Dukhyd one

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At the Dukinfield end, there is an intial walk of a km or so through residential roads before you gain access to the Peak Forest Canal towpath. This forms the major part of the route, and is exceptionally pleasant, as long as you avoid the copious amounts of goose poo!! (Some of it may be from dogs.) You leave the canal at the astonishingly ugly bridge carrying the M67 across the canal. There is a slope for pushchairs etc. up onto the footbridge next to the motorway, after which it’s not far to the bus station.

I walked this from Dukinfield to Hyde with my youngest ever Slow Ways companion, my great niece who was just 20 weeks old, plus her mother and grandmother (my sister), so we were able to test the feasibility of the route with a buggy.
From outside Dunkinfield Town Hall we had to start by going the wrong way a short distance to use the pelican crossing to cross the busy King Street, but then it was straightforward to reach the canal (almost the start of the Peak Forest Canal) at a lift bridge. From there it was generally a very pleasant walk along the well surfaced (compacted gravel and earth) and surprisingly dry towpath. There was lots of industry, but it was mostly hidden by trees.
Some of the bridges were quite low, so tall people (not us!!) may need to take care. Several times we had to avoid dog-dirt in the middle of the path, which was disappointing.
Coming out from Mary Street, alongside the M67, it was easy to miss the Clark Way underpass from this side as it wasn’t clear the OS Map I was using. Just after the footbridge over the motorway we arrived at the bus station end point.
With the exception of some inconsiderate parking, we were able to negotiate the route quite easily with the buggy.

This short route was walked and is described from Hyde.
For the most part it is a surprisingly attractive, wooded, canal walk on one of the best maintained towpaths on the Peak Forest canal, possibly suitable for wheelchairs.
The area surrounding the canal is mostly industrial but well hidden.
As it stands the whole of this route is only likely to be used by those arriving in Hyde by bus as there are more attractive access points to the canal from residential areas of north and south Hyde, plus access close to Hyde Central rail station.
At the start, facilities in the bus station are excellent with a ramp to access the broad footbridge, north over the M67 (photo 1).
A broad purpose-built path then runs east (photo 2) and under the A57 (photo 3) in a short, permanently-lit tunnel.
There is an incompletely-dropped kerb where the path emerges onto Mary Street, which has no footpath on the left and a footpath without a dropped kerb on the right.
However we met neither people nor vehicles between the footbridge and the A627.
Mary Street becomes Edward Street and it’s best to be on the left when meeting the A627. There is a left-hand footpath on the latter part of Edward Street and, shortly before the A627 junction, a dropped kerb.
NB There is a badly-placed street lamp and a road sign on the footpath so the width of the gap needs checking! Likewise, the width of the footpath alongside the A627 is restricted by a tree shortly before the turn onto Nursery Lane. This gap also needs measuring!
There is a dropped kerb at the entrance to Nursery Road but not further along and anyway the footpath finishes almost immediately. We saw no traffic here.
The access to the canal towpath from Nursery Road is via a modern ramp (photo 4). The towpath surface is smooth, hard-packed limestone or similar, with little sign of wear, mostly very well drained (this was after a rainy spell), with rare patches shallow mud.
There is also ramped access to the canal from Dunkirk Lane (photo 5), which looks well used by residents of the north end of Hyde.
There is also ramped access to a footpath through the Globe Lane Industrial Estate (photo 6). Two further bridges follow (photos 7 & 8).
A plaque by Plantation Farm on the left commemorates Mary Moffat who was born there in 1795. She was a missionary in Africa and mother-in-law of David Livingstone (photo 9).
The next bridge is the turn, over the lift bridge (photo 10) to the ramp up into Dukinfield at the Astley Arms (photo 11).
Chapel Street is a quiet residential road with kerbs dropped only for car access (photo 12). At the junction with the B6170 there is a sandwich shop and convenience store and the finish bus stop(s) outside the town hall each have an open shelter and seat (photo 13).
4.4 kilometers · +31 m / -39 m.

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