Ah, Peel. Do you know it for the lazy summer days spent out on the grass with herbal refreshments…read moreand snacks, reading textbooks or novels, chatting the afternoon away with chums in the hazy summer heat and moving onto the Pint Pot for a sharpener in the beer garden? Or do you know it via clinging onto your personal alarm for dear life as you hastily traverse the darkened and frightening pathway to Castle Irwell Student Village? Rather like a masked vigilante... or accountant... Peel Park takes on an entirely different persona when night falls. Throughout my years as a University of Salford student, I looked to the park with caution. All I heard were complaints from my fellow classmates about having to walk through it after dark and fearing for their lives. In fact students went on a protest walk with torches to ensure their safety in this park as it's the quickest route to a lot of student accommodation. But it wasn't until I got a job as a university ambassador that I actually had to learn a little history about the park, as well as point visitors in its direction. And do you know what? Let's just say for the record that it's silly to walk around on your own after dark *anywhere*. That is what the Salford University excellent free bus service is for. It takes you to every single university site. Therefore there's no need to be walking here after dark. And now that we've got that out of the way, maybe I should tell you how I really feel about it. The five stars tell you everything you need to know. This is a vast and beautiful park that any university, nay, any city for that matter, would be lucky to have. Enter Peel Park, even stand on the edge of it as I used to do on my university tours, and you don't feel as if you're in an urban environment. Enveloped my old university buildings and with the gorgeous greenery behind you, you can't even hear the traffic of the nearby dual carriageway. And I can provide you with this personal insight - prospective students and their parents gasped with glee, smiled, said things like, 'Wow' and 'That's beautiful'. The park is extremely well maintained by Salford City Council and is full of delightful topiary and gorgeous flowerbed arrangements. It's a perfect spot to stop for a picnic in the summer or take a frosty, cosy wrapped up walk in the winter. Peel Park was actually one of the first three public parks for the people of Salford and Manchester to be opened back in 1846. Since then it has thrived, and I came upon the knowledge that I only knew a small part of it. To my surprise it leads to football pitches complete with changing rooms, it contains the Marie Curie Field of Hope, a flood obelisk, a section of the Irwell Valley sculpture trail and a well-equipped play area for 4-14 year olds. It's also surrounded by a number of breathtakingly pretty buildings including the Peel building on campus, a truly amazing building that it lit up from below at night and provides rather a spectacle, and the Salford Museum and Art Gallery. Who said Salford was grotty and urban? Be gone with you. We have a much nicer park than any of those trampy ones in Manchester City Centre. So there.

When I was bored of my job and couldn't see where my life was heading I…read more thought about doing a Masters at Salford. Having studied at Manchester, I didn't really like the feel of Salford Uni. However, one thing that the uni did have that Manchester didn't, was an amazing park. Whitworth Park really does look like a small back garden in comparison to this large urban park. Unfortunately it was not quite warm enough to sit down and enjoy the atmosphere of the park, so I had to make do with a quick walking tour. I must say that although it was very pleasant in the daytime, there is no way I would consider walking through it at night. That would just be stupid, but probably no more stupid than walking through Platt Fields in the dark. I rarely have reason to cross the river to Salford, and I can't say that this park alone is really worth the 20+ minute walk from the city centre. However, if I had have chosen to go ahead with said Masters then I can certainly imagine that I would spend many a lazy summer's day here with my textbooks before giving up and popping open a can.

