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Manchester Airport and the Cheshire Cycleway
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2008 © Alec Scaresbrook |
It's remarkably easy to cycle from the Cheshire Cycleway route 70 to Manchester Airport, its railway station, and the new Aviation Viewing Park, using dedicated cycle paths plus quiet lanes.
The Manchester Airport Orbital Cycleway is around 8 miles long and is well signposted although not always so well surfaced or maintained, so watch out for overhanging branches and uneven ground where tree roots have done their worst. It also has links off in various directions to surrounding areas (Styal, Wilmslow, Cheadle, Didsbury, Stockport, Wythenshawe, Sale, Brooklands, Hale).
Note that since the new runway was built the Aviation Viewing Park has been moved to the north of the runway underpass, so ignore any old maps you have and take note of the road signs from the Wilmslow Road. First left for cyclists is onto Wilmslow Old Road, but this section might be flooded, in which case cycle a short distance further on to the next left turn into Sunbank Lane, then right to regain Wilmslow Old Road.
See the official orbital route map:
The map plus directions at key points is available as a pdf file on Manchester City Council's website.
Manchester Airport Orbital Cycleway Leaflet pdf
Any difficulties with the orbital route?
Report any problems with maintenance, signage etc using Manchester Council's website reporting form.
Pass the mouse pointer over the markers to see their labels. Click on the marker to see more information.
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Comments
1 Steve 25 Aug 2008 19.02.53
2 Alec and Val 25 Aug 2008 21.33.48
Unfortunately we are not responsible for the route or the signage.
However, to improve things, we have now added a weblink to the Orbital Route leaflet and a link to the City
Council report form for cycleway problems.
We will bring your comments to the attention of the Cycle Centre at the airport, as they seem to be involved in the route.
Perhaps you could report where signs are missing to the council too.
Does anyone have a name to contact at the council or someone else that we can badger.
3 Alec and Val 26 Aug 2008 20.33.06
In response to our email to the Cycle Centre at the airport, we received an out-of-office reply to say it was temporarily closed until October 2009. We have contacted the airport and are awaiting their reply regarding who is responsible for signage etc.
4 Alec and Val 14 Jun 2009 11.56.04
Cycle Centre: we have discovered that this is a facility for airport employees only (not much of one as it seems to be more closed than open).
Orbital Cycleway map: we have discovered that this cannot be viewed or downloaded from the council website. We have e-mailed them to find out if the paper map is still available and for more information about online availability.
5 Alec and Val 15 Jun 2009 14.56.16
The council website webmaster has replied to say the Orbital Cycleway map is now back online (15th June 09).
6 Alec and Val 19 Jun 2009 17.38.59
Orbital maintenance: We have had a response to our online fault reporting and the area we highlighted will be swept this week, and the vegetation assessed this week for possible trimming.
Also, there are plans to redevelop Runger Lane cycleway subject to approval.
Cycle Centre: The latest on this is that it will now function as an information point for visitors. Apparently there have been a lot of changes since the Orbital Cycleway leaflet was printed. For the current situation, we've been advised to contact Ground Transport, Manchester Airport, Manchester, M90 1QX.
Tel: 0161 489 8718
or online: using bug before the 'at' symbol and manairport.co.uk after the 'at' symbol.
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This is such a good idea. However, I tried the route for the first time today and the signage at certain key points is absolutely non-existant and destroyed the whole experience. I went clockwise round the route, and even though I had a printed copy of the map from the website, I got completely lost in Wythenshawe Estate and after 15 mins ended up where I had started from and then at the Holiday Inn end had to lift my bike over a locked gate and climb over after it having missed another sign. Please sort this out.