Flixton played an important part in the early campaigns for public rights of way. The local squire, Ralph Wright, who lived at Flixton House, tried to close a footpath which crossed his land. This closure was opposed by local people with the support of Archibald Prentice of the Manchester Gazette, which lead to the creation of the "Manchester Association for the Preservation of Ancient Public Footpaths" in 1826. This evolved into the "Peak and Northern Footpath Society" which still exists today.