Chaplog tries hard

The Edge of the Peak

View from the moor above Mottram Rise looking down over Stalybridge and Greater Manchester

The ride that starts from the house, crosses the A628 – Woodhead pass road - and passes the Swineshaw reservoirs is now virtually legal. The ride takes you on the very edge of open country with views of Stalybridge, Ashton and Manchester in one direction, Stockport in another, Oldham to the right in fact most of Greater Manchester.

When I first started Mountain Biking I did not really understand the exact rules regarding footpaths and bridleways, and sometimes did not want to. So yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the footpaths are designated bridleway. I always thought it was "morally" bridleway as it was mostly Land Rover type tracks.

In the photograph the track can be seen crossing the stream and going up the other side.

If someone drives an off road vehicle on to the moor to shoot grouse, surely I can ride my bike up there to look at the view? Though possibly not when they are shooting grouse! It is a problem of ownership and access and that has been fought for many a year and will continue for the foreseeable future.

We started in the rain reluctantly and ended the ride in the sun. The ride takes you on the very edge of open country with views of Stalybridge, Ashton and Manchester in one direction Stockport in another, Oldham to the right in fact most of Greater Manchester. Not a site I want to see at the weekend usually, but occasionally, when the pressure is low and the view is good you can hardly help but be impressed. Mills, council houses, factories and tower blocks all mixed together, as are the people.

The Buzzards were elsewhere today.

Posted by mikec at September 7, 2003 09:48 AM