Levsto two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

We walked from Stockport to Levenshulme the route out of Stockport station is currently impassable due to building work, so see LEVSTO 3 for an alternative start. The route as a whole is neither one thing nor the other. Here in a very urban setting I'm not sure this route works but wouldn't fail it, there are some good interesting and enjoyable parts but they are so different. I suspect it's not suitable for wheels with some steep or muddy paths. I did like the roadside walk beside the railway very different from a path alongside a road with just the occasional noise from a passing train. The buffer of trees and bushes offers a perch for songbirds. The green section approaching Levenshulme felt rural with mud, enjoyable but it felt like a tour especially leaving the A6 in sight of the biscuit factory which I thought marked the final leg of the walk.

Walked from Stockport to Levenshulme. Most of this route is good and surprisingly pleasant, but the route north of Stockport station is currently impassable due to building work, so I have submitted LEVSTO 3, an alternative with a more direct route down to the shopping centre. I have not yet decided whether the blockages merit a flag.

Leaving the meeting point outside Stockport station, we go north onto Station Road and almost immediately hit the first problem - the path across the corner is fenced off for building work, so we were forced to follow the road out to Wellington Road South, then go left down Exchange Road to rejoin the route. We then found that Swaine Street is also closed due to building work, so we diverted left across the railway and down Viaduct Street to reach the Mersey bridge and the right turn along Heaton Lane.

We cross Wellington Road and go straight on into the shopping centre, then left and right, past the Red Rock building and left again. There is a pelican crossing on Great Egerton Street leading to the M60 footbridge, which is accessed either using steps or a longer ramp. Beyond the bridge a cobbled street (Church Street) leads us up into parkland. We follow the TransPennine Trail signs right up Parsonage Street then left along an alleyway that leads back to Wellington Road North, where we turn right and follow the main road for some distance. There are several pelican crossings available to help cross it, the last of them at the junction with Warwick Road where we turn left.

Just before the railway we take the path right that leads to Egerton Road South, which we follow up to Heaton Chapel station (which is accessed down a rather impressive bricked staircase). We go straight on up Egerton Road North and Chandos Road, then right on Alford Road. A pelican crossing helps us across Wellington Road North, and we go a short distance left before turning right onto Milwain Drive.

We turn right again down Meadows Road then straight on into the park, where we take the surfaced track left, then go left again after crossing the bridge over Black Brook. The path continues between the houses to another T junction where we go right, then almost immediately left on a good track that leads into the Highfield country park.

After a while we fork left onto an unsurfaced but good path that leads us to the bridge over an old railway cutting (Fallowfield Loop). Beyond the cutting the path goes left to reach Broom Lane, which we cross and go right then left along Chapel Street to reach Stockport Road, where we go left, cross and turn right down Albert Street to reach the meeting point outside Levenshulme station.

This route mostly avoids the main road, using side streets and green spaces that regular travellers from Stockport to Manchester may have never seen.

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