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Author Topic: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport  (Read 20686 times)

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simonesaffron

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #17 on: June 23, 2012, 10:46:41 AM »
All you cyclists, I fear for your safety, why do you do it ?.       

Why? For me it's quicker and saves a few £. When kids are at school and their parents want to ensure their kids don't see past the age of 50 by insisting on driving them to school & creating obese kids (it will alleviate the pensions crisis though), it takes up to 3/4 hr to drive to work. To cycle, 20 mins.

You don't have to drive your kids to school, they can walk. If you let your kids cycle to school, they might not see 15 let alone 50.

Duke Fame

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #16 on: June 23, 2012, 07:18:08 AM »
All you cyclists, I fear for your safety, why do you do it ?.       

Why? For me it's quicker and saves a few £. When kids are at school and their parents want to ensure their kids don't see past the age of 50 by insisting on driving them to school & creating obese kids (it will alleviate the pensions crisis though), it takes up to 3/4 hr to drive to work. To cycle, 20 mins.

simonesaffron

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #15 on: June 23, 2012, 06:20:04 AM »
All you cyclists, I fear for your safety, why do you do it ?

I saw a cyclist yesterday cycling down Dan Bank, I was driving, the rain was a deluge you couldn't see anything, certainly not him yet there he was peddling away.

It might be safe poodling around cycle tracks or around the backways of Marple but cycling to Stockport on main roads, you must be mad! Well some of you obviously are anyway, I can tell from previous posts. I took the bikes off my kids and locked them up and that was twenty five years ago - now there is even more traffic.  I considered it a basic child - safeguarding act. I've got three adult ( their age says that they are) friends who cycle regularly, over the years, between them, they have had a multiplicity of accidents involving cars/trucks. One of them was actually (mercifully unhurt) taken out by a speeding ambulance, can you believe it? Another, almost died and was in hospital for ages at the time he had three children all at school yet he couldn't wait to get back on his bike.

I don't understand cyclists.

Cycling is great - in Holland.       

Duke Fame

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2012, 11:26:28 PM »
Do you have a problem with the Councils Cycling Officer?

Seems a waste of council tax money & a career

wheels

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2012, 07:00:50 PM »
Do you have a problem with the Councils Cycling Officer?

Duke Fame

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2012, 06:08:33 PM »
Well you could start with Don Naylor the Councils Cycling Officer  email don.naylor@stockport.gov.uk more the point to one of your councillors or to the Council Leader who herself lives in Marple.

The council has a cycling officer? jeez.

I do the route, Hibbert la> Brindley la> Church St> Stockport Road to past Rose hill, nip onto the parralell road to take the traffic> back on to the main road > pass the queue down to the lights > lose momentum > jump off at Marple old road > back on at teh top of hill to get a run onto hte main road again > I sometimes have to jump on the pavement as we pass the BP garage but I do see a lot of pedestrians - I got taken out by a woman on the road up the hill so slightly nervous (+ I should have teken her to court, injured for about a year after) up to the lights, jump on ht epavement to clear the lights, back on the road to Hempshaw Lane, pretty fast all the way to the office.

Henry_

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2012, 09:32:07 AM »
I must admit I am a nervous cyclist on roads, hence trying to stay off them. I am actually looking to commute to Didsbury but from Stockport onwards that bit is easy as the Trans Pennine Way follows the Mersey down to the back of Fletcher Moss.

wheels

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #10 on: June 19, 2012, 10:12:42 PM »
Well you could start with Don Naylor the Councils Cycling Officer  email don.naylor@stockport.gov.uk more the point to one of your councillors or to the Council Leader who herself lives in Marple.


rsh

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2012, 09:57:34 PM »
And how do we go about persuading them? Like most people I imagine, I never know who I should be contacting about such things to actually be heard, so I don't bother.

I hope they also "aspire" to join up the loose ends at Bredbury at some point anyway:


CTCREP

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2012, 05:13:32 PM »
The Bridge at Chadkirk is to be lifted into place starting about 11am on Wednesday 20th June.  The route via Mill Lane will hopefully become part of National Cycle Network Route 55. It is not ideal in its present form, rough and often wet, however Stockport MBC calls this an aspirational route, it needs all of us to persuade them that it needs to become a reality and suitable for commuting.

wheels

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2012, 07:42:51 PM »
Well I cycle to the Pryamid to work everyday and I would add 15 minutes to my journey each way doing all that.

First of all on a matter of cyclist saftey the best way to make the roads safe for cyclists is to get as many people on the roads as possible so that the driver is used to seeing the cyclist and they become a part of the normal street scene. Therefore I would counsel against getting cyclist off road.

I just go down Station Rd onto Stockport Rd and to Dan Bank, then either up Old Marple Road as you describe or just on the main road and along the main road to Hempshaw Lane, Hempsaow Lane is very quite here to the Fingerpost and then down to the traffic lights where Hempshaw Lane become duel carriageway. Whilst busy here its very safe as the traffic is moving very slowly. Across the A6 to The Florist round to the Edgeley Roundabout and down and round to the Pyramid. It takes between 26 and 29 minutes and I am over 60. It takes me about 20 mins to drive it so why would I drive it.

