Reddish Vale

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Reddish Vale is a loosely defined area in the Tame valley close to Reddish in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The generally-accepted centre of the vale (as indicated on maps) is around the bottom of Reddish Vale Road. Reddish Vale Country Park is a country park managed by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.[1][2] It comprises some of the traditional Reddish Vale area and Woodhall Fields, about half a mile south.

Contents

[edit] Description

The railway viaduct and former mill pond
The railway viaduct and former mill pond

Reddish Vale is mainly green space, comprising woodland, flat riverside meadows, sloping fields used to graze horses, and a golf course. At the end of Reddish Vale Road near grid reference SJ905935 is a small car park and a visitor centre housed in Portakabins. A number of footpaths lead in all directions, with the more popular ones following the line of the river, both up- and downstream.

Highly visible from the visitor centre is the sixteen-arch brick viaduct built in 1875 to carry the Hope Valley Line over the Tame valley.[2][3] There is a legend that during construction a local witch cursed the viaduct and anyone who counted the number of arches.[4] A railway line once led to Stockport from Reddish Junction at the Brinnington (east) side of the viaduct. This line has been turned into a public bridleway joining the two parts of the country park and forms a section of the Trans Pennine Trail. The Stockport to Stalybridge Line forms part of the western boundary of the vale. A spur once ran to the colliery at Denton. Its position is still visible in places. There was a plan at the end of the 18th Century for the Beat Bank Branch Canal to run across the vale, and some sections were dug, but it was abandoned before completion.[5]

Nearby are two mill ponds left over from industrial activity in the vale. The ponds were fed from the river above a weir (now removed) on the upstream side of the viaduct, and provided both power and processing water to Reddish Vale Print Works, a calico printing works dating from before 1800.[6][7] The works had ceased printing by 1975,[7] and have now been demolished and the land turned into a butterfly park. The ponds are now used for angling, and attract herons and a variety of ducks. Most of the race has been filled in, but a short length carries Denton Brook down to the river. Denton Brook (and a small tributary) marks the traditional boundary between Reddish and Denton. The manorial corn mill (one of several to be known as Reddish Mill) was sited over the brook and was demolished in about 1860 when the ponds were extended.[3][8]

The River Tame in the lower part of the park
The River Tame in the lower part of the park

Woodhall Fields form the southern or lower (with reference to the river) part of the park. There is a small car park accessible from Tiviot Way near grid reference SJ901913. The weir here was used to feed the Portwood Cut, dug in 1796, which ran to the Portwood area of Stockport and powered a number of mills around the start of the 19th century.[7][9] Part of the fields were once a landfill site for fly ash; this has proved to be a good growing medium for orchids.[citation needed] As of October 2006, this part of the park has a poor reputation.[10]

Whilst not really in the vale, at the northern end the late 16th Century Arden Hall[11] (see Bredbury) and the 17th Century Hyde Hall [12] overlook it and form part of the overall landscape. Both are in private hands and not open to the public.

[edit] Other activities

Reddish Vale Golf Club takes up a substantial area on both sides of the river, but does not form part of the country park. The club house was once a substantial private house in its own grounds.

Just above the visitor centre, on Reddish Vale Road, is Reddish Vale Farm, with riding stables and a children's farm. The buildings and associated grazing were Stockton's Dairy Farm until 1994.[13]

The Trans Pennine Trail and the Tame Valley Walk pass through the park.

[edit] Housing

There is now very little housing in the vale. There are about twenty terraced houses just above the visitor centre. Cronin[3] shows a number of pictures of housing close to the railway viaduct and mill ponds. It appears that there has never been a church in the vale.

[edit] Recent threats

Recent proposals to change the nature of the vale have been met with robust opposition.

In 1988, the government of the day asked the Greater Manchester Residuary Body to sell off its holdings in the area; 3000 people, worried that it would be sold to developers, gathered in the vale to protest.[3][14] The land was acquired by Stockport Council in 1995.[3]

In 1990, a proposal to create an artificial ski slope at Woodhall Fields was opposed by 7000 signitories to a petition.[3]

In 1992, the golf club hoped to use part of the vale as landfill; the plans did not come to fruition.[15]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Country Parks: Reddish Vale. Stockport MBC. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Reddish Vale Country Park. Stockport MBC. Retrieved on October 29, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Cronin, Jill (2000). Images of England: Reddish. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-1878-5. 
  4. ^ Poster in the visitors' centre
  5. ^ Ordnance Survey; Jill Cronin [1904] (1994). Old Ordnance Survey Maps: North Reddish and S W Denton. Gateshead: Alan Godfrey Maps. ISBN 0-85054-654-0. 
  6. ^ Holden, Roger N (1977). Stott and Sons: architects of the Lancashire cotton mills. Carnegie Publishing, pp11-12. ISBN 1-85936-047-5. 
  7. ^ a b c Ashmore, Owen (1975). The Industrial Archaeology of Stockport. Manchester: University of Manchester. ISBN 0-902637-17-7. 
  8. ^ Downham, W A [1922]. "Chapter XIII", in Astle, William (ed.): Stockport Advertiser Centenary History of Stockport. Stockport: The Stockport Advertiser. 
  9. ^ Arrowsmith, Peter (1997). Stockport: a History. Stockport: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, p130. ISBN 0-905164-99-7. 
  10. ^ Canning, Barbara. "Murder at open air sex spot", Stockport Express, Guardian Media Group, 25 October 2006. Retrieved on October 28, 2006.
  11. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1971). The Buildings of England: Cheshire. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071042-6. 
  12. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Edward Hubbard (1969). The Buildings of England: South Lancashire. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071036-1. 
  13. ^ "RIDING CENTRE BID FOR FARM", Manchester Evening News, 6 July 1995.
  14. ^ "The Greater Manchester Residuary Body has got problems - at the last count about 3,000 of them", Estates Gazette, Estates Gazette Ltd, 9 April 1988.
  15. ^ Teeing off. Action Update (November 2002). Retrieved on November 13, 2006.

Coordinates: 53°26′18″N, 2°8′32″W

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