15th October 2009: Lower Peover

We meet at Rose Farm Garden Centre café in Utkinton this morning.  That’s just over an hour’s ride, and its mid-October, so I dress warmly only to discover on the way out that it’s exceptionally mild today.  Arriving hot I settle down with the map to plan a route.  Since I need to be back by 17.00pm, it can’t be too long and I settle on Lower Peover via Whitegate and Davenham.  This is a lovely route marred only by the rough stretch just after the Weaver.  Jim arrives and Dave interrupts his packing to telephone and wish us well.  With most of the others away it looks as though there will only be two of us today; but then Ray arrives to make it three.  Now Ray doesn’t do tracks so I promise that we will walk the rough bit.

By just after 11.00 we are ready to leave and head off through Cotebrook to Whitegate with the wind behind us.  Walking up the rough stretch under the railway a mountain biker, coming the other way, gives us a disdainful look as if to say “what: can’t get up here without pushing?”  We are soon back in the saddle and admiring the impressive church in Davenham before following the lanes to Lach Dennis and Lower Peover.  It’s only 12.30 when we arrive at the Bells of Peover pub for lunch: a good choice of cask ale, unlike the previous time I visited, and waitress service.  We even got an extra portion of chips on the house!  The prices weren’t too bad either with Ray’s lime and soda at a respectable 95p.

It was soon time to leave so after reaching broad agreement on the route back we paid a brief visit to the timber church of St. Oswald before crossing the church yard to the lanes on the other side.  From here we headed south to Goostrey, Holmes Chapel and Middlewich before passing the interesting brick church of St. Bartholomew in Church Minshull.  Conscious of the need to get back by 17.00pm, and with the wind against us, we now took the direct route home through Bunbury, Beeston, Huxley and Christleton to arrive in Chester about 16.45pm.

Another great ride with the distance from Chester and back nudging 70 miles.

For route map and/or gpx file download.

BW