If time is of the essence and you are commuting to Stockport from Rose Hill by bike the following route may at first seem a little convoluted but I believe it to be the safest route using metalled roads, paths and passageways for the cyclist at busy periods. Between Offerton and Stockport it uses roads which minimise sharing the road with heavy traffic. From Rose Hill station use the lane parallel to Stockport Rd for residents’ traffic between Railway Road and Marina Drive. Going down Dan Bank you are going as fast as , or faster, than vehicular traffic (on return journey ride on bicycle lane/pavement from Dooley Lane up as far as and left into Hilltop Drive then right along Claremont Avenue, Isherwood Drive, Weatherley Drive to Rose Hill). Just after the Offerton Road lights left up Marple Old Road to avoid the left hand curve which hides slowly moving cyclists. NB the No Entry sign applies to vehicular traffic only, the No Entry sign does not prohibit usage by bicycles and horses heading towards Stockport (the lowered curb to facilitate bicycle usage was deliberately constructed by the Council to precede the No Entry sign). If the traffic is flowing freely past the BP garage at Offerton Green and Poise Brook you do have the momentum to get a long way up Marple Road but if the traffic is very slow moving when you hit Poise Brook use the pavement. The curb is lowered, it is very rare to see pedestrians on this stretch of pavement and at the top of the hill there is a lowered curb which has been installed by the Council with the specific purpose of enabling bikes to get back onto the road. It is possible to get from just before Lisburne Lane to Higher Hillgate avoiding most of the traffic using back roads and passageways. To avoid the Lisburne Lane traffic lights, turn left off Marple Road down the passageway on the left just after Chadwell St. Up the small hill at Half Moon Lane, then along Crosswaite Road to Lisburne Lane. Straight across onto Offerton Drive (this entry is blocked to cars but not to bikes). This takes you to Hillcrest Road via Woodcroft. Left along Hillcrest Road, straight across the lights onto Nangreave Road. Second on the right with a small roundabout and a big pub is Lowndes Lane. Take Lowndes Lane, watch for Bampton Close on the left, the next left turn is un-named but has a passageway to Blea Tarn Rd leading to Windermere Road. Right along Windermere Road. At the Maitland St T junction right towards Hempshaw Lane but you avoid this lethal stretch of Hempshaw Lane by taking the passageway adjacent to the corner shop on left before Hempshaw Lane. This brings you out onto Brookfield Ave. At the Christie St T-junction left and up to Charles St (do not drop onto Hempshaw Lane). Charles St is blocked to vehicles just after the Stagecoach garage to prevent it being used as a rat run by cars avoiding the Hempshaw Lane lights but cycles use the pavement to pass the road obstruction and then back onto Charles St all the way to Higher Hillgate then right down Hillgate all the way to Underbank. I would be interested to know if anyone can suggest a better route using metalled roads and pavements. (PS before any bike bashers comment on my use of pavements reply, I wish to point out that if there is a pedestrian on the pavement I follow one rule only and that is that the pedestrian is never endangered by my bike: I either get out of the way by going back onto the road or I dismount and always give the pedestrian priority).
