English: Nico Ditch Looking west along Nico Ditch near Levenshulme, Manchester. The public footpath seen here runs between the ditch on the left and Mellands Playing Field which lies beyond the fence on the right. About 200-300 metres of the ditch survive here and little elsewhere. This ditch is believed to have been a defensive earthwork dug in a single night as protection against the Danish invasion of 869-870 AD. It varied in width and depth, but averaged between 2 and 2.5 metres deep, and extended for over five miles in length between marshes in Fallowfield and Audenshaw. SJ88249487.