned though – the weather can turn quickly up here and if you’re an inexperienced hiker, you can quickly find yourself in trouble if wind, rain and fog set in.

If you are planning to head up into the hills, make sure you have everything you’d need for all weather events, even if it is blue skies and sunshine when you set off.

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The route itself is moderate in good weather, though can get very muddy up on the top.

Read more: The stunning locations near Greater Manchester that feature in hit Netflix fantasy drama The Witcher

The trickiest section is when you reach the beautiful Greenfield Waterfall.

It’s a bit of scramble up it, especially when it’s been raining and the falls are in full force – but all worth it for the views.

Featured image: Instagram @dad.daughter.adventures / Instagram @joe.dambra

Feature

Football fans are debating whether Manchester City made a mistake selling Cole Palmer

Danny Jones Danny Jones Should Manchester City have sold Cole Palmer?

Football clubs are always going to have to roll the dice on players as we all know promising players who went on to become stars: Kevin de Bruyne, Gerard Pique, Mo Salah and so on just to name a few from the Premier League – but is that what Manchester City have done with Cole Palmer?

The 21-year-old from Wythenshawe was sold to Chelsea back in September 2023, having only managed to make a few scattered but impressive appearances for Man City, scoring crucial goals in the Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup, but was still ultimately deemed surplus to requirements.

Shown the exit through nothing other than the sheer quality of Pep Guardiola‘s starting XI, not to mention plenty of strength in depth and quality off the bench already, the West London club paid what looked to be a handsome £42.5 million for the still relatively unproven youngster at the time.

However, with another hattrick to his name – a perfect one scored all inside half an hour, no less – and a fourth for good measure thanks to a penalty against Everton, he’s quickly become by far and away Chelsea‘s star man.

Not a bad selection.

In the same breath, many are now naturally wondering why he was sold in the first place. It’s no secret that City are spoilt for choice when it comes to talent amongst their ranks and certainly didn’t need the money from his sale; it was simply a case that Palmer wanted more minutes that Pep couldn’t promise.

Shouldering the responsibility for the decision at the time, Guardiola said he completely understood the Manchester-born and bred star’s drive and ambition, admitting that “[With] young players, we always want them to stay but this is normal.

“After one season it is nice, and the second season, but the third season it is, ‘Oh guys, I want to play, I don’t want to sit on the bench’. It’s normal. We understand as a club. We got an offer from an incredible top club like Chelsea and I’m really happy for him. In all clubs these types of things happen.”

However, we dare say that if you were to tell the Catalan coach that same hungry prospect would end up being joint top-scorer with his Erling Haaland the following season and being, we think it’s fair to say he might at least hesitate before green-lighting his departure – and there are plenty more stats to boot.

Now, it’s impossible to know whether or not having the knowledge he has now would have made Pep second-guess his decision and take a chance on integrating Cole Palmer into City’s first team more regularly but put it this way, 25 goals and 13 assists in all competitions is hard to ignore.

That’s 11 in his last six games for Chelsea too.

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That’s all inside what is for all intents and purposes his full debut season as a first-team starter (which isn’t even over yet), let’s not forget, and while they’ve had similar situations play out with the likes of Jadon Sancho in the past, it must be a little frustrating to see him playing this well in the same only league only in a darker shade of blue.

On the other hand, it’s still early days Palmer could also follow that same narrative even further and see that huge momentum trickle out depending on how his sophomore season goes. He’s also a boyhood Man United fan and not that we’re saying we can see him make that move down the line, but we all know how that switch sadly ended up for Sancho.

For many fans, City or otherwise, the logic seems to be that letting him go was the right decision for everyone, as it’s allowed him to get that crucial playing time and shine like he has this season, which may not have happened while waiting to grab his opportunity off the bench at the Etihad.

Moreover, it’s not like the treble-winners aren’t still looking like they could defend all three of their trophies this year – although it would be interesting to see what impact Palmer has when he comes up against his former club in the FA Cup semi-final this weekend.

What do you think, were City right to sell Cole Palmer or should they have held on to him and given him the minutes he was clearly more than ready for?

England player stats this season are starting to make us think we could actually win Euro 2024
Whether City made a mistake letting him go or not, England fans can be just content that Cole Palmer is part of the Euro 2024 squad.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Cole Palmer/Man City/England (via Instagram)

Feature

Remember when the Manchester Marathon used to be too short?

Danny Jones Danny Jones When was the Manchester Marathon too short?

One of the most popular runs in the UK returns this weekend as the 2024 Adidas Manchester Marathon gets underway on Sunday morning, but did you know the famous race was once too short to count as the full shebang?

Yes, it may very be one of the flattest and most accessible races anywhere in Europe but once upon a time the Manchester Marathon was technically a marathon, as those in charge of measuring the thing up didn’t quite nail it.

One job, guys. You had one job…

Here’s the story of for three whole years, tens of thousands of runners sadly didn’t technically complete the Manchester Marathon.

The 2024 Manchester Marathon boasts a record 32k racers.
A 2013 finisher. We’ve got some bad news for you, mate…
Manchester Marathon now and then (Credit: Supplied/Wikimedia Commons)

Manchester Marathon: The ‘ish’ years

As was widely publicised at the time, in 2016 it was found that roughly the three previous years of the race course that runs throughout Manchester city centre, into the likes of Trafford, Chorlton, Altrincham and beyond didn’t actually fulfil the complete distance needed to qualify as a marathon.

While the race route has to stretch for 26.2 miles, or approximately 42.195 kilometres if you prefer metric (always one that splits the crowd) to count as an official marathon, it turned out that in 2013, ’14 and ’15, Manchester’s biggest running event fell just short of that mark.

Due to a measuring error – for which blame was placed on the Association of UK Course Measurers (AUKCM), who said an accredited measurer had ridden the course in 2013 but fell foul to an error in the calibration of the bicycle wheel – those three years ended up being 380m too short.

As a result, roughly 24,000 runners who ran the Manchester Marathon during this three-year period essentially had their races voided, including plenty of elite athletes, as the official UK Athletics governing body simply could not recognise their times. How fuming would you be?

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Speaking in an official statement at the time, AUKCM said they regretted the mistake, confessing: “Significant errors in measurement are rare – our procedures are designed to find them at the reporting or checking stages”.

Xtra Mile Events, who were still the organisers of the event at the time, went on to add: “We all understand the anguish and huge disappointment this creates and want to assure our runners that we share the upset and emotion from the AUKCM news regarding the race distance.”

Thankfully, such mistakes haven’t been suffered since and now under the umbrella of sporting giants Adidas, you won’t catch them making the same slips-ups.

Best of luck to all of you racing this Sunday and rest easy in the knowledge that while you might be absolutely dying by those last few miles, at least you can be sure those every one of those final yards is going to count. Now go and smash it!

2024 Manchester Marathon guide – start times, route, road closures and everything else you need to know

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — adidas Manchester Marathon

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