Course
Rising in the Redhole Spring and Wike Head area of Pikenaze Moor in Derbyshire, the river broadens into the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs in the Peak District National Park. It emerges again in Tintwistle, Derbyshire, at the foot of Bottoms Reservoir dam and passes Melandra Castle in Gamesley, where it is joined by Glossop Brook. The Etherow enters the borough of Tameside at Hollingworth in Greater Manchester, passing into Stockport where it passes through Etherow Country Park. It flows into the River Goyt at Brabyns Park near Marple.
The modern accepted start of the River Mersey is at the confluence of the Tame and Goyt, in central Stockport, 4 miles (6 km) downstream. However, older definitions, and many older maps, place its start at the confluence of the Etherow and Goyt; for example the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica states "It is formed by the junction of the Goyt and the Etherow a short distance below Marple in Cheshire on the first-named stream." The 1784 John Stockdale map shows the River Mersey extending to Mottram, and forming the boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire.
Read more about this topic: River Etherow