Woodbank Memorial Park Nature & Heritage Trail

Overview

Woodbank Memorial Park is situated adjacent to Stockport’s Vernon Park and is ideal for a leisurely stroll in its wide open spaces.

The park connects with the River Goyt and the Goyt Way. Footpaths can take you along Poise Brook to Offerton or onwards towards Otterspool and Bredbury. The long-distance Midshires Way and the much shorter Fred Perry Way also pass through the park.

A nature & heritage trail, which had been lost for years, has been restored by the Friends group. This trail links many of the heritage features of the park that many people don’t even know exist. A detailed map and guide to the trail can be downloaded on this page. The Friends group hopes to update the route as part of the planned new cycle way development, which includes a new bridge across the River Goyt.

While the leaflet states that the route is only about 1 mile / 1.6 km long, our measurements indicate that the full linear route shown on the map (from the Turncroft Road car park to point 1 and then to point 17) is approximately 2.7 miles / 4.3 km long. If following this full route, you will need to take the footpath south from Jim Fearnley Bridge (point 17 on the map) along Poise Brook for an additional 0.6 miles/1 km to the main Marple Road (A626) in Offerton. From here, frequent buses make the return trip to Stockport town centre.

Alternatively, the route could be made into a shorter circular trail by ascending from point 10 near the weir back to the main part of the park (point 2), but this would still be 2.5 miles / 4.1 km long.

Accessibility and facilities

According to the leaflet, the route includes some steep slopes and steps, as well as surfaced and unsurfaced paths, which can get muddy in wet weather. Walkers are advised to wear sensible footwear. This route is therefore not classed as suitable for wheelchair-users and those with pushchairs.

A café and toilets are available near the start of the walk in neighbouring Vernon Park.

How to get there

The start point is given as the main car park (off Turncroft Lane) for Vernon and Woodbank Park. This is only a short walk or bus ride away from Stockport town centre.

The end point shown on this page is Jim Fearnley Bridge, shown as point 17 on the map.

To work out how to get to and from the walk start, simply click the Google Maps link on this page. Then click ‘Directions’ and enter your postcode or location in the relevant field. For public transport options, click on the train icon.

Alternatively, input the postcode(s) shown on this page into the TfGM journey planner at https://my.tfgm.com/#/planner/