Commuting to Manchester from Marple

[lovesthathawk]

Thank you everybody for your responses, you've been really helpful and have certainly given us some food for thought.

We're not sure how workable it's going to be for us, but we're considering all the options such as possibly renting in Marple for a while to trial it.

[simonesaffron]

If you have to live in Greater Manchester then Marple is a good place to be and there are a lot of positives to the place. One of them is train access.

The worst part though is travelling out of it by car between 7am and 9am during school term times. Fortunately I don't have to do it anymore not to deadlines anyway. When I did I had some horrible journeys and they were not as infrequent as they should have been and that was ten years ago. Two hours plus to South Manchester was not uncommon neither was 90 minutes to Stockport centre a distance of about six miles.

My understanding of the situation is that it has become worse and it is not going to get any better. There are also some future proposals concerning Marple and if they happen then traffic density is going to measurably increase.

If travelling in/out of Marple by car  particularly at morning peaks is a necessity for you and is time sensitive then I would suggest that you do several dummy -runs  to see how it fits your schedule.

You learn to manage all situations - it's true but if I was now in the employment situation that I was in and I had years ahead of me then I think that I would seriously consider changing something and it might be my address.           

[My login is Henrietta]

I used to commute into Manchester, by trains some days and by car on others,  but it was a few years ago, and I'm sure there will be others with more recent experience who will be able to give you a more up-to-date picture.

However, it was pretty bad in those days, and no doubt it has got worse since then.  In order to avoid Offerton, Stockport and Bredbury, the route many people take, especially if they live on the east side of Marple, is via Compstall and over Werneth Low to Gee Cross, and then through Hyde, on to the M67 and into Manchester on the A57 via Belle Vue.  But whichever way you go it's bad.

In the end you have to weigh up the attractions of living here (yes, it's a great place to live) with the inconvenience of the commute. 

So far so good but before I retired I lived in Hyde and frequently had to commute by car into M/chester. The M67 was hell on wheels despite the traffic lights on the Denton roundabout (or possibly because of them).

As Dave says there are downsides to living in Marple but the upsides tend to be worth it and a lot of other "villages" on the outskirts of Manchester have the same aggravations with travel into the city that we do.

[Belly]

Manchester is the problem location for car travel really. Whichever route you try it can take forever as even once you have managed to hit the M60, which can take 45 minutes even on a good day, you then have the choice of A57, A6, A5103 - all pretty congested. Of course during the school holidays its a totally different story, when you can probably zoom into Central Manchester in under an hour. That said, I moved to Marple when I was working in Central Manchester - specifically for the commute. As by train its good. My wife still trains it in 3 days a week. No problems.

Travel to Stockport is a pretty grim in the rush hour too -the bike option is certianly worth thinking about for this journey, as most times I've had to do it, a bike would definitely have been quicker.

I commute out to Wilmslow now, which is relatively easy - 30 minutes most days, you could probably do the airport in 45. So its not so bad in some directions.

Conclusion - if you have to tarvel to Stockport or Manchester , do it 'out of peak' i.e. before 7 or after 9. At those times its fine. Or else use the train or bike (or both)!

[Harry]

The secret is to be out of Marple before 7:00 am. After that it can take up to an hour to reach Stockport or the motorway. The problem is that it's so unpredictable. One day could take the hour, the next may be only 20 minutes. Oh! And when you reach the motorway it's frequently 3 lanes of standing traffic. Even at 7:00 am.

I rarely have a problem with the return journey. It's always about the same. Half an hour from the motorway at Bredbury, or from Stockport.

[Howard]

My commute to "work" is only around 30 seconds now, which is fantastic!

My commute is 15 seconds, 50% lower than Mark's! I have actually never commuted from Marple as I work wherever my customers need me. My main drive out of Marple is to the airport and I always make sure I book my flights to avoid the 7am-9am or 4pm-6pm periods. If I can't then I take the train into Manchester and then get the express.

As with other people, you need to weigh up the benefits of living in Marple compared with your commute. For me, it's the quality of life you get living here.

[admin]

And admin if it takes 30 mins to get from Stockport you really do need to cycle it ( don't mean you personally as you indicate you no longer do it)

My commute to "work" is only around 30 seconds now, which is fantastic!

Any advice welcome, thank you.

