There are many great walks in Tameside and some of the best scenery is to be found alongside the borough’s rivers and canals. Walking the River Tame in the Denton/Hyde border and passing through the Haughton Dale Local Nature Reserve is a great countryside ramble and you could be forgiven for thinking in some spots that you were no way near an urban area.
Haughton Dale was the site of one of the first wireworks and other industries on the reserve area were early glassmaking, coal mining and textiles. It is the largest local nature reserve in Tameside.
Crossing the river gives you access to the Peak Forest Canal which runs from it’s junction with the Ashton Canal at Dukinfield to Buxworth, Derbyshire. The canal is almost 15 miles long and the Lower Peak Forest Canal, from Dukinfield to the locks at Marple is just under 7 miles in length. The Higher Peak Forest Canal from the Marple locks to Buxworth is the same length as the lower section, the locks at Marple accounting for the other mile. The locks raise the canal 209 ft.
Returning by the canal is part of the Cheshire Ring Canal Walk, which is a 97 mile circular route taking in the following canals, The Ashton Canal, The Peak Forest Canal, The Macclesfield Canal, The Trent and Mersey Canal, The Bridgewater Canal and the Rochdale Canal.
The one and a half mile section of the Peak Forest Canal in this walk passes through Hyde and like the outward leg it is hard to imagine you are passing through a town.
The full walk is obviously mainly flat, is 5.4 miles in total and can be completed in just under 2 hours. It is described, mapped and full directions given in volume 2 of Walks In Tameside.