Month: June 2016

6th June

60 miles

climbing 786m

Cumulative 549 miles

Today was tough, we rather underestimated it as it was a pretty flat route and the luggage has much less effect without hills. However we hadnt factored in the stop start nature of navigating past the outskirts of manchester and our over optimistic trust in a book with a suggested route.

The day started well,  the Shays Farm campsite was really comfortable and Lisa who runs it made a generous donation . We set off through the lanes of Cheshire again into deepest Osborne country around tatton park, the stereotypes of the Cheshire set seemed remarkably true as most of the cars passing us were Range Rovers.

Celebrating thhe Queens bithday- complete with corgi

We stopped to look at the uniqued Anderton Boat Lift- canal barges are lifted and lowered in tanks of water rather than using locks. It was restored some years ago and is busy with a queue of boats waiting their turn.

Anderton boat lift

The roads got busier as we neared Manchester, we had had to skirt east nearer Manchester as there are no good cycle routes crossing the Manchester Ship Canal to the West- they all involve busy main roads that we are keen to avoid.

We skirted Manchester Airport and into Wythenshaw – wher Gayle workeed years ago. In fact there was a good network of cycle paths through Manchestr- mostly off road through parks and along waterways, we went past Wythenshaw Hall tragicaly badly damaged by fire recently.

although the paths were good it was slow going as we had to stop to cross main roads and many of the paths had assorted barriers to  stop joyriders and motorbikes- but also very effective against heavily laden touring bikes with bulky panniers.

Defensive measures on bike path

We stopped for lunch outside a Spar in Wythenshaw and then carried on along the Mersey and canals crossing the Ship Canal easily.

We were following a route we had found written by Royston Wood in aa book “End to End- thesafer way”. We had used part of his route on some other sections and foundd it to be reliable and good at avoiding main roads, however today things seemed less good- first we went along quite a busy main road towards Leigh, then we had to cross a really busy dual carriageway to get onto a narrow track, it took ages to wait for long enough gaps in the traffic. Almost as if to compensate the route then took us along a path on some old railway lines- but it was overgrown with  poor surface and got narrower and muddier until eventualy we abandoned it and planned our own route instead on roads that wernt too busy.

narrowing path….

we gave up at this point

The last few hills felt tough and we arrived at the campsite at Rivington at 7.30. tired and dishevelled. The camping was  quiet on a working farm- working hard getting the sileage in late tonight.

However we had a warm welcome and warm showers and couscous improved the situation

Tonight we had our first truly midgy camping- good practice for Scotland no doubt

Approaching Adlington, Winter hill in the background

sileage making

June 5th

Miles Today 52

Climbing 527m

Cumulative 489 miles

We spent the night with friends in Shrewsbury- another comfortable bed so we are not that hardy really. Mike , Anna and Ruth really looked after us so we were raring to go this morning, respect to Heather who was away in London for the Ride London event- cycling around the centre of London in the middle of the night on empty roads- and a night with no sleep. We need sleep too much to contemplate that at present.

We set off from Shrewsbury with Mike showing us a better way down to the river and accompanying us for the first 10 miles or so – making it a really sociable relaxed start to the day. We stopped briefly at the ruins of Moreton Castle-  a Medieval stronghold and then Elizabethan House that fell into ruin but is still impressive

Leaving Shrewsbury with Mike

Moreton Castle

Shady Lane

Hungry cows

We settled into a rhythm making good progress across the flatter part of Shropshire- in marked contrast to crossing the Long  Mynd yesterday. We then met up with our “outriders “ for the day- Mark and Michelle had come down from Manchester and met us half way through the day and we cycled with them for the rest of the day- the easy conversation helped the miles fly by relatively easily as it was all pretty flat as we headed into Cheshire. We had our lunch sat in the sun in a field and then pressed on- getting really hot as the sun blazed down- so a medicinal stop for ice cream was essential. We sat in the shade watching narrow boats navigating through the canal lock with a cup of tea and an ice cream- British summer at its best .