Before we moved here I was working in Stockport on assignment (from the firm's London Office). When we decided to relocate my wife came up and stayed for a week while we looked at where we wanted to live and by chance we stayed in Marple at the Oakfield Lodge. It was this that helped us decide to stay here. Would it be practical for you to try living in Marple for a few days the way we did, and commute to work as you would normally wish to do?

[amazon]

It's quicker for my husband to get to his office in Liverpool from Marple, than it was getting into the centre of Manchester when he was based there, he hated the drive into Manchester morning and night it could take two hours!.  I know of people who have not purchased in Marple due to having to commute by car which can be a nightmare if you don't leave early enough, which is a shame as its a lovely place to live

Agree with that when I was working we had a contract of two months working in Liverpool used to be picked up at seven . In Liverpool liver buildings clock striking eight just one hour same coming back leave a four home about 5..great place to work enjoyed it .

[Pink Panther]

It's quicker for my husband to get to his office in Liverpool from Marple, than it was getting into the centre of Manchester when he was based there, he hated the drive into Manchester morning and night it could take two hours!.  I know of people who have not purchased in Marple due to having to commute by car which can be a nightmare if you don't leave early enough, which is a shame as its a lovely place to live

[wheels]

I too used to have to visit various sites around Manchester when I worked there these were from Didsbury to Oldham Rd. I will give our new friend the expected but honest answer. Put your bike on the train and cycle round the sites you will be surprised how much quicker it is.

And admin if it takes 30 mins to get from Stockport you really do need to cycle it ( don't mean you personally as you indicate you no longer do it) I will be leaving work at 6pm today and expect to be home in 25 mins and in the shower within 30min. And I am 62.......

[admin]

Over the last 20-odd years I've commuted by car to Stockport, Risley in Warrington, Sale and Middlewich in Cheshire and Cheadle Royal.

I would agree with Bowden Guy except I used to leave by 6.30am, in which case the travel times on average where:

Stockport (15-20mins), Risley in Warrington (45mins), Sale (25mins) and Middlewich in Cheshire (40mins) and Cheadle Royal (20mins).

Coming home, I would always try to leave by 4pm or wait until after 6pm then average times home would be:

Stockport (20-30mins), Risley in Warrington (1hr 15mins to 1hr 30mins), Sale (40mins to 1hr) and Middlewich in Cheshire (1hr to 1hr 40mins) and Cheadle Royal (30-40mins).

I found if I left after 4pm or before 6pm then the trip could take two hours or more and sometimes the roads can be a complete disaster.

The M56/M60 and M62/M60 junctions being the biggest bottlenecks, and of course all routes into Marple via Offerton or Bredbury.

There are several threads discussing other aspects of moving to Marple that may be of interest here:

http://www.marple-uk.com/smf/index.php?topic=4994.0

http://www.marple-uk.com/smf/index.php?topic=4334.0

http://www.marple-uk.com/smf/index.php?topic=441.0

http://www.marple-uk.com/smf/index.php?topic=4198.0

[Dave]

I used to commute into Manchester, by trains some days and by car on others,  but it was a few years ago, and I'm sure there will be others with more recent experience who will be able to give you a more up-to-date picture.

However, it was pretty bad in those days, and no doubt it has got worse since then.  In order to avoid Offerton, Stockport and Bredbury, the route many people take, especially if they live on the east side of Marple, is via Compstall and over Werneth Low to Gee Cross, and then through Hyde, on to the M67 and into Manchester on the A57 via Belle Vue.  But whichever way you go it's bad.

In the end you have to weigh up the attractions of living here (yes, it's a great place to live) with the inconvenience of the commute. 

[Bowden Guy]

I spent 11 years commuting from Marple to Cheshire and if I left it any later than 6.50am it was horrendous. Hope you enjoy living in Marple.

[lovesthathawk]

Hi all

My partner and I currently live in South Manchester and we are hoping to relocate in the new year. We are very taken with Marple and are just doing some research into various aspects of the move.

We both work in Manchester. I would commute in by train so that's fine. However, my partner works across various sites in Manchester and needs his car for work so would need to drive in. We realise that there will be an issue with traffic, but we're struggling to find specific information on how bad this would be.

So I was wondering if anyone could give me any specifics about this commute by car please, for example, how long does it take in rush hour and would there be a certain time that you'd need to leave by in the morning or come through in the evening to miss the worst of it? What times should be avoided?

I appreciate that this might be a 'how long is a piece of string' type question, but we're just trying to get a better idea. Everything we've read just says it's a nightmare, which is fine but not especially helpful for decision making. 

Any advice welcome, thank you.