Site Guide

Upfront

This site has massive problems with the perception of ‘places to walk’. If we say ‘How about Heaton Park?’ people seem to say ‘Idea!’ then decide what to do. But if we say ‘Rochdale Canal is nearby?’, people seem to think the site is suggesting Rochdale Canal is a ‘walk’, all 12 miles (and that’s within Greater Manchester, 32 miles end‐to‐end). The site is not suggesting that—take the dog for a mile, find a pub. We think a walk is not a school trip, and you can figure what you would like. Please don’t contact us suggesting we include the usual ‘walk’ baggage, because we won’t.

Times/prices

Times/prices are a guide only. Times stated are conservative—many tourist sites will have longer opening hours at weekend. Prices are also conservative—nearly every site that charges for entry will have concessionary rates.

The ‘Where?’ image

Each review has, underneath the title ‘Where?’, an image processed from a photograph. Here is the rule—it’s the point in an adventure where people ask, “Is this the turn?”, “Are we there yet?” or “Does anyone know what it looks like?” Often, these images are not pretty—bus‐stops, four‐lane highways and city caos all feature.

The ‘person walks’ picture

In the reviews, this symbol appears for public and private transport,

The symbol means, for that kind of transport, there are limitations. Mostly, the symbol is used in two places—in the city centre, where cars can not park close; and in the countryside, where public transport stops a long way from a site/activity.

Accessibility and distance

We think most people using public transport are prepared for a walk, so we’ve set measures,

Accessible: 1/4 of a mile
Limited: Up to one mile
Inaccessible: Greater than one mile

This may be adjusted sometimes, depends on the quality of walk—a driveway to a country house is ok, an A‐Road with no pavement is not.

Walk areas

The large walk area descriptions may seem to be similar to other sites—they are not. Briefly, you get notes and a map—enough to make your own route. These descriptions do not tell you where to start/stop/what to visit.

One note: the area route lines are far more precise and accurate than other sites. The lines are, at worst, 10m accurate. The base Ordnance Survey maps are 1m accurate. However, for the web, we reduce detail and resolution as much as possible. If you can use a map app like Google/Apple/Bing, that will usually answer any questions. Or, if you are serious, try a dedicated map application.

Images

The site has no images of destinations. It gives opening times and transport information. If images are what you are after, go look at a map application like Bing, Google, Apple (Apple devices only, avoids visual overload) or OpenStreetMap (scaled map rendering, but no plot or pin features). Or one of the many ‘tourism’ websites. In short, this site is independent and an index, not a PR exercise.

Park size

May seem a minor item, but it annoyed me. Park size is noted by criteria. Usefully, Manchester has two of the largest parks in England—Heaton Park, and Pennington Flash. And, a mile or two beyond, Lyme Park. Also, Vimto Park scales as tiny—though you’re not Manc if you havn’t eaten crisps and a sandwich in Vimto Park,

huge: 1 mile or more. And not thin (Heaton, Pennington Flash, Reddish Vale Parks
large: 1 mile but thin, or not a mile (Etherow Country, Phillips, Jumbles Parks)
median: 1/2 mile or near (Fletcher Moss, Platt Fields Parks)
small: 1/2 mile thin, or less (Buile Hill, Bolton Queens Parks)
tiny: 300m or less (Falinge Park, Denzell Gardens, Mesnes Park)

Since this site is for days out, it would be unusual to find an entry for smaller parks, but the examples show how good they can be.