Three wet riders peeled off their waterproofs in the warmth of the Gallery Tea Shop at Hawarden before enjoying tea and teacakes. Dave arrived on his mountain bike as he couldn’t face getting his newly cleaned and polished road bike wet and muddy. The weather looked grim from inside the café so a route was chosen with plenty of options. Straight out to Ewloe, Northop Hall and Northop on the B5125 and then left up Halkyn Mountain via Gwern-y-marl with lunch at the Britannia Inn if the weather was really bad or on to the Black Lion at Babell if it looked OK. The ride out was hard but uneventful. Despite a strong wind against us, we made good progress and by the time we neared the top the sky had cleared opening up views across the Dee and Mersey estuaries.
With time in hand we decided to press on to Babell but on the exposed old coach road even descending meant pedalling to maintain progress. The welcome sight of the Black Lion Inn soon turned to concern as there were no cars in the usually busy car park. Sure enough the pub was closed: weekday evenings only it appears. With a scarcity of alternatives Brian suggested the Craft Centre Restaurant in Afonwen on the main road to the south. Within a few minutes and a fast descent we were sat round a table in the busy restaurant ordering lunch while the rain started again in earnest.
By the time we were ready to leave the rain had stopped and we sped swiftly along the main road, using the side lanes where convenient, before turning right to reach the switch back descent through the beautiful Nant Alyn. Up to Soughton, for the last significant climb of the day, then through Buckley (dropping Brian off at Little Mountain station) and back to Hawarden via Bilberry Wood where we split up to make our respective ways home.
Distance from Chester and back 48 miles with 988 metres of ascent.
BW
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