Tuesday 17 June 2025 - GM Ringway Trail Stage 6 - Strines to Marple

We again enjoyed good weather for this the sixth stage of the GM Ringway walk. Sue and I met up with Rick, Paul, Jeanette and Rufus in plenty of time for the 10:18 train from Piccadilly to Strines. (The New Mills train.)

We started off up the steep path that mountain bikers use to charge down to the valley from the Fox Inn. The bikers were elsewhere today and we paused occasionally to get our breath back and admire the views across the Goyt Valley.

The Fox Inn wasn't open, so we hope they didn't mind us tucking into our coffee and cake at one of their picnic benches.

I recall there being llamas in these fields, but now it's just sheep, cattle and ponies. Note The Cage in Lyme Park in the background.

The climb is fairly relentless, so we paused for a photo - I failed again to do a selfie; I must buy a selfie stick.

Near the Mellor Moor trig point is a huge cross, erected in 1970 and relaced in 2018.

The trig point is one of two high points in the Borough of Stockport, beyond which we stayed high on a variety of tracks and paths, with good views ahead to the Kinder Plateau.

The hedgerows are full of white Umbellifers. This one may be Cow Parsley.

The walk took in three sides of a square to reach St Thomas's Church, Mellor. All nicely signposted and waymarked.

There's an archeological site near the church that we visited on a recent evening walk with SWOG. Today it proved to be a good lunch spot.

Here's the reconstruction of an ancient roundhouse.

Barring a few minor undulations, it was all downhill from Mellor Church, to which we are looking back in the next picture.

After passing through the pretty hamlet of Mellor, we took a variety of paths to reach Linnet Clough Scout Camp and its interesting climbing apparatus.

A rocky descent to Roman Lakes, a Victorian beauty spot, followed. This used to be a good place to start mountain bike rides - I still have the booklet of rides, but now the potholes have been filled in and the entrance gate is firmly locked, with very limited opening times. It has lost its rustic nature. A shame.

No matter, we pressed on under the impressive Goyt Cliff railway viaduct, built in 1865.

There's a huge weir nearby, a sure sign of this area's industrial past.

A little further on, our route leaves the main track (carry on along there and we might find ourselves back at Strines!) and crosses the River Goyt by way of a so-called 'Roman Bridge'. It doesn't date from Roman times, but it may be a subject of 'romance'.

From the river, some steep steps lead to Strines Road, across which the Peak Forest Canal provides an easy stroll along a towpath to finish this stage of the GM Ringway walk.

The heron studiously ignored us, giving a great demonstration of staying completely still before whipping a fish out of the canal for a late lunch.

The humans who were trying to turn this barge around in a confined space may be rather less intelligent.

We've been here many times before, so I'll finish with just a few snaps from the towpath, which is left at Brabyns Brow in favour of a few metres of pavement to reach Marple Station, and a ten minute wait for a train to Piccadilly.

Here's our route, starting near the bottom at Strines Station - 14km with 340 metres ascent, taking us a little over 4 hours. An excellent walk.

Next - Stage 7 from Marple to Broadbottom on Tuesday 1 July, starting at Marple on the 10:42 train - the same 10:18 from Piccadilly that we caught today.