It's always nice to have a public park on your route home from Deansgate. Walking through it…read morethough, well... that's a different story. Because Islington Park is scary. And I don't want to sound like some naive little middle-class flibbertigibbet who's been wrapped in cotton wool during her upbringing and writes about life rather than living through the gritty realism of it, but when you see someone peeing in the middle of an open grassland area, near what presumably is supposed to be a scenic little bench to sit on, it unnerves you slightly. It's a popular spot for dog walkers, and not the kind with poodles and schitzus, the kind with illegally bred pitbulls. (Oh my, imagine if they cross-bred a pitbull and a schitzu! You could call it a schitpit.) I've also seen many a can of Special Brew consumed with relish on the presumably urine-ridden bench by unkempt looking gentlemen in clothes older than them. It's a very strangely emblematic borderline between Chapel Street's more affluent residences, healthy and wealthy Spinningfields, and the crumbling ancient and burnt out buildings, the boarded-up newsagents and the council habitation area. Talk about a buffer zone. I'm not trying to cast snobby aspersions on anybody here, but there's a reason the street's being regenerated. I just hope the TNT doesn't destroy entirely the old-world Salford charm. You have to squint to see it, but it's there. It's there in pubs like the Crescent, King's Arms and New Oxford, it's there in beautiful buildings like the Courthouse, and it's there in the converted Royal Hospital in which I reside. The plan is to enlarge and modernise Islington Park, and I for one think this is a great idea... if it works. One cannot forget that right behind this park is the dubious area around St Philip's Primary School where fireworks are set off in broad daylight, a tower block more depressing than your average Mike Leigh film resides and the streets around Islington Mill which look to be the perfect setting for a horror film. As it stands now I don't like to spend too much time here. It looks to be a dangerous hotspot and one of the reasons Salford gets an undeserved bad reputation. So let's watch this space and see if the regeneration breathes some much-needed life into this park, but manage to keep that almost intangible sense of Salfordism rather than brainwash it into the 21st century. Because just think, if the park epitomised the best of both worlds, it'd be the ideal place to walk your aptly symbolic schitpit.

Don't call it a comeback,i've been here for years!…read more Hey,hey folks,it's me! Back from the dead again. What's 4 years of inactivity between friends? Nothing,that's what! So what have you all been up to? Nothing? I wish I never asked...... I figured I should make a comeback with The Gardens,not the surrounding bits but the gardens themselves. I'm one of those lost souls that you have probably tutted at on a Saturday afternoon as you walk past PG and see the whole of humanity laid bare before you. People with dogs? Check. Surly teens? Check. One legged pigeons? Check. A dude shouting about Jesus through a megaphone? Check. People showing that Spice is the variety of life? Check. Little kids playing in the fountains? Oddly,check. Me,Mrs Z and some of our friends who have popped into Morrisons for some cans before probably heading to a gig somewhere to get our Metal on? Check.. I love people watching and the gardens is the best place to do it on a nice sunny afternoon (both of them)... It's a bit (a lot) different after dark so should only be tackled by experienced moody dodgers.. The Manc microcosm..

I walked past here during my time in Manchester. I did not know what it's called untill now :)…read more i was here during summer so it was full of people and rides. The metro trams go through which I think looks good. I never stayed for long so I don't know much else around. Looks like a good place to sit and just relax, watching people, have your sandwich and watching the trams go by.

This is a quiet spot to sit on one of the benches and admire the well kept grass, shrubs and…read moreflowers. World Museum visitors exploring the history of ancient Egypt sitting and eating their sandwiches are probably unaware of the amount of local history that surrounds them here. St John's memorial gardens opposite St Georges Hall is the site of an old church. Tens of thousands of bodies were buried at the site until the cemetery was closed and the gardens opened in 1904. It's a small but beautiful open green area that was designed to show off public works of art. The Victorian/Edwardian statues commemorate people that have helped the City of Liverpool such as ship owners, school masters, politicians and soldiers. You will also find memorials to John Lennon and the inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. In all the garden has 23 memorials.

The number of times I've walked past, around, near, St John's and I don't ever think to walk…read morethrough. So momentous the occasion is today, with the sun rays shining down at long last, I paced my way through to see what lies within this green haven. It's a park located in the city centre, so you're not going to expect acres of land, a vast array of wildlife, kids running around and swings and sand pits. It's a simple piece of greenery amongst the city centre block of flats, rows of solicitor buildings and the Spinningfields complex. I can see how it is the escape from the bustle, traffic and people you get if you just step onto Deansgate. It does exude a calming feel although I'm aware of what lies just a few second away. At 10am there were a few dwellers on the benches taking this all in. It serves it purpose well. Living in one of these flats myself, this is my new back garden.

