The National Trust is readying to reopen Manchester’s sky park Castlefield Viaduct this weekend.
The beautiful green space, built on top of the Grade II-listed viaduct with staggering views across Manchester city centre, has been closed for a short time while a new community workshop space was built.
The 330m steel Victoria viaduct is now readying to welcome back visitors from Saturday 10 February.
The elevated sky park has been open since July 2022 as a temporary pilot project, though the National Trust is hoping to make the project a permanent attraction for Manchester.
Since its launch, it’s welcomed more than 85,000 visitors, some through community activities in and around the city.
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The charity has worked on transforming the previously-abandoned Castlefield Viaduct to increase access for all to nature, history and beauty in urban areas.
With its new workshop space, created with Sow the City, members of the public will be able to have a go at green-thumbed activities and learn horticultural skills like seed sowing and propogation.
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The workshop has a huge workbench that can be modified for wheelchair users, mini greenhouses, soil, water and power.
Manchester’s Castlefield Viaduct sets to re-open after the winter months. Credit: Mark Waugh
Nancy Scheerhout, National Trust Head Gardener for Castlefield Viaduct, says: “We’re delighted to have worked with our partners, Sow the City, to bring this new workshop space to the viaduct.
“It will provide us and our community partners with a dedicated area to get more people involved in, and benefitting from, green activities. We’ve made the space as sociable and hands-on as possible, and we have plans to add interactive compost that people can see and hear!
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“As a conservation charity dedicated to connecting more people with nature, we know the importance of increasing simple and everyday interactions with nature to enrich lives. Offering ‘green workshops’ and activities in the space, alongside our partners and friends, we can encourage small space growing in the city.
“It’s a great opportunity to grow people’s confidence and skills in creating their own greenspace, improving the environment, their wellbeing, and their skillset in the process.”
National Trust head gardener Nancy Scheerhout at Castlefield Viaduct. Credit: Mark Waugh
Jon Ross, Chief Executive of Sow the City, says: “We’re passionate about enabling more people to get involved with growing, engaging with urban nature and learning new skills and this space will support the communities we work with to do just that.
“This is the second space on the viaduct we’ve been involved with designing and installing, and we can’t wait to see people using the space and have a go ourselves!”
The rest of Castlefield Viaduct features four ‘partner plots’ operated by Hulme Community Garden Centre, City of Trees, Castlefield Forum and Sow the City.
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The gardens have been planted to created year-round flora displays, and upcoming events will include the return of the city-wide ‘Bloomtown’ blossom trail this spring.
National Trust head gardener nancy and Kate Picker visitor operations and experience manager Manchester’s Castlefield Viaduct sets to re-open after the winter months.
Nancy continues: “As we head into our second spring on the viaduct, we’ve learned so much from this unique urban site and have developed our planting schemes for 2024 with those in mind. Planting at height, in the middle of a city centre, and in steel containers, means the team and I keep a close check on how things are bedding in and how life on the viaduct is evolving.
“We’re excited to welcome the public back and showcase great horticulture. For me, a garden only truly comes to life with people in it and engaging with nature. We’re looking forward to the many joys of spring.”
Entry onto Castlefield Viaduct will remain free when it reopens to the public this weekend. Members of the public can visit, without booking, every afternoon from 12.30pm and all day on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
There’s space for up to 10 people in the new community workshop, and local groups and communities are invited to reach out by emailing [email protected] to book their spot.
Two Greater Manchester towns have been named in The Sunday Times’ best places to live
Thomas Melia
Esteemed UK newspaper The Sunday Times’ has published its list of the ‘Best places to live in the UK 2025’, and it features two Greater Manchester boroughs.
Us Mancs didn’t need anymore clarification to know that where we live is incredible but we’ll always take it, especially when the compliment is coming from none other than The Sunday Times.
The publication revealed its annual guide of ‘Best places to live 2025’ which featured more than 70 different locations throughout the nation.
Although we may have been pipped to the top spot, Greater Manchester is featured not once, but twice, which is pretty impressive.
Claiming the victory this year is the market town with a name as pretty as its surroundings, Saffron Walden, which is only 15 miles from Cambridge.