We hadnt realised that the campsite we had booked was near Oulton Park racing circuit and as we passed the roar of the race reverberated- the British Touring Car championship. We avoided a huge traffic jam as people were leaving by a detour through the woods on a sandy path  ( seems ironic, lots of Jeremy Clarkson types sweltering in the heat in the traffic jam whilst we whizzed along on our low tech bikes) .

Avoiding the traffic – a detour in the woods

We arrived at Shay’s Farm Campsite to two really nice surprises- the campsite is lovely and quiet nestled down in an idylic little valley and the owner Lisa couldn’t have been more welcoming, and then Mark and Michelle produced their surprise- tea , scones and a bottle of prosecco – we hardly felt that today was arduous at all. Despite the Prosecco we seem top have erected the tent OK but if the wind blows we might find what we missed when pegging it out

Impromptu party at the campsite- thank you Mark and Michelle

Our neighbours on the site Phil and Michelle have been really supportive as well seeing our banner and feeding us cups of tea and a donation- people have been really kind as we progress along and the campsite is making a donation as well. 

4th June

43 miles

1034 metres of climbing

Total miles 437

Leominster was a lovely place to stay and it was great too to meet up with Tony Adams from the Spire cycle club and meet Helen from Huddersfield, they are being joined by others for 5 days cycling bonanza in the Herefordshire lanes

We set off North, initially fairly gentle ups and downs. Coffee in Ludlow where we really enjoyed the lovely old half timbered buildings in this ancient town. We felt we didn’t really have time to do the castle justice … another time. Instead we made for a coffee in the Ciccetti bar, a wonderful establishment where Martin succumbed to Cannolo, a crisp Italian pastry filled with a delicious chocolate and pistachio cream while Gayle’s croissant came with alcoholic Calabrese marmalade.

Not all half timbered buildings are black and white

Ludlow high Street

The town gate into Ludlow

We had been under the impression that Shropshire was flat but after Ludlow were swiftly disabused of this as a long steep hill appeared on the satnavs. Beautiful lanes up Corvedale and Westhope took us up 200 metres to Church Stretton, a characterful small town which is not called Little Switzerland for no reason.

Hedgerow flowersk

Caer Caradoc above Church Stretton

Walking the dog in Church Stretton

Bacon butties there on a bench outside HSBC and then unsuspectingly set off again on the planned route, it got steeper and steeper and steeper until eventually ending up on Long Mynd at 325 meters . Beautiful views and we were glad to be up there but next time I will pay more attention to contour lines, even on days I anticipate to be flat ….

On top of Long Mynd

Shropshire lanes

Shropshire hills

Shropshire lanes

After that it was basically downhill through green lanes to Shrewsbury and a cup of tea in Heather and Mike’s lovely garden with their hens scratching and a wren visiting their pond

June 3rd
Miles today 46
Climbing 999m
Cumulative 394 miles

Dad looked after us really well and we set off rested, fed and clean … it won’t last. The cycling felt much easier for the rest. We stopped off in Gloucester to buy stuff for lunch- a good move as Gayle had plotted us such a quiet rural coarse that we didn’t pass a shop all day.

Leaving Gloucester was on a really nice off road sustrans track- good surface and no traffic but soon we were on quiet country lanes , the first half of the day was fairly flat but the hills appeared in the afternoon.

view back towards Gloucester

We stopped off at a pub for a cup of tea in Much Marcle- opposite a rather traditional looking garage displaying a huge selection of trophies for historic motor racing.

Lunch was in a field gateway, the banner doubles as a seating mat, enjoying the uninterrupted sun.

We passed an extraordinary looking old church and had to stop- the church was St Mary at Upleadon, the thing that struck us was the half timbered tower – unique , but a late addition in the 15th century , the main part of the church is Norman with some saxon parts as well.

upleadon church

Quilt in the church

We wound our way through very quiet lanes in Herefordshire, such lovely countryside, lush green and rolling hills and woods (Gayle’s fantastic planning again using open street map). We passed a couple of vineyards- looking rather incongrous next to green fields with sheep.

