Trans Pennine Trail (TPT)

The Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) is described as “an exciting route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders linking the North and Irish seas, passing through the Pennines, alongside rivers and canals and through some of the most historic towns and cities in the North of England. It is a coast-to-coast route between Southport and Hornsea and is approximately 215 miles long.”

The Trail passes through the centre of our hometown, Stockport, and we have cycled up and down this small section of it many times …and yet we have never completed the full route. We corrected this gap in our completed cycling tours by undertaking our TPT tour in Autumn 2015.

The Trans Pennine Trail is mainly traffic-free and is surprisingly level considering the dramatic scenery along the way. The western section of the TPT travels between Southport and Penistone via Liverpool and Stockport and includes the Liverpool Loop Line and the Cheshire Lines path and passes through the Peak District National park. The next section, the central section of the Trans Pennine Trail heads through Sprotbrough near Doncaster, where the route follows traffic-free paths to Bentley and then northwards through quaint villages including Braithwaite and Sykehouse. The route then follows quiet roads onto Pollington before joining the canal towpath into Selby. From here the route heads eastwards near to the Rivers Ouse and Humber. The route arrives in Kingston upon Hull and passes through King George Dock, rich in maritime history. Finally, the TPT takes the Hull-Hornsea railway path out to Hornsea-on-Sea, travelling past a large freshwater lake at Hornsea Mere.