Chapel Street Park to Clayton Park (1 of 14)

Time:  2 hours, 16 minutes

Distance: 4.6 miles/ 7.2km

Difficulty: Leisurely

A diverse route connecting urban green spaces with beautiful woodland, a disused canal, a canal towpath and finishing with a historic building surrounded by a moat.

Starting at Chapel Street Park, Chapel Street, Levenshulme

Finishing at Clayton Park, Off Ashton New Road, Gorton

[1]  Enter Chapel Street Park through the entrance on the corner of Chapel Street and Lincoln Avenue. Take the path straight ahead and follow it round to the left.  Go straight across where another path crosses and then around to the right to exit onto Barlow Lane at the side of the Blue Bell pub.

Cross over the road, go up the steps to enter Greenbank Playing Fields. Follow the path around to the right, go left at a T junction and then follow this path ahead to exit the park on Manor Road. Cross the road and turn right along the road until you reach the entrance to Greenbank Park on the left.

On entering Greenbank Park follow the path straight ahead, turn right then turn left to exit the park along Baslow Avenue. Cross Guildford Road and turn right then left into Cranmere Avenue. Cross over Mathews Lane  to enter Nutsford Vale.

[2] Take the path straight ahead from the entrance. Ignoring a number of paths bearing left keep on path straight ahead with school on your right. When you reach the end of the path don’t exit onto longsight road but keep on path that takes you left staying within the vale.  Ignore another exit on your right to take the path to a crossroads of paths. Here you take the right path which takes you across a concrete walk way. Cross this walk way and immediately follow the left fork which takes you past a tree plantation on your right. Keeping the trees on your right follow the path as it bears right to exit onto Manby Road

[3] Continue to follow the path alongside the school (on the right) until you come to Knutsford Road. Turn right then left along Brookhurst Road to the entrance to Sunnybrow Park.

On entering Sunnybrow Park, head downhill to follow the lower path along the brook. At the bridge, turn left up the slope, then right to exit the park on Hengist Street / Far Lane. Cross over the road and enter the wooded area. Follow the path straight ahead with the brook on your right. You will arrive at the impressive Brookfield Church and its graveyard (worth a detour).

(A) Brookfield Unitarian Church, Gorton, Manchester, is a Grade II* listed Victorian Gothic church built between 1869–71.  It was commissioned by Richard Peacock, engineer and Liberal MP for Manchester and designed by Manchester architect Thomas Worthington. The church cost Peacock £12,000. There is a large tomb for the Peacock family who were founders of Bayer-Peacock, famous makers of steam locomotives at their Gorton works. 

Continue along the path to the right to exit the valley back onto Far Lane. Turn left to the top of the lane, past the Wagon & Horses pub, to reach Hyde Road (A57). On the opposite side of Hyde Road you will see a curved stone wall marked ‘Gorton Heritage Trail’ and a path.

(B) The Gorton Heritage Trail is found on the banks of Gore Brook. It runs for about three quarters of a mile through the Gore Brook Valley Conservation Area, from Sunny Brow Park to Gorton Lower Reservoir. The Gorton Heritage Trail Action Group (GHTAG) was founded in 1997 by local residents to protect, enhance and maintain the area, and bring attention to its sites.  It trail links up several areas that are rich in plants, trees, wildlife and history and includes Sunny Brow Park, Lower Meadow wildflower meadow, Brookfield Church and ‘dissenters graveyard’, a butterfly garden, Foxfold, and Tanyard Brow.

Turn right along the busy Hyde Road to cross at the pedestrian crossing about 100 yards away and then walk back along the other side to the entrance to the Gorton Heritage Trail.

Follow the Gorton Heritage Trail downhill and cross over the brook. Continue uphill along the path until you reach the Vale Cottage pub and turn right, passing the front of the pub, and take the path on the right. This path descends into the valley and follows the brook. Exit onto Tan Yard Brow. Turn left and take the first street on the right, Tannery Way.

[4] At the end, take the footpath on the right and follow this to the end to enter Debdale Park. Turn left and you will see a signpost for the Stockport Branch Canal (filled in) with a sign pointing to Sportcity.

(C) The Stockport Branch of the Manchester and Ashton Canal was opened in 1797 in order to transport coal from the collieries in the Ashton and Oldham area to Stockport, and ran from Clayton, Manchester to Lancashire Hill, Stockport. The canal was just over 4 miles long with no locks. The last commercial journeys were made in the 1930s and the canal was left to deteriorate. During the 1960s and 70s the canal was filled in and part of it has been turned into a landscaped walkway. In 2004 a society was formed to promote the restoration of the Stockport Branch.

Follow this fairly straight path for around 2 – 2.5 miles. Along the way you will pass Abbey Hey School, King George V Paying fields, cross a bridge over the railway close to Gorton station and after this on your left will pass a curious bridge

(D) The curious humpback bridge with a date stone of 1864 and a face carved on the keystone, carried the towpath of the Stockport Branch over a branch off the Stockport Branch canal, which went into the railway maintenance yards (now long gone).  The bridge which takes you under the Ashton Old Road crosses is still inappropriately called Packhorse Bridge.

Finally on the right you will pass the Police training centre and very soon you will reach the Ashton Canal where you can see the only surviving section of the Stockport Branch where there are some benches.

[5] Take the path which bears left to the Ashton Canal towpath. Turn left and walk down the canal towards Sportcity (which you may be able to see).At Lock No 9 go up the steps (Bridge no 11) to leave the canal on Clayton Lane. Turn right along Clayton Lane and cross over Ashton New Road at the pedestrian crossing. Turn right along Ashton New Road to enter the park and walk clockwise around the hall to get a good view until you reach the bridge over the moat.

(E) Clayton Hall is a Grade II* listed building, a scheduled ancient monument and a rare example of a medieval moated site.  It was acquired by Manchester City Corporation in 1897. The original hall was built for the Clayton family in the 12th Century, passing through the hands of the Byron family before being sold to the merchant Humphrey Chetham, famous for founding Chethams School and Library in the centre of Manchester. The current building was probably built in the 15th century surrounded by a moat. Alterations were made in the 16th and 17th centuries, and enlarged in the 18th century. During the Civil War, Royalist cavalry were stationed here, before the attack on Manchester. Afterwards, according to legend, Oliver Cromwell was said to have spent three nights at the Hall.  The oldest surviving structure on the site is the sandstone bridge crossing the (now empty) moat. Dating from the late medieval era, it was built to replace an original wooden drawbridge over the moat.

Filed under: Manchester Walking Routes, Walking Routes
Tagged: Brookfield Unitarian Church, Chapel Street Park, clayton hall, Clayton Park, gore brook, gorton heritage trail, green corridor, Greenbank Park, history, Manchester, Nutsford Vale, Ramblers, route, walk, Walking
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