Geography of Greater Manchester

Black Chew Head is the highest point of Greater Manchester, rising 542 metres (1,778 ft) above sea-level, within the parish of Saddleworth.

However, Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts,[1] each of which has a major town centre – and in some cases more than one – and many smaller settlements.

Greater Manchester is arguably the most complex urban area in the United Kingdom outside London,[1] and this is reflected in the density of its transport network and the scale of needs for investment to meet the growing and diverse movement demands generated by its development pattern.

[5] Starting in October 2002, a relatively large number of earthquakes were recorded in Greater Manchester, some of which were among notable tremours in the British Isles.

This earthquake swarm was probably caused by the movement of blocks of rocks at depth along faults that occur in the Upper Carboniferous and Triassic succession, underlying the area.

The Long Depression aside, there was a rapid acceleration of coal mining until about 1920, when the collieries in the eastern part of the Manchester Coalfield were exhausted and closed.

[7] Greater Manchester experiences a temperate maritime climate, like most of the British Isles,[citation needed] with relatively cool summers and mild winters.

[9] The mean temperature is slightly above average for the United Kingdom;[10] Greater Manchester also has a relatively high humidity level, which lent itself to the optimised and breakage-free textile manufacturing which took place around the county.

[23] For instance, the wooded valleys of Bolton, Bury and Stockport, the moorlands north and east of Rochdale, Oldham and Stalybridge, and the reed beds between Wigan and Leigh, harbour flora and fauna of national importance.

[23] Mature woodland, scrubland, grassland, high moorland, mossland, agricultural land, lakes, wetlands, river valleys, embankments, urban parks and suburban gardens are habitats found in Greater Manchester which further contribute to biodiversity.

Common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), a plant with fluffy white plumes native to wet hollows on high moors, was announced as the county flower of Greater Manchester.

[37] The South Pennines support internationally important numbers of European golden plover, curlew, merlin and twite.