[2] In 1974, the urban district was abolished and Marple Bridge became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in the county of Greater Manchester.

The most regular services run on a Stockport circular route to Romiley and Bredbury (383 anticlockwise) and to Marple and Offerton (384 clockwise).

Marple Bridge village centre has been designated as a conservation area; it was established originally in 1974 and was extended in 2006 to incorporate Brabyns Park.

[4]: 3 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council has produced a Conservation Area Character Appraisal document, outlining the reasons that the conservation area has been designated as such; in justifying this, the document states of the town: “Marple Bridge is a predominantly stone-built village situated on the banks of the River Goyt, just to the north-east of Marple...

Historically the location had significance as a bridging point on the route between Stockport and Derbyshire and where water power was available initially for a forge and corn mill.