 Walks
Around Marple
No. 1 - Marple Dale |
This is a walk down into Marple Dale and alongside the River Goyt, with an opportunity for refreshments half way round. On the way back we will pass the site of Marple Hall, the former home of the Bradshaw family.
1) After parking at Rose Hill car
park we cross Stockport Road at the pelican crossing and make our way down Dale Road.
2) After about 10 minutes walk the road narrows and begins to descend, passing Marple Dale Hall Nursing Home on the left. The wide track continues down into the valley and to our right the ground drops away steeply through the trees to the River Goyt.
3) At the bottom of the hill Manchester Canoe Club have a site and the river is marked off with several slalom courses. On the other side of the river high up on the hillside runs the Peak Forest Canal.
4) At Lower Dale
Farm we leave the track and take a footpath to the right of the farm buildings. The farm
dates back to 1719 but in the 1900's the Y.M.C.A. ran a farm colony here where groups of
boys were trained in farming techniques at a time of high unemployment. Many of them
eventually went to Canada.
The path follows alongside the river. On our left
looking across the fields the clump of trees is Turncliff Wood. Beyond, the ground rises
very steeply and it was here for over 300 years that Marple Hall held a commanding view
over the river valley.
5) Below the weir the ancient ford can be seen. Before the building of Otterspool Bridge this was the route that transport of the day used on its way to Romiley. The path makes its way over a stile and then up a steep path up the hillside.
6)
Joining a path at the top of the hill we can turn right if we wish to take advantage of
the nearby refreshment facilities at Wyevale Garden Centre or the Hare and Hounds public
house.
7) Dooley Lane was one of the main entrances to Marple Hall many years ago before the present road up Dan Bank was built. Returning up the hill we make our way past the playing fields of Marple Hall School.
8) A head stone and an area of
stones marks the site of the 17th century mansion Marple
Hall. This is where the most famous or infamous John Bradshaw lived in 1620. In 1649
John Bradshaw was the President of the High Court of Justice appointed to try King Charles
I and his is the first signature on the subsequent death warrant.
Unfortunately
we are unable to enjoy the splendour of this magnificent building because in the 1950's,
when the building was left unoccupied due to the death of the caretaker, vandals reduced
the building to a ruin within a period of less then a year. During this time Marple
Council had been offered the building for £7,000, but it was not within their means to
restore the building and maintain it. The Hall was finally demolished in the late 1950's.
The interior in the 1920's looked like this, with fine pictures and suits of armour lining
the walls.
9) We continue past
the site and onto Marple Hall Drive and make our way to Stockport Road. From where we are
now this is how it looked in the 1930's before any of the present houses were built. On
Stockport Road we turn left and make our way back to the car park at Rose Hill.
Location Map
