Hough End Playing Fields

Hough End is amazing. For a football lover like myself its practically heaven. 24 almost always deserted yet well-​kept football pitches ripe for a game.
They used to be The Alexandra Park aerodrome which was opened in 1918 for the test flying and delivery of locally built aircraft for the RAF. In the first world war someone famous landed there or something like that. Before it closed in 1924 there was loads of lovely airplane displays and the like.
The only thing that is definitely better than flying is football, so they’ve managed to improve it. It’s a bit muddy around the goal areas, particularly on some of the pitches, but that’s to be expected, and its also all part of the fun. Most of the goal posts don’t have nets as well, but that’s to be expected, and its also all part of the fun. All you need to do is get your two least popular friends, and get one of them to stand behind each goal, and retrieve the ball when you kick it out.

Hough End is split into two parts, Hough End Fields and Hough End Clough.
The playing fields are home to 24 football and 3 rugby pitches, which are available for a kick about, training and Sunday league matches. There is a small but modern clubhouse and a car park.
The Clough has a new track through it. It is essentially still a hole with water in it, and a large piece of wood with slits in, which I can only assume is for bird watching. When I walked down here last night I thought I’d spotted a rare species, but it turned out to be a plastic bag. I did see a couple of mallards too.
Next door to the fields is where GMP train their horses and dogs, which can be really interesting to watch — just make sure you don’t have any illegal substances on you!