Got a mate who lives near stalybridge/mossley who is a keen walker. He says he sees lots of MTB lads up there, just wondering if anyone knows any routes?

Lots of nice bridleways in the area, which can be linked using the Pennine Bridleway, Transpennine Trail or Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

There used to be a route on the National Trail website called “Tintwistle: Moor Fun”, but it seems to have disappeared. Luckily I downloaded a pdf, so email me if you’d like a copy.

A local rider has recently been working with the council on a circular route: FB link and Strava route

There’s also the Northern Horse Route running parallel to the TPT, on the other side of the reservoirs.

These are all easy trails, and maybe not what you’re looking for, but they’ll be useful for exploring the area – and accessing the harder stuff (eg Alphin Pike).

Edit: This thread discusses some of the harder descents.

As it’s Beatrix Potter’s 150th birthday, I should mention that the circular route goes through Gorse Hall, built by her grandparents.

Wild Bank Hill and Alphin pike are good as a starter for that area – you could do them from Stockport OK, it would be prob 40 miles all in but half of that could be easy peasy along the canal. If you want to get involved past that into Chew, pots and pans, Dovestones etc then you might want to drive up in the first instance and go from there. Good links on that thread linked above.