Greater Manchester came into being under that name in 1974 and includes urban areas and countryside formerly included in Lancashire, Cheshire and small parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

As a result, the city-region is blessed with an astonishing variety of natural landscapes, all of which are explored by the GM Ringway. These include:

• river valleys and waterways, including the extensive canal network
• lowland wetlands and mosslands
• uplands, such as the Peak District fringe and the West Pennines and South Pennines moorlands
• historic parkland and farmland, and
• urban green spaces, such as parks and nature reserves.

As well as natural landscapes, the GM Ringway also gives communities access to heritage sites across all the city-region. The route passes:

• more than 40 Grade I and II*-listed buildings, including Bramall Hall in Stockport and Haigh Hall in Wigan
• 13 accredited museums, such as the Imperial War Museum in Trafford, and
• 14 scheduled ancient monuments including Blackstone Edge Roman Road in Rochdale.

Our overriding aim is to involve a wider range of people in the benefits of walking, nature-connectedness and heritage. We are doing this by:

• enabling more people overall to walk for leisure and recreation in Greater Manchester, and
• engaging communities that have traditionally had lower levels of access to walking, nature and heritage.

Walking and spending time in nature are good for both our physical and mental health. A key project aim is to enhance people’s personal wellbeing by:

• giving them new opportunities to walk and wheel in the local area
• explore the city-region’s fantastic natural landscapes and heritage attractions, and
• connect with others and with the wider community as they walk or wheel the GM Ringway trail.

Greater Manchester is seen by many as a predominantly urban environment. The GM Ringway project aims to improve both residents’ and visitors’ appreciation of the city-region as they discover its astonishingly varied natural landscapes and rich cultural heritage.

The GM Ringway is intended to benefit two sectors that were particularly affected by the recent health crisis – the hospitality and heritage industries – by:

• promoting hospitality and heritage businesses on our website and in our other communications
• giving visitors low-impact access to these businesses as they explore the whole of the city-region on the trail
• benefiting the overall visitor economy for Greater Manchester by offering a new ‘sustainable tourism’ experience.

The GM Ringway is an intrinsically ‘green’ initiative in that it:

• enables and encourages people to enjoy natural and heritage attractions in their local area, rather than travelling longer distances for recreation and leisure
• is designed around the local public transport network –probably to a greater degree than any other trail in the UK – so that people can access the trail and shorter walks by public transport rather than by car
• increases people’s connection with the city-region’s natural environment, including country parks, urban green spaces, waterways and nature reserves.

Two charities have been instrumental in promoting, winning funding for, and implementing the GM Ringway:

• CPRE is the countryside charity that campaigns to promote, enhance and protect the countryside and green spaces for everyone’s benefit, wherever they live.
• The Ramblers is Britain’s biggest and most vibrant walking community. It is the only charity dedicated to removing barriers so everyone can enjoy walking in green spaces, and to improving Britain’s most popular and least-known walking places.

Thanks to National Lottery players, Greater Manchester’s residents and visitors are now able to benefit from a new long-distance walking trail on their doorstep.

In 2022, the countryside charity, CPRE, together with the Ramblers, Britain’s walking charity, was awarded a £250,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to establish the GM Ringway as Greater Manchester’s walking trail.

Further funding has been provided by the two charities and by Ramble Worldwide Outdoor Trust and TfGM’s Cycle and Stride for Active Lives programme.

The GM Ringway project has been given advice and practical assistance by a number of organisations active at a Greater Manchester level. These include Greater Manchester Combined Authority, GM Moving and Marketing Manchester.

We are also grateful for the support and input of multiple stakeholders, including:

• the local authorities of all ten Greater Manchester boroughs along with Cheshire East and Lancashire
• bodies such as the National Trust, Woodland Trust, Canal & River Trust, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Forestry England and United Utilities, and
• the public transport operators – Transport for Greater Manchester and Northern Trains – whose routes are so vital for getting people to and from the GM Ringway.

Finally, Salford CVS has provided invaluable support and advice over several years, particularly with regard to winning funding for the project.

The GM Ringway is a high-profile environmentally friendly project that has already inspired the residents, visitors and businesses of Greater Manchester.

We are keen to talk to businesses, charitable trusts and other organisations whose financial support could help our project to thrive and grow over coming years.

If you’re interested in sponsoring or otherwise funding the GM Ringway’s activities, please email us on info@gmringway.org.

The GM Ringway would not exist without the aid of volunteers – both those recently recruited to assist with the project and members of CPRE, the Ramblers and other organisations.

Our GM Ringway volunteers play a vital role in:

• acting as ‘stage guardians’, who will look after and promote their local sections of the trail
• walk leaders and back markers
• assisting with waymarking the trail
• testing the trail and associated mapping and app.

If you’d like to volunteer, please check out our Get involved page.