Bury to Manchester – NCN 6 Gravel Adventure

A gritty gravel adventure from Bury to Manchester with my daughter on her mountain bike, following the National Cycle Network Route 6 – a mix of canal towpaths, woodland trails, and urban connectors that make for a surprisingly varied ride.

We kick off in Bury and head south past Elton Reservoir, joining the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal towpath. From there, it’s a blend of gravel doubletrack, leafy singletrack, and mud-slicked woodland paths through Radcliffe, Outwood Country Park, and Clifton Country Park – a real test of tyre choice and patience!

Highlights include:
– Elton Reservoir: peaceful start with wide gravel paths
– Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal: historic towpath with mixed surfaces
– Outwood Trail: disused railway turned muddy playground
– Clifton Country Park: scenic woodland and Irwell views
– River Irwell gravel stretch: fast, flowing section into Salford
– Pollen Bakery: coffee and cake reward in Manchester

We finish with a road return, legs coated in mud. This ride blends family bonding with real gravel grit, perfect for anyone looking to explore NCN 6 beyond the tarmac.

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#GravelCycling #NCN6 #CyclingWithKids #PollenBakery #ManchesterByBike

Good morning. It is a beautiful early November morning, just after bonfire night. Love these mornings. So, I cancelled a gym session and got out on the bike. Need to uh need to get out while we can this time of year. Um my daughter’s with me. So, the plan today is to follow um National Cycle Way, Route Six from uh from Berry. We’ll follow it down towards Manchester. See how far we get. Where are we going? Where are we going? Yeah. Down this road. See how far we get. Come on. Keep up. Hey, what’s going on? Hello. Molly’s on the mountain bike. H, not on the tandem today. Might remember some of those videos. Um, she wants to ride her own bike today. Get some practice in. Just going across the river. Riverwell. I know what it’s called. done a video on that. Let’s go. Uh let’s go this way. Ah, look at the leaves. Beautiful this time of year. It’s along the jewel. um carriageway here, Berry Town Center. So, this uh cycle lane here, route six should all be off road pretty much all the way to Manchester, drops through a few kind of quiet estates. Um yes, good run. Yeah, we got a Berry Grammar School here. So we’ve come from the top of Berry through round well round Berry not fruit berry kind of round Berry past the grammar school now heading towards Elton Reservoir and Drag Cliff area. This is Elton Reservoir, the sailing club here. So, here we’ve got the Riverwell coming past here. That’s the Metro Link line over there heading towards Manchester. And now we’re just going to get onto here. We are the canal toe path. So this here overgrown weed area is the Manchester Berry Bolton Canal. Yeah. Starts to open up a little bit as we go further on. Uh we’ve done some major restoration work this canal to pass decent. Um and this should take us to Radcliffe. No, we don’t have any food. Carry on. You not brought any bread? Oh, no. You don’t give him bread, dear. You do. Seed. Bread. Bread. Porridge. Oh, we don’t have any food. Oh, he’s angry. Okay, we just turned off the canal. No, no, left. Left. This way? No, not that way. Left. turned off the canal. It takes us down to Radcliffe. Here we go. Oh, yes. Push the little button. We got a little bike traffic light. Here we go. Go straight across. And there’s a sign. Manchester Sulford this way. It’s good, isn’t it? The little bike traffic lights. I think that’s the only time I’ve seen them around here. They just got like one tiny little set there past the McDonald’s and the Asda Radcliffe. It continues up here. Do you want to stop at the McDonald’s? Give up. Stop at McDonald’s and then go back. I want to go to Manchester. Carry on to Manchester. This is a bit weird. I don’t know what they’ve done all this for. I don’t know what that is. shopping motorbikes, I guess. And we’re going across the river well again. I think this section of um cycle way is part of the outward country trail. Don’t stop. Don’t stop in the wood. Yeah, that’s the way we should have gone on this nice smooth path, which is a little off-road section there. Test your mountain bike skills out. Oh my god, that’s crazy. Just need to turn around. Look at your back. I know. It’s crazy. That’s why I need some mud guards. Oh my. Look at that. Yay. Thank you. No worries. There we go. This is the M60. The Manchester Ring Road over this now heading towards uh Clifton. We’re near to I think Phillips Park it’s called. So on route six which is a bit busier now. It’s going into Sulford. Just on the outskirts of Manchester now on the side of the river Well, not far till we get to the center. You nearly made it, Molly. There’s some skyscrapers for you. Spinning fields area. So, right in the city center now. Just need to navigate ourselves to a cafe. Part of the bike’s up and now we’re looking for some cake. some butter blonder. Oh, that’s nice. Look at that. Thank you. Caramel blonded flat chocolate latte and a matcha cookie. Riding through Chinatown. This is King Street. Why you don’t get your wheels stuck in the tram line. Why you don’t get your wheels in there. This is usually riding. [Music] [Music] There’s your Manchester markets. Christmas markets. Um, Manchester Cathedral there. What’s it? What’s it do? Just stands there being a cathedral. I mean, what does it do? Wouldn’t do anything. It’s just a church. Church building. That way. No, it’s not. It’s this way. It’s coming out of Manchester City Center now. Uh we’ll just take the road back up towards Berry. Very new road. Forecast rain this afternoon. So we’ll try and get back before that starts. Just on Bry New Road now. Riding back. Nice cafe stop in Manchester at Pollen. Uh got got a bag full of cakes for on the way home. Spent a small fortune. Um, I hope you enjoyed this video. Just a just a short one. Just keeping the legs spinning over these uh winter months. You’ve got to make the most of it if you get a nice day. Um, and thank you for all my recent subscribers does make a difference. I’ve gone over the 200 mark now. Still a little way go to go before uh I get to 500. That’s my big milestone. So, uh, if you aren’t a subscriber, um, why why not? It’s free. It’s It’s free. Come on. Where’s Molly? Say bye, Molly.