This route is short and sweet, mostly flat and mostly paved. At the end of the route, simply turn around to return to start. You can find parking on Mabfield Road, next to the Platt Fields Market Garden. You can hire a bike from the old boathouse in Platt Fields Park or from Bee Active, Beryl, or Manchester Bikes. To get to the old boathouse from the parking area, walk towards the pond, then turn right. The old boathouse is labelled as Platt Fields Bike Hub on the map below. If you have your own bike and would like to park elsewhere, you can use Parkopedia or JustPark to help you out. Booking at least 2-3 days in advance is advised.
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Route overview
Platt Fields Market Garden is a wonderful little nook for a picnic and for purchasing fresh produce from their market on the first Sunday of every month. They also host free events and have a cafe. See more about their opening times, events, and markets on their website here.
Platt Fields Market Garden. Credit: Mimoji
Platt Fields Park has a large pond (and if you look at it on Google Maps, it kind of looks like a bicycle seat, don’t you think?), once used for boating and fishing, at its centre. In the middle of the pond is a small island, and alongside it is a visitor’s centre and boathouse. You’ll find various gardens, such as a community orchard with ferns, roses, and heathers. Additionally, there is an educational garden, an environmental area, Elizabeth II Jubilee gardens, and an Eco Arts garden near the boating pond. Gardens aside, there is also a Coronation Fountain in honour of Queen Elizabeth, a labyrinth, picnic area, children’s playgrounds, and a veterans’ pavilion.
Platt Fields Park. Credit: Loads To Do
Once you have your bike, ride down Mabfield Road, then turn left onto the first paved road. You can ride to the end of this road and turn right towards the Shakespearean Garden or cut through, as shown in the image below.
Leaving the garden, turn left towards the main road, then turn left onto Wilmslow Road and immediately right onto Old Hall Lane. Turn left onto the shared path after passing the large building on your left.
Part 1 of the Beginner-friendly Cycle Route in Manchester with Map
A Shakespearean Garden contains some or all of the plants mentioned in Shakespeare’s works to create something Shakespeare himself may have experienced and seen. The garden and Shakespearean type of garden’s existence can be accredited to Rosa Grindon, a Shakespearean lecturer, botanist, suffragist and philanthropist who often advocated for public parks and green spaces in Manchester. In honour of Rosa, there is a circular bed to the left of the maze containing only purple, white and green flowers, the colours of the suffrage movement for women.
You’ll find topiary hedges, a veggie section, an Elizabethan “knot” (funnily, it is neither a knot nor a maze), a small apple orchard, a human sun clock, and more. The community has affectionately called it “Shakey” and can be entered via a central “staircase.” The garden is divided into four quadrants, surrounded by large trees. Very few gardens like these are left in the UK and the world. Therefore, the volunteers here try their best to maintain it sustainably. For the latest information and updates on the garden and any events, follow their Facebook page here.
Shakespearean Garden in Platt Fields Park. Credit: Facebook
Continue straight, at Danes Road, cross over between the two buildings to reach Brighton Grove. Turn right, then immediately left onto Birch Grove, and immediately right again towards Birchfields Park.
Part 2 of the Beginner-friendly Cycle Route in Manchester with Map
Birchfields Park was opened by Prince Albert in 1888 and housed one of Manchester’s first circular bowling greens. You will now find a stone garden accompanied by a natural habitat. If you have a wander around, you might notice a strange, almost misplaced boulder. It weighs 13 tonnes and was excavated by a building contractor on the local estate and was handed over to serve as an object of curiosity.
Birchfield Park. Credit: r/Manchester, Reddit
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Resources:
If you enjoyed this route, see our Manchester Parks and History Cycle
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