An Afternoon Walk along the River Mersey and Bridgewater Canal

Saturday 18th January 2014 

A walk from Stockport to Altrincham, mainly along riverside and canalside paths 

Distance: 23.5km; Ascent: negligible; Mainly dry with occasional sunshine; Solo

See tracked route in new window

Car trouble prevented me from getting into the hills today, so instead I opted for a more local walk.  Therefore after having dropped the car at the garage I set off westwards at around 11am along the Trans Pennine Trail, which here follows the north bank of the River Mersey.

River Mersey near East Didsbury

Around Didsbury the Trans Pennine Trail leaves the river, but I instead decided to stick with the Mersey and continued along a muddy footpath past the colourfully painted Didsbury Sluice Gate building.

Didsbury Sluice Gate

River Mersey near Millgate Farm

Soon the path improved and I reached Simon's Bridge, which according to the plaque dates from 1901.  Shortly afterwards I left the river to take a short-cut footpath across a golf-course to avoid one of the many large meanders of the Mersey around here.

Simon's Bridge

After another couple of kilometres I reached Chorlton Water Park, where I stopped for a quick bite to eat at a handily located picnic bench.

Chorlton Water Park

Now back alongside the Mersey, I continued downstream under the new bridge, which was built for the Metrolink extension to the airport, and on past Jackson's Bridge.

New Metrolink bridge near Jackson's Bridge

I left the river once again to follow the Trans Pennine Trail through Chorlton Ees Nature Reserve and on underneath the Altrincham Metrolink line and the Bridgewater Canal.  Here I left the Trans Pennine Trail and instead picked up the Bridgewater Way south along the towpath of the Bridgewater Canal.

Bridgewater Canal

Bridgewater Canal

My original plan had been to walk along the canal as far as Dunham Massey, but given the time and the fact that I'd just have to walk back into Altrincham from there to catch the train home, I instead decided to head directly for Altrincham station.  I arrived at the station at around quarter to four, in plenty of time for the hourly train back home to Stockport after a pleasant few hours walking.

See also my Social Hiking live map from the walk.