contacts welcome The line carried cotton, silk, coal and and cyclists: please do not bring your From Macclesfield to Bollington, the passengers, but always struggled to horse if it is easily startled and do Way is hard-surfaced. North of Macclesfield Borough Council Ranger Service Welcome to the Middlewood Way. make a profit. It was closed in 1970 not ride faster than a trot. To find Bollington, visitors will find various Middlewood Way enquiries 01625 573998 The Way offers a 10-mile (16-km) and redeveloped for recreation as the out about stables and riding schools, firm, compacted surfaces, the Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council traffic-free route for walkers, Middlewood Way in 1985. telephone Tourist Information. accessibility of which can be cyclists and horseriders. It Middlewood Way enquiries 0161 4744512 The Macclesfield Canal was completed affected by weather. follows the line of the former British Waterways in 1831, very late for a canal - so cycling At road bridges, access is via steps Macclesfield, Bollington and Macclesfield Canal enquiries 01606 723800 late that it was almost a railway! The Middlewood Way offers easy and unless otherwise indicated. At car Marple Railway through Coal from Poynton, stone from scenic cycling and is popular for parks and crossings, our standard Tourist Information picturesque Cheshire countryside Kerridge and hats from Stockport leisure cycling year-round, especially entrance is a kissing gate, or other Macclesfield 01625 504114 and between historic mill towns. Stockport 0161 4744444 were some of the cargoes carried. The on Sundays. It forms part of Route arrangement, designed to admit For much of its length, the canal was threatened with closure in 55 of the National Cycle Network: conventional wheelchairs. If you use Middlewood Way runs close to the how to get there the 1950s. A campaign by pleasure visit www.sustrans.org for more a larger mobility aid, you may wish Macclesfield Canal, and there are boaters saved it and today the canal information. to telephone for advice. A traffic-free trail By train: there are stations at Macclesfield, many options for easy circular walks. is a popular leisure destination. We ask cyclists to respect the between the peaks Middlewood and Rose Hill in Marple. For train times, For the more adventurous, the rights of other users. Be aware things to see and do and the plains call 08457 484950 or visit www.nationalrail.co.uk. extensive public footpath network who's who? that pedestrians may not hear you: Wildlife enthusiasts will find plenty By bus: for services from Manchester and Stockport reaches into the Peak District The Middlewood Way runs between use your bell and approach slowly. of interest at any time of year. The call 0161 2287811 or visit www.gmpte.com. Foothills to the east and the the boroughs of Macclesfield and Where the Way is separated into two Ranger Service runs a programme of For buses within Cheshire, call 01625 534850. Cheshire Plain to the west. Stockport. From Macclesfield to paths, we recommend using the events to help you enjoy the By road: car parking is available at many points Recommended map: OS Explorer 268 Middlewood Station, the Way is wider path, which is shared with outdoors and appreciate Nature. At along the Way. Please refer to the map inside. Circular walks are available, starting owned and managed by horseriders. Please give way to Nelson Pit Visitor Centre in Higher from Nelson Pit Visitor Centre in Macclesfield Borough Council, horses, to avoid startling them. Poynton, visitors will find displays, to stockport Higher Poynton and the Rangers' from Middlewood to Marple by Cycling is not allowed on the canal activities and information leaflets. manchester Office at Adlington Road in Stockport Metropolitan marple towpath. Nearby is the Anson Museum, an Bollington. Leaflets can be picked Borough Council. The important collection of static up at each starting point, 10am - Macclesfield Canal is managed accessibility engines, which holds open days in poynton disley 4pm daily except Christmas Day. by British Waterways. You can The Middlewood Way is mostly level the summer months. From Higher a brief history find the appropriate contact and wheelchair-accessible. To help Poynton, footpaths lead to Lyme wilmslow details in the Contacts section. you plan your visit, we have Park and Lyme Hall. Canal In 1863, the towns of Marple, enthusiasts might like to see the middlewood way attempted to show on the map easy Bollington and Macclesfield were horseriding access points and areas of the flight of locks at Marple or hire a facing economic depression. Local to bollington Horseriders can use the Middlewood Middlewood Way that may be narrowboat. If you are in knutsford dignitaries, in particular the cotton Way from Bollington viaduct difficult for wheelchairs. If you Macclesfield, don't miss the mill owners of Bollington, hoped macclesfield (Adlington Road) all the way to Rose would like more detailed fascinating Silk Museum. From to buxton that a new railway would improve Hill in Marple, a 7-mile ride. information, please telephone Marple, do continue to Stockport to their fortunes, and presented a Recommended horsebox parking is at the Ranger Service. (To see the famous Hat Museum. For scheme to Parliament. The Jacksons' Brickworks in Higher enquire about the canal more information about any of these to congleton & leek Macclesfield, Bollington and Poynton and Rose Hill in Marple. towpath, telephone British activities, telephone Tourist Marple Railway opened in 1869. Riders can expect to meet pedestrians Waterways.) Information. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this leaflet is correct www.macclesfield.gov.uk at the time of publication. Designed and published by Macclesfield Borough Council. March 2004 Cycle route to Marple 2 Stockport MARPLE Station
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