Past and Present

The illustration of Ryebank Fields is used with the kind permission of local artist Anna Violet © 

Ryebank Fields is an 11 acre naturally rewilded and biodiverse urban oasis in the heart of Greater Manchester’s conurbation.  The land has played a significant role in the social and cultural heritage of the area for many years with the local community acting as custodians of the land: trimming back trees; maintaining footpaths and litter picking. The fields have always been well used and are a valuable community resource, used for numerous activities including both community events and individual pastimes, such as themed guided walks, singing, painting, trails and honouring festivals, as well as dog walking and cycling.

The fields are an invaluable community resource, used daily for numerous activities, such as themed guided walks, singing, painting, honouring festivals, walking, running and being in nature.

Prior to the 1930s, Ryebank Fields was used as clay pits for Jackson’s Brickworks. Once abandoned, the pits filled up with rain water and local children used the area as an adventure playground until Manchester City Council determined the pits should be filled in due to safety concerns. Subsequently, the land became an unregistered tip from the mid 1940s to the late 1960s when the city council took ownership of Ryebank Fields.

Extensive remediation works were completed in the early 1970s under Operation Eyesore, a publicly funded government initiative. To address the contamination, the land was levelled and capped with aggregate and top soil to make it safe and create playing fields.

At this time Ryebank Fields was gifted by Manchester City Council to Manchester Polytechnic, now Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), under covenant for educational use as a sports facility. The land was formally transferred to MMU ownership in 1992 to comply with the 1988 Education Reform Act, whereby council owned polytechnics were privatised and became universities.

In December 1995 MMU submitted a planning application for the development of 90 houses which was rejected due to concerns over increased traffic congestion, increased pollution and the loss of open green space.

In 1996 MMU abandoned the fields when they moved their sports facilities to Carrington.

Since 1996 the land has rewilded into a mosaic of natural habitats, nurtured and protected by the public. It is a fantastic green area accessible to all and is a well used and much loved community asset. The fields are home to over 1400 trees and countless birds, bats, mammals and pollinators. The fields also act as a carbon sink and natural flood plain to combat air pollution and flooding in this densely populated urban area. 

In the mid 2000s MMU brought forward more proposals to build on Ryebank Fields, but these were dismissed as they were not compliant with council planning policy.

In 2017 MMU again issued development proposals. In response, the Save Ryebank Fields campaign was launched and the Friends of Ryebank Fields group formed. This is the third time the community has had to fight to save the land. It remains a well used, much loved and vital community asset and we aim to save and preserve it for posterity. 

Community organisations working to save Ryebank Fields include: 

Friends of Ryebank Fields, Ryebank Fields Community Group, Friends of Longford Park, Women of Ryebank Fields, Trafford Ryebank Residents Association and Chorlton Craftivists.