A change from the recent weather meant it was overcast and wet as I made my way to Cleopatra’s where around a dozen CER’s were gathered. There were two routes on offer, Steve planning to visit Coton and mine to the Burlton Inn at Burlton. Everyone with the exception Ivan opted for the moderate option so at 10:30 prompt we set off leaving Steve to round up his group.
Travelling across the Dee bridge and down towards Shocklach was fine until a lapse in concentration meant I had led us towards the homebound leg of the route instead of the outbound leg! This was soon remedied by turning left at ‘The Bull’ heading to Tilston where, as we passed the church, we saw Nick Holmes. He was out for a run ,at least we think it was Nick he waved, we waved, it looked like Nick and it was in his locale.
Heading out of Tilston towards the A41, we briefly joined the moderate group who were probably a bit confused as to how they had managed to get ahead of us. Leaving their route, we went through Larkton Hill, No Mans Heath and Malpas, and here we crossed the A525 at Iscoyd Park. Onwards through Fenns Bank and Whixall, we picked up a lovely smooth road, thanks to new tarmac, that took us all the way into Loppington before passing to the west of Sleap airfield and finally our lunch stop ‘The Burlton Inn’.
This pub was a first for us both and has a nicely decorated interior. There were only a handful of customers and our food and drink order was quickly served. My main meal of Steak pie, chips and vegetables, was a large tasty portion and was consumed whilst chatting about family life and forthcoming holidays. Once fed and watered we headed back to Holt by following a mainly straight northerly route linking Lyneal, Welshampton and Threapwood.
Ivan took over the lead in Theapwood and set a fierce pace (obviously wanting to burn off the bangors and mash) through to Crewe by Farndon. Here we turned and took an alternative route via a back road into Farndon arriving back at Cleopatra’s for coffee and cake at about 3:30.
Thanks for the company Ivan, a good day out covering 57 miles.
See route map and/or gpx file download
KP
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