As a regular cyclist (my wife is also a cyclist and horserider), I don't see the problem that non-riders seem to have with shared use paths. Horses don;t actually need a very wide path at foot level, it's only at the shoulders they need a bit of room, and even then not nearly as much room is needed as modern specifications would demand; remember that Roman Bridge was built for horses!
The track from Lower dale farm through to the weir is already used by bikes anyway, it was formerly a cart track as evidenced by the width of the gates. Ijust don;t want the path turned into a gravel motorway, that's what causes problems with user conflict - wide open paths encourage inaproppriate speed from cyclists, and encourage pedestrians to wander along in big groups chatting to each other. No doubt of course that Stockport Council will actually cut down all the vegetation and put in a gravel path some 3m wide, they seem to think that's the answer to everything.