Activities at Drinkwater Park

As a former coal mine, Colliers Wood forms an interconnected area of woodlands and grassland surrounding Higher Folds. The various footpaths offer quite a lot of opportunity for exploration and discovery.

There has been recent planting near Cooling Lane which is now coming into fruition. From Queensway, there is access to an area once used by bird watchers.

Colliers Wood is located approximately ten miles west of Manchester. 

A number of paths link together areas of open grassland and young woodland across this hillside site.

The young trees provide incredible displays in autumn, and at dusk you may well see hunting barn owls.

Rochdale Woodlands is a haven for wildlife. Woodpeckers, dippers and kingfishers are a regular sighting, along with many other species.

With mature broadleaf trees and coppiced willow, Rochdale also supports a healthy population of woodland birds.

Meadowfields (off Albert Royd Street) is a mix of woodland and expansive open grassland on the banks of the River Roch.

There is also wet grassland areas, providing a fantastic habitat for frogs, toads and insects.

Popular with walkers, cyclists and wildlife watchers, there is a network of over 5km of trails around the woodland, and visitors can enjoy the striking wooden viewpoint created by artist Richard Caink.

Part of the Abram Flashes Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh National Nature Reserve, Viridor Wood features a mix of woodland, grassland and fishing lakes.