An alternative is Middlewood Way to the A6 then just along the A6 again very safe as the traffic generally is so slow.

Never never never encourage cyclists to get off road. The more of there are of us on the road the safer it is.

I see that recent governement proposals are that for the HGV test drivers will also have to spend some time cycling on the road during the test to help make them cyclist aware.


marplerambler

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2012, 05:43:59 PM »
If time is of the essence and you are commuting to Stockport from Rose Hill by bike the following route may at first seem a little convoluted but I believe it to be the safest route using metalled roads, paths and passageways for the cyclist at busy periods. Between Offerton and Stockport it uses roads which minimise sharing the road with heavy traffic. From Rose Hill station use the lane parallel to Stockport Rd for residents’ traffic between Railway Road and Marina Drive. Going down Dan Bank you are going as fast as , or faster, than vehicular traffic (on return journey ride on bicycle lane/pavement from Dooley Lane up as far as and left into Hilltop Drive then right along Claremont Avenue, Isherwood Drive, Weatherley Drive to Rose Hill). Just after the Offerton Road lights left up Marple Old Road to avoid the left hand curve which hides slowly moving cyclists. NB the No Entry sign applies to vehicular traffic only, the No Entry sign does not prohibit usage by bicycles and horses heading towards Stockport (the lowered curb to facilitate bicycle usage was deliberately constructed by the Council to precede the No Entry sign).  If the traffic is flowing freely past the BP garage at Offerton Green and Poise Brook you do have the momentum to get a long way up Marple Road but if the traffic is very slow moving when you hit Poise Brook use the pavement. The curb is lowered, it is very rare to see pedestrians on this stretch of pavement and at the top of the hill there is a lowered curb which has been installed by the Council with the specific purpose of enabling bikes to get back onto the road. It is possible to get from just before Lisburne Lane to Higher Hillgate avoiding most of the traffic using back roads and passageways. To avoid the Lisburne Lane traffic lights, turn left off Marple Road down the passageway on the left just after Chadwell St. Up the small hill at Half Moon Lane, then along Crosswaite Road to Lisburne Lane. Straight across onto Offerton Drive (this entry is blocked to cars but not to bikes). This takes you to Hillcrest Road via Woodcroft. Left along Hillcrest Road, straight across the lights onto Nangreave Road. Second on the right with a small roundabout and a big pub is Lowndes Lane. Take Lowndes Lane, watch for Bampton Close on the left, the next left turn is un-named but has a passageway to Blea Tarn Rd leading to Windermere Road. Right along Windermere Road. At the Maitland St T junction right towards  Hempshaw Lane but you avoid this lethal stretch of Hempshaw Lane by taking the passageway adjacent to the corner shop on left before Hempshaw Lane. This brings you out onto Brookfield Ave. At the Christie St T-junction left and up to Charles St (do not drop onto Hempshaw Lane). Charles St is blocked to vehicles just after the Stagecoach garage to prevent it being used as a rat run by cars avoiding the Hempshaw Lane lights but cycles use the pavement to pass the road obstruction and then back onto Charles St all the way to Higher Hillgate then right down Hillgate all the way to Underbank. I would be interested to know if anyone can suggest a better route using metalled roads and pavements. (PS before any bike bashers comment on my use of pavements reply, I wish to point out that if there is a pedestrian on the pavement I follow one rule only and that is that the pedestrian is never endangered by my bike: I either get out of the way by going back onto the road or I dismount and always give the pedestrian priority).

rsh

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2012, 02:47:43 PM »
http://www.cyclestreets.net is also a nice resource, it takes the OpenStreetMap and then layers on extra detail for cyclists.

Bear in mind on that path behind Marple Hall towards Otterspool there's now a locked gate halfway down with no way to get your bike through other than lifting it over. This route is what the new Chadkirk bridge will soon help solve. From there as sgk says just follow Mill Lane around. You can cross the river using the bridge towards Holiday Lane to follow the woods to Woodbank, but this path can be a bit tricky on a bike (narrow, tree roots, ups and downs). Only alternative is to stay on the track and end up at Bredbury Hall, not far from Vernon Park, but then you're on the busy main road.

sgk

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2012, 02:41:31 PM »
The much-neglected http://www.openstreetmap.org shows stuff like this quite well.  Click the pics below for a decent-sized view.

Go round the back of Marple Hall school, cross Dooley Lane, hop onto Mill Lane, follow it and then cross the Goyt at the bridge, and then across Vernon Park ?

Oops, these are clickable images for full view btw.




Henry_

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Re: Best off road cycle route from Marple to Stockport
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2012, 01:51:10 PM »
thanks sgk, I'll trial it out over the weekend