GM Ringway explained

GM Ringway
Location:	Greater Manchester, England
Length:	186miles
Season:	All year
Website:	gmwalking.co.uk/gm-ringway

The GM Ringway is a long-distance walking trail in Greater Manchester, England. It traces a circular path around the city-region through each of the 10 boroughs and covers approximately 186miles in total.^[1] It is designed around existing footpaths, parks and open-access land.^{[2] [3]}

The project is supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority as well as The Ramblers and CPRE, the walking and countryside charities, respectively.^{[4] [5] [6]}

History

In June 2022, The Ramblers and CPRE charities were awarded a £250,000 grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to establish the GM Ringway. The grant enabled signposting and an improved app and website to be established. It will also support the organisation of community events across all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester.^{[7] [8]}

In February 2023, it was reported that Tom Ross, the leader of Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, was one of the first people to complete the walking trail in its entirety, over the course of around one year.^[9]

In July 2023, a pilot scheme was announced, with guided walks through the Trafford section of the GM Ringway, in order to obtain feedback from walkers' experience of the route, as well as on the app and website.^[10]

In December 2023, the Oldham and Bury stages of the route became the first to be signposted by volunteers.^[11] Ten of the 20 stages of the route had been signposted by early March 2024, covering .^[12]

Route

The anti-clockwise route is split into four broad sections:^[13]

• The Southern Start-up – from Manchester city centre to the Peak District, along waterways and green spaces
• The Exhilarating East – the hills above Stockport, Tameside and Oldham
• The Noble North – a more challenging section connecting the peaks and valleys of the Pennines with Rochdale, Bury and Bolton
• The Western Wind-Down – the wetlands, mosslands and canals of Wigan, Trafford and Salford

The four sections are each divided into five stages (20 in total), with the beginning and end of each accessible by public transport, usually a train or Metrolink station:

!Section!Stage!From!To!Length^[14] !Metropolitan Borough(s)

Southern Start-up	1	Manchester	Sale Water Park	6.6miles	Manchester, Trafford
	2	Sale Water Park	East Didsbury	6.6miles	Trafford, Manchester
	3	East Didsbury	Bramhall	7.3miles	Manchester, Stockport
	4	Bramhall	Middlewood	7.9miles	Stockport, Cheshire
	5	Middlewood	Strines	8.2miles	Cheshire, Stockport
Exhilarating East	6	Strines	Marple	8.3miles	Stockport
	7	Marple	Broadbottom	8.2miles	Stockport, Tameside
	8	Broadbottom	Greenfield	12.1miles	Tameside, Oldham
	9	Greenfield	Newhey	12.8miles	Oldham, Rochdale
	10	Newhey	Littleborough	11.3miles	Rochdale
Noble North	11	Littleborough	Norden	12.3miles	Rochdale
	12	Norden	Bury	12.7miles	Rochdale, Bury
	13	Bury	Bromley Cross	12.6miles	Bury, Bolton
	14	Bromley Cross	Blackrod	12.2miles	Bolton
	15	Blackrod	Wigan	10.1miles	Bolton, Wigan
Western Wind-Down	16	Wigan	Leigh	10.1miles	Wigan
	17	Leigh	Irlam	10.8miles	Wigan, Salford
	18	Irlam	Altrincham	10.7miles	Salford, Trafford
	19	Altrincham	Stretford	9.1miles	Trafford
	20	Stretford	Manchester	8.6miles	Trafford, Manchester

The GM Ringway passes more than 40 Grade I and II*-listed buildings across Greater Manchester, including Bramall Hall in Stockport and Haigh Hall in Wigan. There are 14 scheduled ancient monuments including Blackstone Edge Roman Road in Rochdale along the route.

There are also future plans to add link routes from the city centre to the west, north and east to connect with the GM Ringway.^[15]

See also

• Capital Ring, a strategic walking route promoted by London's 33 boroughs
• Coventry Way, a 40miles long-distance footpath in central England
• Leeds Country Way, a circular 62miles long-distance footpath around Leeds, West Yorkshire
• London Outer Orbital Path, a 150miles route around the edge of Outer London

External links

• GM Ringway website
• CPRE Lancashire
• The Ramblers' Association

Notes and References

1. Web site: GM Ringway Maps and Overview . Greater Manchester Walking . 20 November 2022.
2. Web site: GM Ringway: new long-distance footpath covering 186 miles of Greater Manchester scenery gets green light . Manchester World . 22 October 2022.
3. Web site: GM Ringway – Greater Manchester's walking trail . Visit Manchester . 4 August 2023.
4. Web site: Greater Manchester's new walking trail gets the go-ahead . CPRE Lancashire . 20 November 2022.
5. Web site: Projects . WalkingProjects.com . 20 November 2022.
6. Web site: 190 mile Greater Manchester long-distance trail announced . Confidentials Manchester . 4 November 2022.
7. Web site: GM Ringway – Greater Manchester's walking trail . HeritageFund.org.uk . 16 June 2022.
8. Web site: A New Long-Distance Walking Trail Across Greater Manchester Has Been Given The Go-Ahead . Secret Manchester . 1 November 2022.
9. News: Tooth . Jack . 28 February 2023 . Trafford Council leader one of the first to take on GM Ringway . The Messenger . 4 August 2023.
10. News: Clarke . Liz . 4 July 2023 . Greater Manchester's newest walking trail opens up for the first time this month . Manchester Evening News . 6 July 2023.
11. News: Black . Kaya . Stead . Richard . 14 December 2023 . Work begins on city's new 200-mile walking trail . BBC News . Manchester . 16 January 2024.
12. News: Clyde-Smith . Imogen . 6 March 2024 . Greater Manchester's new 200 mile walking trail reaches major milestone . Manchester Evening News . 8 March 2024.
13. Web site: The GM Ringway – a whopping 300km walking trail around Greater Manchester linking beautiful countryside with local attractions . The Manc . 20 November 2022 . 24 February 2023.
14. Web site: GM Ringway . Read . Andrew . plotaroute.com . 7 July 2023.
15. Web site: GM Ringway . ldwa.org.uk . The Long Distance Walkers Association . 9 August 2023.