...Manchester

Wythenshawe Park

South Manchester, 5 miles

Flat wide park with attractions and space

Where?

image of wythenshawe-park

Get there

Public transport: tram stop ‘Wythenshawe Park’ about 4 mins walk from west entrance. Buses stop at maybe three places alongside. Private transport: There’s a carpark in the middle of the park, which is neat.

Review

Wythenshawe Park is not huge, but larger than most parks. Maybe nor as large as seen in a map—some of the park is a private field, some is closed football grounds, but it is large. Enough space for this managed park to have two patches of woodland with walks. The guides and reviews of Wythenshawe Park make a big deal of The Lodge and The Hall, which vexes—yes, they are both listed buildings, but The Lodge is a park‐shed and The Hall was burned out in 2016 in a case which Alan Partridge would call ‘a descent into mindless vandalism’. Yet the park has several other attractions, gentle and involved. There’s a little garden centre backed by some long greenhouses. A small animal farm. A fairly large courtyard tearoom area. A running track that sometimes finds wider use as a crazy‐cycle course. A skate park and a small adventure playground. This is more than you can expect of any but a key borough park. So Wythenshawe Park is a park that if you are near will be a regular visit. Probably not a park to travel for except for one case—the size and the spread of the attractions means there’s space for everyone, and Wythenshawe Park has flat wide paths that anyone can enjoy.