25th November 2010: Eastham Ferry

Wonders never cease.  With the prospect of -5º C temperatures and snow, I would not have been surprised if I was the only rider out today.  But CER are made of sterner stuff.  The even bigger surprise was that even with the new 10:00 winter start, we had seven riders at the Little Roodee as the cafe opened.  Clive, Dave & Liz, George, Martin, Ivan, Ray and Brian set off by 10:30 with Dave who was going to do a short ride.  Thursday was one of those rare ones in winter that you just grab; it was bright, crisp & clear, perfect for an Easy Ride.
As we had a Northerly, we set off along The New Cut to Hawarden Bridge.  From there, taking the dry roughish track thro Shotwick, we crossed the Wirral peninsula, thro Hooton, Raby Mere, Bromborough, stopping for lunch right on time at the Eastham Ferry Hotel.
The “Sneck Lifter” from Cumbria (nothing to do with Martin) was well thought of, as was the 2 4 1 Lunch.  Opinion was that The Ferry was worth repeating, especially with the generous portions.  After lunch, a bright photo shot of the group in front of a huge red oil tanker on the high tide, turned in to a picture of the pavement.  No David Bailey today.

Photographs by Ivan Davenport

The return ride with the wind behind us took us thro Eastham, which turned in to a 1970s nostalgia trip for Ivan & Clive.  On thro Raby and Thornton Hough, we found ourselves back on the banks of The Dee Estuary at Parkgate.  The obligatory ice cream & coffee was taken at Nicholls award winning Parlour.  No guesses as to who sneaked off for a quick pint in The Ship.  With the light fading we pressed on back to Chester, via Little Neston & Puddington on Sustrans NCR 56, to end a most enjoyable 47 miles.
This week’s Question......................  How many extinct ferry ports did we visit?  For the Answer, come next week.
B Mac