Eventually we arrived at Leominster- a fantastic town with a huge number of historic buildings from half timbered onwards. The youth hostel is an old building that has been a workhouse in the past. It is next to the Minster , a beautiful building with well preserved carvings and the original town ducking stool- the last one used in England as punishment- as late as 1809- a woman Jenny Pipes was ducked for using offensive language , however it is recorded that on surfacing she continued to swear just as much- reoffending is not a new problem. Contrary to what I was taught at school it was not just for nagging wives- tradesmen who short changed customers or sold adulterated food were ducked- barbaric but perhaps an effective enforcement of Trading Standards

the ducking stool

We are staying at Leominster YHA as the Spire Cycle club is here for the next week so its good to call and see Tony Adams who is organising the trip

0 miles

0 metres of ascent

348 miles total

We are having a rest day at Gayle’s dad’s in Gloucester – we had planned it on the itinerary but it came at just the right time , our legs felt tired going upstairs this morning. A comfy bed ,  good company AND a washing machine- what else could you want?

We had lunch in a pub on Gloucester Docks- once a hive of commercial activity in the heydays of the canal trade, now developed into a pleasant area with flats in the old warehouses

Gloucester docks

Martin had leant on his phone a few days ago leaving it dead, then yesterday Gayle dropped hers – but luckily it still functions although with an interesting ice on a pond appearance. We had a new phone delivered here- the wonders of internet shopping. Funny how something as retro as cycle travel now requires internet access, somewhere to charge the devices and constantly asking in cafes about their wifi password.  A pub a few nights ago had a sign up – “If you feel unsociable the wifi password is ………”

Metereology instruments in the garden

Tomorrow we set off up through the Marches on the way to Leominster, more hilly than the usual route further east but it allows us to visit friends in Leominster and then Shrewsbury .

We had better not rest too long as it would get harder to start again,  we would also feel we are here under false pretences as so many people have been supportive, including one remarkable colleague of Martin’s  Helen who has been making a donation every 100 miles we complete,  and she didn’t know us at all until a few days before we left when she was at a conference Martin was attending. Thank you Helen,  and clearly good motivational psychology.

June 1st 2016

59 miles

climbing 669 metres

Cumulative miles 348

The campsite was damp after rain in the night, we had eaten most of the Granola and we had a long day ahead so we packed up quickly and left planning a second breakfast in Clevedon, 4 miles North

Clevedon was our last sight of the sea until Scotland, the tide was out and we looked across to South Wales. Clevedon is elegant with expensive shops and certainly no cheap cafes, so we shared a bacon ciabetta and delicious coffee at Murrays delicatessan and he told us about his sons cycling LEJoG in 5 days ….. they were not snails.

Clevedon pier

Clevedon shops

We took Sustrans 26 up to the Avon: small lanes and old railway line. Crossing the Avon was on the M5 bridge which has a cycleway, quite scary with big lorries thundering away and also hard work cycling up the steep slope to the top of the bridge into the headwind.

Bridge over the Avon

We are learning to manage charging the various electronic things as we cycle. We both have dynamos on the front wheels of the bikes but it is not simple: up hills we don’t cycle fast enough to generate enough electricity and if we are charging the satnavs they switch themselves off. Also my phone being elderly the charging cable falls out when the road is bumpy and Martin gets upset as I swerve about trying to reconnect the cable without stopping the bike. We have learnt that certain cables charge better than others, I had never appreciated that before. Today was a good charging day as the hills were gentle and short and we are slowly getting the knack of it all

Avonmouth was industrial but the Sustrans route found a green corridor through.

We passed both Severn bridges and then were into the Severn valley and rural Gloucestershire. Lovely villages and towns: Berkeley with a Norman castle and where Jenner first injected cowpox into unsuspecting locals, also tearooms serving excellent chocolate cake.

Frampton with thatched cottages,a very long green , several village ponds and a very ancient tithe barn.

Eventually we found the Gloucester canal and rode along the towpath into Gloucester where Gayle’s Dad is providing a hospitable welcome for 2 nights as we plan a rest day here tomorrow.