Commute Macclesfield/Bollington - Manchester

[David]

Dear All

Hi

I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in Manchester.

Does anyone in here do this commute??

Any tips?

Ta

David

 

[Richard Bullock]

> Hi
>
> I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in
Manchester.
>
> Does anyone in here do this commute??
>
I presume because you are posting this, that you will be cycling. There are lots of routes into the
city centre, and the Middlewood Way (NCN 55) is quite a well surfaced cycle path for the most part
that passes through Bollington and will take you to Marple near Stockport - might be worth a look.
The A6 through Stockport is usually busy, but parts of it have a priority bus/cycle lane. Probably
worth checking some of the roads out before starting your commute.

Ric

 

[Wafflydirtycatl]

>Any tips?

It's hilly ;-) Well, from what I remember from a visit there years ago.

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
This is sent from a redundant email Mail sent to it is dumped My correct one can be gleaned from
h$**$*$el$**e$n$**$d$**$o$*$t**$$s$**$im$mo$ns*@a$**o$l.c$$*o$*m*$ by getting rid of the
overdependence on money and fame
~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Mikebam]

"David" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dear All
>
> Hi
>
> I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in
Manchester.
>
> Does anyone in here do this commute??
>
> Any tips?
>
> Ta
>
> David

Hi David, I assume when you say "commute" on this group, you do mean using your bike. If so then
agree with Richard - the A6 around Hazel Grove/Stockport can be a nightmare. I live in Gatley near
the Airport so no direct experience but had a colleague who used a variety of the less direct
routes(through Reddish on the other side of Stockport) from Poynton to avoid the A6. We work/ed on
the east side of Manchester(West Gorton) so not as bad as city centre traffic. I use the A34
Kingsway from Gatley and, if heading straight into town centre, is not a bad route(wide road) apart
from the junction with the M60 sliproads. You can make your way across to this road via Handforth -
avoid the A34(T) bypass - and across to Palatine road(B5093) and come in past the university. This
has more cycle routes, "Bicycle Doctor" - plug - if bits required and a surface more suited to MTB's
than lightweight kit. None of the direct main roads are "cycle friendly" IMO from Hazel Grove
onwards. I use a trike most of the time to keep the marauding hordes off my back and this works most
of the time. Drop me a line if you need more info.

Mike

 

[W K]

"mikebam" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> You can make your way across to this road via Handforth - avoid the A34(T) bypass - and across to
> Palatine road(B5093) and come in past the
university.

I've cycled past the university exactly once. Lots of wobbly cyclists, milling pedestrians, and so
much "visual noise" that a truck drove straight in front of me.

I'd prefer to be riding on a six lane road with people doing 70 mph.

 

[Kate]

[email protected] (wafflyDIRTYcatLITTERhcsBOX) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> >Any tips?
>
> It's hilly ;-) Well, from what I remember from a visit there years ago.
>
> Cheers, helen s
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~
> This is sent from a redundant email Mail sent to it is dumped My correct one can be gleaned from
> h$**$*$el$**e$n$**$d$**$o$*$t**$$s$**$im$mo$ns*@a$**o$l.c$$*o$*m*$ by getting rid of the
> overdependence on money and fame
> ~~~~~~~~~~

I don't commute this but have cycled it or something similar a couple of times - I think a fast, and
quite pleasant (though may be worse in rush hour) way is probably to head through Adlington then
Dean Row then Styal and straight up through Gatley (B5166) and up Princess Parkway into town. I'm
not very fast and this takes me getting on for 2 hours - must be 20 miles or a bit more. The only
slightly hilly bit is coming out of Bollington towards Adlington. I did this as the second half of a
loop from Manchester going out via Marple and the Middlewood Way, which I thought was much slower
and was definitely hillier.

It'd be a fair old commute!

Kate

 

[Graham Steel]

My wife commutes by car from Macclesfield to Wilmslow: the road through Prestbury and Mottram St
Andrew. She gets annoyed with cyclists because it is a narrow windy road and difficult to overtake.
Much as I love to encourage cycling, I don't think this route is a good one.

Graham
--
Graham Steel: [email protected] Web: http://www.steelworks.org.uk

 

[Simon Galgut]

"Graham Steel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My wife commutes by car from Macclesfield to Wilmslow: the road through Prestbury and Mottram St
> Andrew. She gets annoyed with cyclists because it is a narrow windy road and difficult to
> overtake. Much as I love to encourage cycling, I don't think this route is a good one.

Oh dear, I'd better never cycle that road again then - I wouldn't want to hold up Mrs Steel on her
terribly important journey to her terribly important job. The road is certainly not narrow as roads
around this area go, and if Mrs Steel gets annoyed so easily perhaps she should seek councelling.

Regards Simon (who commutes Congleton/Manchester and has on occasions gone via Macc for a change)

 

[daztoon]

Originally posted by David
Dear All

Hi

I'm about to go and live in Bollington near Macclesfield and I work in Manchester.

Does anyone in here do this commute??

Any tips?

Ta

David

David,

I commute from manchester to Macclesfield every day and have used all the various routes. If you don't mind a bit of traffic then the A523 to Stockport and then the A6 to manchester is probably the fastest route, but like I say, it gets a LOT of traffic.

A much more pleasant route (and not that much slower) is the B5358 to Handforth, which you then follow all the way to Cheadle (crossing the A34). From Cheadle then take the B5095 to Didsbury and then either go through the centre of Didsbury on Wilsmlow Road to Manchester or go along the A34 (Kingsway). If you go on the Macclesfield to Wilmslow road then keep an eye out for Mrs Steel as she's usually in a hurry and doesn't like cyclists apparently.

HTH,

Darren.

 

[D Hall]

[email protected] (Graham Steel) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> My wife commutes by car from Macclesfield to Wilmslow: the road through Prestbury and Mottram St
> Andrew. She gets annoyed with cyclists because it is a narrow windy road and difficult to
> overtake. Much as I love to encourage cycling, I don't think this route is a good one.
>
> Graham

Absolute rubbish! There are two roads from Macclesfield to Wilmslow and both of them (A538 & Bonis
Hall Lane) have plenty of room for cyclists. I commute along Bonis Hall Lane every day and whilst I
come across the odd irate driver (probably your wife!) I've never held anyone up for longer than
about 20 seconds before they could pass safely.

Here's a quick tip. Usually if I get an irate driver honking their horn and driving a few feet
behind, I'll cycle further out from the kerb in order to discourage them from passing too closely
and forcing me into the gutter. If on the other hand, a driver keeps back and is patient, I'll often
move closer to the kerb when it's safe too allow cars to pass. Tell your wife to be more patient and
she may get where she's going that little bit quicker.

 

[Thomas Benson]

Never done it as a commute but have done this journey hundreds of times and fully agree with what
Daztoon says. The Cheadle route is especially good. As for the A6, you soon get used to heavy
traffic and from SK town centre to MCR it's possible to do the trip on quieter residential streets
(see A-Z). From Bollington, where I lived, the "back" route along Adlington Rd and Sugar Lane is
more direct and picturesque tho with some steep hills; also, it gives the option of getting the
train from Adlington (when the railway is in service again, that is). Note that train fairs within
the former Greater Manchester are subsidised so, e.g. Hazel Grove/Middlewood to Manchester cheap day
return is only £2.30 or so. There are plenty of trains HG-MCR but fewer stop at Middlewood stn.
Middlewood Way can get messy in the rain.