Mersey Valley Trail

Before I moved to Chorlton I only really associated the Mersey with two things — Scouseland and ‘ferry across the…’. Call me ignorant, but I was really quite surprised when I found out that the River Mersey was virtually on my doorstep.
Another Mersey-​related display of ignorance happened after I’d discovered the river. I decided it would be a good idea to walk down the river from my house in Chorlton to my boyfriend’s house in Didsbury (a 15 minute bus ride or an hour’s walk down the road). I forgot to take into account that river meanders back on itself quite a lot. 2.5 hours later and I was there!
So I took up cycling and have enjoyed many a happy bike ride down the Mersey Trail. I am familiar with the stretch of the trail between Stretford and Stockport, which is mainly a nice surface to cycle on for amateur cyclists like myself, with occasional rocky or narrow parts. I would avoid the trail after a very heavy rainfall as parts of it (particularly around Didsbury) are impassable due to water spilling over the trail into the flood basin.
A stroll or a bike ride down the Mersey is a very pleasant and relaxing experience where fellow trail users will nod and smile like they’ve known you their whole lives (unlike the ferry across the Mersey experience).