Lyme Park is a National Trust property in Disley, outside of Stockport, made famous as “Pemberley” in the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice.

As well as a couple of roads from the main gates to the car parks and back, there’s one permissive bridleway running across the park that’s currently less useful thanks to a non-cycle friendly “temporary” bridge that was erected about two years ago. Obviously that’s the extent of the cycling, there’s loads of good walking though on tight twisty singletrack through trees and so on.

They’re now trying to see if they can “extend their cycling offer” in management speak, which I suspect means “encourage families to do a 5 mile circular ride on the paved roads then come back to the cafe for a cake and a drink”

If you live in the area – or have a view on how the National Trust might encourage cycling, perhaps – please take a minute or two to fill in their survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DJ9NLNZ

I assume the track that’s blocked is the one you can get to when you go over Disley tops?
I’d be happy to visit if it wasn’t so obscenely expensive!

there’s loads of good walking though on tight twisty singletrack through trees and so on.

Ha. My walking times on Strava are pretty good.

There’s some leading questions in that survey:

7. If you cycle around Lyme Park where do you go?

If you cycle around Lyme Park where do you go?
Roads
Paths
Trails
Off piste
Please give a short description of where in the park you cycle
hmmmm

11. Do you know where you can or can’t cycle in and around Lyme Park?
Yes
No
Unsure

Double hmmmm

non-cycle friendly “temporary” bridge that was erected about two years ago.

please tell me you just picked you bike up over the fence and carried on.

If you didnt it is now open as a bridge.

Done.

If filling in this survey helps with opening up more routes then let’s go for it.

Yes – thanks for spotting this. British Cycling publicise the route from the West Parkgate up to the Knott, which is a nice route on the Tripster, then back down the road. Would be great to have more to choose… I’ll fill it in.

From West park gates past the house through to East park gates (over the closed bridge, that has wooden temporary side bridge), you can cycle up the rocky bit and take a left through the gate.
This is over 2 small streams, staright on through another gate. A few hundred metres take a right (near house with old red style telephone kiosk) this bridleway leads up to the road (higher Disley) turn left on road and take a right about 20 metres (through a narrow lane that looks like someone’s private drive) between two old properties.
Short distance take next right (nice views over towards the Peak District), this takes you down a lane past a scout hut and onto a rocky short narrow path, turn left onto Greenshall lane descent (this is a very rocky wide track). Brings you out onto the A6 facing lower Greenshall lane, from down that lane you can get over towards all the many varied bridleways around Marple/Mellor/NewMills and out to the Peak proper.

We rode up to the Cage one evening and the Warden appeared from know where .
He told us to push our bikes back down to the road ! Even though he’d driven to us in a Land Rover across the grass!
I can only guess they are wanting more family riding around the park to bring more money in.
No chance of building good single track routes.

Nigel – Same happened to myself and a friend. Although this was late 1990s.
The warden at the time was pleasant enough but didn’t want the deer to be disturbed as the babies are still very young.

I used to ride Lyme Park a lot as a teen on my first proper MTB a Swchinn Moab, wardens were very aggressive though if riding on anything that wasn’t tarmac. Cage is a great descent but they’d drive up in the landrover to force you to walk down, many of the trails to the East of the main parking area and lakes have huge styals to climb up/over and far too often to make getting any decent flowing loops in impossible. I went back last year more for a trip down memory lane and will put up the loop if anyone fancys giving it a go.

1. From the old platform on middlewood way head onto the road by the pub and cross the bridge this road will take you straight to the knott
2. Some great views climbing up to Lyme park
3. Some jumps and bomb holes to play around on the knott (been sanitised a lot to how I remember it)
4. Descend to main cafe for a brew 😆
5. The West gate bridlepath which is the most speed you can probably get up in the boundaries of Lyme Park. Beware the angry ramblers!
6. Follow the main road out of the Westgate
7. Great views, steady road climb
8. Potts Shrigly cafe for beans and toast and another brew 😆
9. Steep road climb which changes to off road half way up
10. The old quarry which used to have some good trails and jumps scattered around, didn’t have time to investigate on this ride
11. What we used to call the black track, a quick descent back down to the West Park gate area.
12. Descend all the way back to middlewood way.

Like others, I pretty much learnt to ride a mountain bike in Lyme Park in the ‘good ol days’, when no one used to care where you rode. We used to just go ‘star-trekking’ in the park. – Oh the memories.

Bunnyhop – That ‘narrow lane between two old properties’ used to be part of the driveway to the house I lived in over that way !!

Bunnyhop – That ‘narrow lane between two old properties’ used to be part of the driveway to the house I lived in over that way !!

Marcus – I remember you pointing it out to us on one of the rides we did a few years ago.

Just doing the survey now and didn’t realise “shopper” was still a current category of bike 😆 😯

5. Which type of bike(s) do you own?

Which type of bike(s) do you own? Mountain Bike

Road Bike

Hybrid

Folding Bike

Shopper
Other (please specify)

Lots of cheeky trails to ride in the park, just go early. Years and years ago they held a race there. XC and DH. The downhill started near the White House up towards the bowstones. Remember watching Fred salmon , Tim Gould and David baker racing.

I will fill in the survey though I’m not optimistic that it will lead to them opening up any of the remotely interesting riding 😛

I did the survey and is felt more like a Spanish inquisition about going off piste, using “illegal” trails etc 😯