Storom one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Storom here.

Note that the route goes through Stockport railway station (ie goes west) to start out via Station Road.
The station is on two levels and has good wheelchair provision to access trains on the lower level if necessary.
However, the route starts from the east end of the station so it is best to commence east, avoiding the lower level which can be busy.

StoRom
A description of the eastern half of the route StoRom 1.
(I have checked the west half on Google street view and it uses pavements and the usual pedestrian facilities until it leaves Woodlands Drive and enters the woodland above the River Goyt)
The footpath along the southern bank River Goyt is attractive and is beaten earth, muddy in places in wet weather. The descent to the River Goyt is broad and fairly steep with a bend (photo 1 looking back).
Though this latter is included in the Greater Manchester Cycle Routes Map it is classed as ‘Footpath – please walk your bike’.
The Jim Fearnley Bridge across the river here has broad ramps each side with only very slight lips (photo 2).
The climb up the other side includes a flight of three steps plus two steps, so suitable for use with care for a horse or walking with a bike or pushchair but not, as it stands, a wheelchair or scooter (photo 3).
There is a bridleway gate at the entrance to Dark Lane (Midshires Way, Alan Newton Way, NCR 55) (photo 4). This is a broad, unsealed bridleway of beaten chippings/earth. Probably should have been classed a byway.
The entrance to the footpath on the bend of the river is difficult to find and a bit of a scramble for older people up a loose earth bank with a flight of wooden steps and no handrail (photo 5). At the top is a stile and notice indicating the possibility of animals in the fields and the danger of loose dogs being shot (photo 6).
As my husband is wary of animals in fields we didn’t take the field path but continued on Dark Lane (Midshires Way etc) through two partial barriers (photos 7 & 8) after which the lane has a sealed surface, though overgrown and appearing unused by motor vehicles. The habitations at this point are obviously accessed directly from the A627.
The lane broadens slightly and becomes Mill Lane at the next corner. There is no footpath but there could only be the occasional vehicle to access the kennels and stables at the corner.
This deviation is longer than the field path but obviously the route preferred by the local landowners and council and it is well-used, popular and well signposted (photo 9 looking back from the A627).
For this reason I don’t recommend the field path used by StoRom 1, which comes out onto the A627 with a steep flight of steps (photo 10), stile and another warning notice a few meters north of the exit from Mill Lane.
StoRom 1 then has a toucan crossing, with Romiley rail station signposted (photo 11), to access Vale Road, which has a sealed surface. There is a public car park and Business Park a few meters from its entrance but it is otherwise a cul-de-sac for cars, having a bollard in the tunnel under the Peak Forest canal at the far end. It is is a popular walk for families visiting the Chadkirk Country Estate.
I don’t recommend the StoRom 1 route from the first corner of Vale Road where, ignoring the pedestrian/cycle signpost to the station along Vale Road, the route continues through a bridleway gate and horse facility and then a second bridleway gate (photo 12).
The Slow Ways gpx track is oversimplified here. There is no path into the attractive woods at this point. Access is some meters along the main path up three substantial flights of steps (photo 13, see OSM at this point) to access the Peak Forest canal.
StoRom 1 then continues to Romiley Station via Oakwood Road through the grounds of Romiley Board Mill. I have walked through here once when reviewing Romiley-Marple and wouldn’t go again on foot or wheel. Waste materials (some had spilled on the road) are recycled here to make cardboard. It is busy with trucks and cars and correctly signed as dangerous. There are pavements but pedestrians must to cross at least one garage and several parking places containing working trucks (photo 14) taken later as a detour from the canal). The smell and noise is revolting.
I will combine the suggested alterations in StoRom 2.

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