The locations were ranked through a number of key categories including transport, house prices, broadband, schools and a new addition, mobile signal.
All the contributors to the full list acknowledge the obvious missing puzzle piece,food, and we know if this was factored in a few more Greater Manchester locations may have nabbed the ‘Best places to live’ honour.
The first Greater Manchester based entry is The Heatons, a hotspot nestled between the city centreand the city of Stockport, which is actually four neighbourhoods – Heaton Chapel, Mersey, Moor and Norris.
These areas are home to living history in the form of the iconic century old Savoy Cinema and lots of open green spaces.
Food may have been missed off The Sunday Times’ list but it certainly didn’t go a miss on ours.
Mossley has been named on The Sunday Times Best Places to Live list. Credit: Instagram, @ariadneexploresThe Heatons also made the list. Credit: Instagram, @fourtheheatons
The second spot which managed to grab the title of ‘Best places to live 2025’ is Mossley, a town packed to the brim with cosy cottages, blissful walks and a close-knit friendly community.
It’s not too far from Dovestone Reservoir and the Peak District National Park – when you’ve got all this greenery on your doorstep you’re bound to be in a good mood.
Our friends over in Leeds at The Hoothave lots to cheer about as Ilkley, Hebden Bridge, Easingwold and Ripon all got a mention.
You can find out the full rundown on all the spots up and down the country that have been selected as part of ‘The Sunday Times’ Best places to live for 2025′ HERE.
Greater Manchester unveils latest vision to bring local rail under the Bee Network
Danny Jones
Mayor Andy Burnham and fellow local leaders have unveiled the latest plans behind the vision to bring the Greater Manchester and nearby train links under the Bee Network.
For starters, the plan is to add a total of eight rail lines to the ever-growing public transport system.
Posting the latest schematic on social media this Friday, the Greater Manchester Mayor celebrated the unified tap-and-go service for buses and trams at the start of the week and has now ended it by sharing the next steps with the 10 boroughs.
We started the week by integrating buses and trams into a single tap-and-go system.
The update is in response to the UK government’s ‘A Railway Fit for Britain’s Future‘ reform bill, the national consultation of which is well underway and closes to local authorities and the public at large on Tuesday, 15 April.
The overall aim is for Greater Manchester to reach an agreement with the government in devolving power to Mayoral Combined Authorities when it comes to the planning and developing of local infrastructure and train services.
Put simply, the goal is to achieve local responsibility and accountability for rail travel as the city-region looks to continue establishing its own ‘London-style’ public transport framework (i.e. the Oyster card which is valid for buses tubes, local railway and so on).
In addition to this, they are hoping to make new arrangements for funding, fares and services through the Railway Bill, which would hopefully see rail fares in and around Greater Manchester, as well as neighbouring areas like parts of Cheshire and Derbyshire, fall under the Bee Network cap.
Once again, this regional push is a reaction to the country’s various rail companies’ continuing struggle to provide both affordable and reliable train travel.
Sub-quality rail services in the North, especially, are a big driving force behind the plans to loop train travel into the Bee Network.
Detailing a three-phase plan to carry out these city-region specific changes as the Labour Party looks to establish Great British Railways – a new body bringing track and train together – local authorities are already working closely with the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT).
Speaking on the masterplan, which culminates in a full ‘Bee Network Rail by 2030, Burnham has dubbed it “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rewire how the railways are run”, and one that can set a standard for other areas up and down the country.
The Mayor went on to add: “We’re already delivering change in Greater Manchester and have seen the positive benefit that greater local control and accountability for our tram, bus and active travel has had, with increasing numbers of people getting on board – but rail is the missing piece of the jigsaw…
“A Bee Network fare cap – including rail – would mean that people commuting into the city at peak times from Glossop could pay a cap of around £14 including return train travel as well as trips on buses and trams.
“Devolution is working for people in Greater Manchester, but we know that many other areas are at different stages of their journey […] We know the government share our ambition to restore confidence and get more people choosing the train, and we’ve been really encouraged by our conversations so far on how things can be done differently.”
Daisy Jackson -
8th February 2024 
