Stretford Meadows

Sketch map: Stretford Meadows

Stretford Meadows is my nearest big open space. It's the site of the old municipal tip, capped and grassed over a couple of decades ago. The M60 forms the boundary on the West and South sides, the Northern boundary is formed by the houses along Urmston Lane and on the East by the Cherry Tree housing estate, the council recycling centre and the A56 Chester Road. There is one good path around the periphery running from the end of Newcroft Road down to the embankment to the M60 then running more or less dead East, meeting Kickety Brook near Chester Road, running under the road and into Stretford Ees by the Bridgewater Canal. There's a rough network of paths across the meadows ranging from the good one used by the inspection teams to the barely existent. The better ones are shown on the map. The 15, 18, 25, 245 and 255 buses run down Urmston Lane.

There are mature trees lining most of the boundaries of the meadows, thickest by the Newcroft Road end of the peripheral path and by Kickety Brook. Blackcaps, chiffchaffs and willow warblers are very vocal in these in Spring. The main body of the meadows is undulating damp open grassland dotted about with small hawthorns and willow bushes. This can seem a bit barren, save for small parties of magpies, but it's worth persevering with: in Summer there will be a few whitethroat territories and you may find a grasshopper warbler or a lesser whitethroat. There's quite often a pheasant kicking round the cricket club area and grey partridge are often reported but I've had no luck yet finding them. Look out for sedge warblers near the brook. There's nearly always at least one kestrel hunting the meadows and buzzards are common flyovers. Ring-necked parakeets and stock doves are also regular flyovers.

Stretford Meadows from the periphery path

Stretford Meadows

Kickety Brook