30th November 2017: Loppington (mod)

Six Easy Riders assembled at the Tea Rooms in Chirk – Bob, Ken, George, Keith, Dave H and myself.  Not as many as in recent weeks, but it was very cold and Chirk is a long way out for many. What was to be our destination?  A north wind was blowing, so an easterly or westerly direction was preferred.  We wanted to avoid any icy roads, so climbing the hills to the west was ruled out.  This meant an eastwards route of not much more than 40 miles given the short days.  Surveying the map, the village of Loppington seemed about right and previously we had enjoyed its Dickin Arms, although we had never ridden out from Chirk.

We headed out through Western Rhyn and passed by the Oswestry Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital. (In case you had ever wondered, these two were pioneering orthopaedic specialists: Sir Robert one of the first surgeons to focus on fractures and Dame Agnes the first orthopaedic nurse. Forty years ago I was treated with a Robert Jones bandage when I fractured my patella.)

We then took to east bound lanes through Welsh and English Frankton before arriving at the Dickin Arms. Two incidents ‘enlivened’ our morning.  On a little back lane we found the road blocked by the work of a ‘white-lining’ team – they were very apologetic for causing us to carry our bikes past on the verge, but we did wonder why it was worth painting white lines on such a narrow road.  A little later, Bob suffered a puncture and mended it while we all shivered.

The Dickin Arms was especially welcome on such a day with a large fire, a friendly barman, good beer and good food – a little more pricey than our usual, but well worth it – the Italian meatballs were a favourite. It should go on our favourites list.

Our return took us through Lyneal, Colemere and Ellesmere and several lanes before hitting the main road at St Martin’s. On our route we were surprised to see a dog being taken for a walk by a woman driving her car alongside it!  The main road from St Martin’s took us quickly back to the Chirk Tea Rooms, except for Ken who still had to cycle back to Rossett.

It had been a very good day. Despite the cold were had lots of blue sky and great views, and but for a few muddy spells, we rode on smooth clean quiet Shropshire lanes, and we lunched at a great pub.  Overall about 37 miles.

See route map and/or gpx file download

SH