[4] The Goyt rises on the moors of Axe Edge, near the River Dane and the Cat and Fiddle Inn.

The old Cat and Fiddle Road from Buxton to Macclesfield crosses the river just as it turns northwards to flow down its well-known valley.

Later it reaches an old packhorse bridge that was moved when Errwood reservoir was built in the 1960s (see photo below).

The Goyt then passes through Taxal and Horwich End where it is joined by the Todd Brook.

[7] The river's Environment Agency pollution classification changed from moderate to poor in its lower section from the Etherow to the Mersey in 2016,[8] and in 2015 for the New Mills to Whaley Bridge length.