Roller Skiing Around Manchester

Some of our newer members who have attended the tuition sessions organised by Ros on the Manchester Cyclesway may now be feeling the urge to venture further. There is a series of tours planned for the coming months but in the meantime, those of you with their own kit can get ahead of the game by rollering somewhere local to you.

A worthwhile resource for places to ski can be found at therollerskidirectory.org.uk. This is an electronic version of a pamphlet produced by the Yorkshire Cross Country Ski Club.

Last year I acquired the full set of Sustrans maps for the area around Greater Manchester and unfortunately the surfaces of all but a few short stretches and the above mentioned Cyclesway are, at the moment, unsuitable for roller skiing.

After the latest Tatton Park tour, one of the participants (sorry I have forgotten your name) mentioned Heaton Park and asked if it was suitable for rollering. This brought back memories of my dim and very distant childhood mis-spent in this park and in Boggart Hole Clough. Are they suitable? I didn't know so I went and found out; and yes they are. The results of my brief walk around each of the parks is now included in the Rollerski Directory. I need to do a bit more travelling in each to cover all of the pathways.

If you find an area that is suitable for roller skiing and not yet in the directory (something more than just a Sainsbury car park please) then let me know. Supply the information to me in the same format as the Directory, I will add it, and your name will be included in the list of contributors.

author: Alan Shepard
publish date: January 2009

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