I thought that the path down to Otterspool was closed to the public, but went to check this morning with the dog - what was a beautiful walk has, in my humble opinion, been ruined. lovely old trees have been cut down, brambles have been cleared (will have to find another spot for blackberrying!), and the pleasant meandering path has been levelled and widened. It looks dreadful. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the end result, but I really can't believe that this is progress.Yes,this is another example of ruination of natural beauty.Dan Bank,Seventeen panes of glass,We should rename Marple Chainsawville :'(
The downside was the stretch of footpath from the end of the lane to where the new bridge will cross the river - which was as muddy as ever.
Regarding the filling in of the holes in the road, and the cutting back of hedgerows and trees, down from Dale Road to Lower Dale Farm. This is done by the owners of the equestrian centre on Lower dale farm who do it on a regular basis, its nothing to do with the council or the project.
Down at the bottom, a new bridge is just waiting for its railings to be bolted in.
To let you know, the railings are waiting to be RE-bolted in!! The bridge, including railings, WAS completed and open for traffic.Thanks for the info. Thought it was strange they still had to fit the railings with the rest of the path pretty much complete.
I hope that a lot of the local school children that travel from Romiley will start cycling or walking to school. However it is a shame that a cycle path is not being built though the school field as the children will have to go round 2 sites of the school field.
Are enough good quality covered cycle racks being installed at the school and will the school be activity promoting cycling once the bridge is opened?
It's disgusting what has been allowed to happen to Marple Hall site ! Shame on the planners for allowing such carnage.
Well I have a cannon ball which I found on the site about 5 years ago ! It was verified with the help of Steve Cliffe from The Heritage Magazine who sent it off to Leeds for verification and dating ! All I need now is a cannon :D
There’s not much left of the old Marple Hall site. One remaining feature is a section of the old cobbled road. To my surprise, there was a digger today removing one side of the edging cobbles. The workmen explained they had been instructed to remove both edges so new raised wooden edging could be inserted as per the bridleway already completed round the school. The middle section of cobbles was then going to be buried under the new surface. However, their work had been halted by a councillor coming down and asking them to stop since the site was of historical significance. Their brief is now to put back the cobbles and leave the path as it is. However, as you can see from the photos, what they are putting back does not match the pattern of the original edging, but blends in with the middle section.Well done to that Councillor!
How long will it be before motorbikes start using it, can they access it?
There is some hope. Stockport MBC joined forces with Sustrans to create a Connect2 route from Rosehill down Dale Rd crossing the River Goyt with a new bridge near Chadkirk and continuing right into Stockport. We can only hope Sustrans will be able to achieve something that years of requests have failed to do.There is as yet no progress on the link from Rose Hill via Dale Road to the new bridge at Chadkirk (which is near the old weir). However the link from Marple Hall High School is now almost complete, and the formal opening of the Chadkirk bridge will take place next Sunday.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the opening of the bridge ceremony, although my wife was there. It has been great to see the videos and photos of the event and the number of people there. It was also pleasing to see the signposts in place. Now it is time for Marple residents and others to persuade the Council to bring the next section of the route from Otterspool Bridge to Bredbury Hall up to a usable standard for those wishing to use it for commuting into Stockport, and of course bringing more Stockport residents into Marple to benefit the local businesses.
Further photos of the new bridge and bridleway can be found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/ants/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ants/)
or you can start here and navigate through the snaps:
www.flickr.com/photos/ants/7678196124/in/photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ants/7678196124/in/photostream)
I am surprised that no-one else has noticed that the signs indicating distances have been placed incorrectly. The sign at Rose Hill gives the distance to Macclesfield as 9m whereas the sign at Wood Lane gives the distance to Macclesfield as 10m. They are the wrong way around!
Can someone please advise me on something? Is it possible to walk from Dale Road across the bridge to Chadkirk pushing a baby's trolley?
Thanks.
Arthur was inspired to go down to Chadkirk Bridge and take a photo yesterday and it's the best shot I've seen so far, using the sky as a plain background to make the cut-outs jump out.Yip, it is definitely Eric Morecambe in the middle. Just need to have speaker playing bring me sunshine and job done!!
I'm afraid John Bradshawe still looks like a Cavalier to me but in my dreams the one in the middle is Eric Morecambe!(http://visitmarple.co.uk/photos/albums/userpics/10002/The37413_024.JPG)