As a city dweller I was interested to read recently how the National Trust, an organisation founded with the aim of protecting the country’s heritage and open spaces, is aiming to engage with urban communities. In turn this got me thinking about my own personal connection to the Trust, who state that “everyone in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will feel like a member of the National Trust and, by 2020, five million people will be”

My first thought was of Quarry Bank Mill & the Styal Estate…

When I was a kid school trips were always an exciting chance to escape the classroom. One such excursion I remember fondly was to Quarry Bank Mill. Why I remember it so clearly I’m not all together sure. Maybe it was the chance to go back in time at the Apprentice House, the dressing up or perhaps no one went and spoilt the occasion by throwing up on the bus that day.

Back in primary school my sense of spatial awareness was somewhat less developed than it is today and therefore at the time I probably didn’t know how close I’d been to Manchester on that trip. So this led me to wonder how many other National Trust sites are within a stone’s throw of the city centre. It didn’t take long to find out that there is:

Meaning with Spring well and truly sprung all of these places give me (and you readers) no excuse not to get out and enjoy this green and pleasant land.