Marple, Marple Bridge & Mellor · SK6 · Goyt Valley

Sloping garden terracing, retaining walls & patios in Marple, Marple Bridge & Mellor.

Our business is named after this valley. Marple gardens drop steeply towards the Goyt and the Peak Forest Canal, and many can only be reached through a narrow side gate. We bring a micro-digger that fits, cut the slope into level tiers, and link them with wide, safe steps.

Sloping garden cut into three level lawns held by railway-sleeper retaining walls, linked by stone slab steps, with green hills and a cloudy sky behind

Hillside terracing · three level lawns from one steep bank

710mm Micro-DiggerThrough 750mm side gates; tracked barrows where it can’t go

Drain Behind Every WallShingle and perforated pipe so water never pushes tiers over

12 Minutes AwayFrom Hazel Grove via Offerton and the A626

★ 4.9 Google (96)Father & son, no subcontractors

01 · GETTING IN IS HALF THE JOB

Narrow gates, steep drives and no room for a skip.

Plenty of Marple homes, from the terraces near Marple Locks to the stone houses above Marple Bridge, have a side passage about 750mm wide and a drive that climbs at a sharp angle. Most landscapers see that and quote for weeks of hand digging.

Our Kubota micro-digger folds its tracks in to 710mm and walks through. Behind it comes a tracked power barrow that carries half a tonne at a time up or down slopes a wheelbarrow could never manage. Boards protect your path and lawn all the way.

Where a grab lorry can’t park close, on the tighter lanes near the canal or in Mellor, we fill one-tonne bags instead of a skip and have them lifted out the same week. Nothing blocks your neighbours.

David Mercer kneeling with a spirit level beside an orange Kubota mini digger on a compacted stone base — Our own Kubota, so a steep job never waits on a hire shop

02 · THE LIE OF THE LAND IN SK6

Valley sides, hidden springs and gardens that fall away fast.

Gradient1 in 6 to 1 in 3Typical back-garden slopes we terrace here. On a 1 in 3, the ground drops a metre every three long strides.

GroundClay over shale & gritstoneThinner soil than Stockport, with hard bands of rock that we break out with the digger’s breaker.

WaterSprings on the slopeWater seeps out of hillsides around Roman Lakes and Strines after rain. Every wall gets a drain behind it.

Mellor & CompstallHigher, wetter, colderMore rain and harder frosts up the hill, so we use frost-resistant stone and jointing.

CouncilStockport CouncilGarden walls up to 2m high (1m next to a road) need no planning permission. Walls holding back over 1.2m of earth are engineer-designed.

03 · HOW WE TERRACE A SLOPE

From one muddy bank to level ground you can use.

Measure the fall
David sets up the laser and records the height every few metres, then sketches a side-on drawing showing where each tier and step will go.
Choose the number of levels
More, lower tiers are cheaper and friendlier to walk than one tall wall. Most Marple gardens end up with two or three.
Work from the bottom up
We start at the lowest wall so the slope is always held, and move spoil out as we go rather than piling it on the bank.
Footings and drains
Each wall sits on a concrete footing, with a perforated pipe and washed shingle behind it to let spring water out at the ends.
Steps that suit everyone
Wide treads and low risers (about 150mm), with lights in the risers if you want them. Easier on knees, safer at dusk.
Finish each level
New turf, a sandstone or porcelain patio, or planting beds, whatever each tier is for.

04 · THREE SK6 GARDENS

Strines Road, Mellor and Station Road, with what each one cost.

Tiers of oak sleeper retaining walls with lit sleeper steps leading down to a grey paved terrace, with horizontal slatted screens at dusk

Final Invoice: £7,600

STRINES ROAD, MARPLE (SK6)

Two oak sleeper terraces, French land drain & wide lit steps

Walling18 lin.m

On site6 working days

How it adds up18 × £210 + £3,820

"Our back garden used to be a steep, boggy bank we could barely use. David and Callum turned it into two flat levels with oak sleepers, drainage behind the walls, and wide stone steps with lights built in." Claire & Matthew Hughes, Marple

Curved sandstone patio with charcoal sett edging and curved brick steps rising to a raised dining terrace, surrounded by lavender and hydrangeas

Final Invoice: £9,750

LONGHURST LANE, MELLOR (SK6)

30 m² sandstone terrace cut into the hill, two sleeper tiers & four stone steps

Patio30 m²

On site9 working days

How it adds upsee note below

"Everything had to come through a gate barely wider than a wheelbarrow. They never once churned up the front lawn, and we finally have somewhere flat to sit and look across to Kinder." Rachel & Iain Ainsworth, Mellor

Light-grey porcelain patio beside a red-brick house with open bifold doors, raised oak sleeper beds and a lawn

Final Invoice: £8,275

STATION ROAD, MARPLE (SK6)

9 m porcelain-clad block retaining wall & a 26 m² porcelain patio on the lower level

Wall + patio9 m + 26 m²

On site7 working days

How it adds up9 × £385 + 26 × £185

"The old brick wall at the back was bowing. The new one is clad in the same porcelain as the patio, so the whole lower garden looks like one room." Dev & Anjali Kapoor, Marple

Longhurst Lane breakdown: 30 m² sandstone at £115 (£3,450) + 22 lin.m sleepers at £210 (£4,620) + 4 steps at £420 (£1,680) = £9,750. Strines Road extras: 44 m² of levelled terraces, land drains and steps, £3,820.

05 · FROM A MARPLE BRIDGE CUSTOMER

“Two firms looked at our garden above the river and said it couldn’t be done without a crane. David walked the digger through our side gate with two centimetres to spare, and three weeks later we had a lawn our grandchildren can actually play on.”

Helen Garside, Marple Bridge

Retaining walls, sleepers & steps Complete garden makeovers Poynton & Disley (SK12) Hazel Grove & Torkington (SK7) The Heatons & Davenport

David and Callum Mercer holding a porcelain slab beside their rotary laser level

FREE SITE SURVEY IN SK6

Send us your steepest garden. David will measure the fall for free.

Access checked firstWe measure your gate before promising anything
£0 upfront depositMaterials on delivery, labour on sign-off
Side-on drawingSee every tier and step before we start

Call 0161 570 8698 Book a Free Site Survey