Sandhills is one of the small parks near to where I live that I love to have a wonder about on a…read moresunny Sunday. It's part of the Irk Valley redevelopment project. It actually used to be a quarry, 's just a pleasant sweeping field of lush, green grass. It's perfect for walking the dog or for having a short stroll. Exactly what a park should be good for. Obviously at night time it's a place for young 'uns to have a drink from a plastic bottle of cider, but during the day it's a nice place to get some fresh air. This park isn't suitable for football though - it's on a big hill!

The Sackville gardens are now filled with those lapping up the sun, idyllic. This nice piece of…read moregreenery near the Piccadilly station and Canal Street is a perfect haven for the students at the North campus, the average shopper or stroller by. Ran by the Friends of Sackville Gardens, a voluntary group set up in 2008 consisting of residents and general volunteers, the gardens remain a great place to relax. In 2006 it was awarded a Green flag award which recognises quality in parks around England and Wales. I definitely encourage those walking near by just to stop by and have a sit in the gardens.

Okay so it's not exactly Central Park but this small garden which is located almost exactly half…read moreway between Oxford Rd and Piccadilly train stations has a great bench and memorial to Alan Turing the mathematician and pioneer of computer science.

St Michael's Flags and Angel Meadow Park is a public park to the immediate northeast of Manchester…read morecity centre. One of the few green spaces left in spaces on the city centre.

I've lived in the city centre for 7 years, and the Northern Quarter for 6 years. When I was buying…read moremy flat, I even looked at one of the flats adjacent to here. But still I have only JUST discovered this place, thanks to a neighbour who has only recently moved to Manchester. I wonder why people call me slow! ;-) Heaton Park it ain't. But as a city centre park, it is pretty good and particularly handy for NQ residents. It's as clean as any park in Manchester. I've been sat here for two hours and only seen a couple of families. More groups of friends, couples and the odd loner like me. I'm not a big fan of kids (they don't tend to like me either so it's a mutual dislike) so this is one aspect I prefer to Heaton Park. It's also not as packed and easier/cheaper to get to for city centre residents. I'm definitely going to come here over Heaton Park to catch a few rays more often. It could do with an ice cream seller. So remember to bring your own ice cream/drinks/food if you come here.

I used to live but a stone's throw from this glorious little park and made a point of walking…read morethrough it every day on the way to work - a little slice of wonderment minutes before hitting the big ugly backside of the city. Many glorious summer afternoons were spent on this (shockingly) well maintained and lovely little island of peace mere moments away from the hustle and bustle of the Printworks side of town - I'd often sneak down with my guitar and a couple of cold ones (shh don't tell anyone) to play the evening away. The park is obviously a favourite with local residents too - which is unsurprising when so much of the surrounding area is made up of converted mills and the like - which leads to it feeling nicely appreciated but never overcrowded in the warm balmy summer evenings. It's not just a pretty little park though, there's bags of history in its 7.4 acres and there's enough helpful but unobtrusive signs around to make sure you're fully apprised of the fact that... there used to be a church exactly where you're stood. Wow! I even saw someone walking their cat on a lead here once; if that's not a testament to quality, then I don't know what is... Wait hang on... who walks a cat?!

This lovely, small sea of rolling green grass sits a short walk from my flat, and provides an oasis…read moreof calm when faced with the bustling city centre just a few streets away. It was recently restored to the tune of several hundred thousand pounds, but the result is simple and peaceful. There are just a few benches, paths and sparingly planted trees on this old site that used to house a church and was on the edge of the Victorian slums that took over the surrounding streets during the industrial revolution. The park is seen as the "gateway to the Irk Valley," an area of green that allows you to follow the river through the heart of North Manchester. For me, it's a great place to do a spot of sledging in the snow or to get some fresh air every once in a while.