From old railways to an oasis of art, food and nature: how an eco-park was born in Greater Manchester

Northern Roots is launching Britain’s biggest urban farm and eco-park, in an effort to boost people’s health and wellbeing Standing in the open green space of Northern Roots, it is hard to imagine the landscape as it once was.

Two cotton mills, two coalmines and an industrial railway once occupied this 65-hectare (160-acre) site in Oldham, Greater Manchester. Later, about 24 hectares became a tip, with much of the…