"The mapped area is immediately south of the M60 between junctions 1 and 2, stretching from Cheadle Village in the west to the Stockport suburb of Edgeley in the north-east. Both are some 2km from the event centre at the Micker Brook pub (https://www.stonehouserestaurants.co.uk/nationalsearch/northwest/themickerbrookcheadle), which offers a wide range of food. The carvery will remain open until 21:30, and burgers and pizzas will be available until 22:00.

I've asked them to make sure there are two real ales available - fingers crossed.

 

The area is largely flat but quite varied in nature, and it is intersected by the Micker Brook itself (7 crossing points), and by 3 railway lines (respectively 3, 8 and 8 crossing points), so there's plenty of route choice. 

Edgeley itself is characterised by a rectangular grid of Victorian terraced housing, one row separated from the one behind it by a wide alley, mapped as a footpath. In recent years several (but not all) of these alleys have been gated off and so are out of bounds to competitors. There is insufficient space on the map to represent every gate, and so these gated zones have been identified by a modification to the standard "route out of bounds" symbol, slightly reduced in size and in red crosses rather than in purple. For the avoidance of doubt, those alleys (footpaths) which have not been mapped with red crosses are in bounds to runners, as is the surrounding road network - only those footpaths mapped with red crosses are out of bounds.

With the usual penalties of 30 points per minute late, control points vary from 30 to 80 - so every one is worth a visit!"