Castlefield Viaduct sky park in Manchester is set to stay open until the end of next year. National Trust bosses are bidding to extend the lifespan of the park, which opened last summer on a 12-month trial, by another 18 months. Should the plan be successful, the facility will remain open until December 2024.

Currently, the Viaduct is open on a pilot basis, in order to get feedback from visitors to inform a more permanent installation on the railway structure.

“Since opening in July 2022, Castlefield Viaduct has been exceptionally successful, with demand far exceeding our original expectations, thereby limiting our capacity to accommodate visitors,” a planning statement from the Trust said.

“We are therefore of the view that allowing additional time for this initial trial phase of the development would enable us to welcome more visitors, and in doing so obtain a greater depth and diversity of views to inform the Phase Two permanent scheme (which will be subject to a new planning application in the future - work is already underway to prepare for this).”

The sky park reopened in February after its winter closure, complete with two new community gardens. One of these is the In Our Nature garden they have partnered up with Sow the City to use the space to focus on the various ways that people can feel a part of nature, and create a garden that encourages even more associations.