Classic Etherow Country Park, Compstall

Stockport’s Jewel

I’ve been visiting Etherow Country Park for more than 40 years, and it is an absolute treasure. The full circuit of the Keg Wood is just over 3 miles, but there are opportunities to extend this around Ernocroft Wood, or through Mortin Clough.

The link below takes you to the country park’s website for more information about its history.

Getting There / Timescales

Travel time 25 minutes each way from Cheadle Hulme.

There is a good car park next to the former mill, toilets, an Information Centre and a cafe. I paid £1 for 2 hours parking.

The walk can be completed in an hour, but I sauntered, took lots of pictures and spent 1hour 40 minutes over it today. There are some short uphill sections, but it is generally easy walking.

The Route

Setting Off From The Mill Car Park

I left the car park by the path in front of the cafe / information centre. Where this comes out on a tarmac road, after about 20m head off the dirt path to the left up the hill into the wood.

This is a pretty copse with views down to the “canal” which drew water from the River Etherow to service the former mill which is located by the car park. When I first came here, there was an impressive chimney at the mill, but that’s long since gone. There are some impressive large beeches along here, as well as many other varieties of deciduous trees.

The path descends to a second toilet block (a luxury these days!).

There is then a signpost to Keg Woods along a tarmac road with splendid woodland views. In winter the views across the valley are panoramic, but that’s for another day.

Hirst Cottage

The road continues to Hirst Cottage, so named after the park ranger who lived here for many years at the time the country park opened in the mid 1970s. The picture shows a field where at one time the Hirsts kept cages of ornamental fowl such as golden pheasant and Lady Amherst’s pheasant!

I took the following two photographs as an attempt to show the impact of ash dieback disease. The tree on the left (and the one in the foreground above) seems perfectly healthy, whilst the two in the second picture, about 40m further on, are, like many along here, looking pretty forlorn.

Keg Woods

The path continues ahead through the woods, past a shelter where it turns left and on around the head of a clough before heading downhill to the river level.

The River Etherow

The Etherow flows down from the moors through the Woodhead Pass where the A628 leads you to Sheffield, and where several reservoirs take drinking water into the Manchester conurbation. It is a handsome river which meets the Goyt shortly after leaving the country park, in Marple’s Brabyns Park. The Goyt goes on to meet the Tame in Stockport town centre where they become the River Mersey.

Keg Pool

This is just a wonderfully photogenic place!

After Keg Pool the path heads back gradually uphill, to rejoin the tarmac road and heads back to the “canal basin”.

The Weir

No words needed!

The Lake

After a good look at the weir I headed back along the path between the canal and the river, and where the path splits I walked down the route between the canal and the lake.

Andon the way home there was time to catch a great tune from the early 1970s, remastered and rereleased in 2019.