The River Bollin rises in the foothills of the Pennines and flows through Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Hale, Bowdon and Dunham and as with the River Mersey eventually hits the Manchester Ship canal about 30 miles from its sources.

Since 1972 local authorities and other organisations in the valley formed a steering committee to protect and carry out environmental works, known as the Bollin Valley Partnership. The Committee is made up of representatives from Trafford, Cheshire County Council, Macclesfield Borough Council, Manchester Airport, the Environment Agency and Mersey Basin Campaign Trust.

The Steering Committee employs the Bollin Valley Partnership to manage, maintain and develop the valley. They do this by:

• Carrying out access management works including path surfacing, providing signs, gates and boardwalks
• Carrying out works on woodlands, including tree planting, coppicing an tree surgery and as part of a sustainable woodlands products initiative
• Carrying out habitat works with local farmers including new hedgerows, tree planting and create species rich grasslands
• Patrol site on a regular basis and collect litter and fly tipping
• Producing leaflets, displays, talks and slide shows, guide walks and annual events programme
• Educating services to meet the needs of the school curriculum
• Encouraging informal recreation, walking, riding, biking

Trafford Connections (formerly Heatley - Skelton Junction Railway)

Purchased by the Council in 1986 and officially opened in 1998 this is a path available for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders. The route links to many areas of the countryside in the south of the Borough, including Dunham Massey Hall, the Bridgewater Canal and Bollin Valley Way.

Bollin Valley Way

Available for walkers, it runs for approximately 23 miles from Partington to Macclesfield, sometimes along the river and never far from it.

The partnership has kept Longhorn cattle since 1988 fit for grazing the managed grassland areas in the valley and around the airport in a sustainable way. There are over 100 animals in the herd.

The Longhorns look formidable with spectacular horns but in fact their docile nature makes them ideal for conservation grazing.

Two hundred years ago Longhorns were the most popular cattle in Cheshire and the early eighteenth century the ideas of Jethro Tull and Charles Turnip Townesend were increasing crop yields and introducing root crops for winter fodder. The popularity of the Longhorns was short-lived and by 1842 they had virtually disappeared. The decline continued until the Longhorns were registered with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust list.