Here we go again. Today’s starting venue was Meadow Lea (ML)
on a day when the weather men were forecasting near record temps for this time
of year. Another unusual fact today was that the total number at ML (15) was
less than the total seen at our lunch destination, which will become evident
later on - Lol. There was little conversation as to a destination and route, as
I was asked to lead a route to a specific location, once we convinced DH to put
his paper Garmin away- Lol. The sight of DH’s pile of disheveled maps, had
Mike G feeling sorry for him, once we had finished laughing that is. I seem to
remember Mike hoping to find some spare copies for DH (apparently Mike has a
vast collection- each to his own- Lol)
The 3 fast boys had already left, although that wasn’t the
last we saw of them. DM set off on his own, as he had a lawn that desperately
needed mowing however, that wasn’t the last we would see of him either- Lol. So,
the 12 of us Mods set off, via Mickle Trafford, ultimately heading for the Cock
‘O’ Barton (COB - one of the best pubs in Cheshire, in my opinion). However,
after only a few hundred mtrs, we had to stop, in order to reboot my Garmin
again! I can hear DH saying under his breath “never needed to reboot my map”-
Lol.
Anyway, back on track and now in our stride, we turn off the
A56 heading south for Great Barrow. I was trying hard to avoid any
mucky/possibly flooded lanes this week -Lol. This meant a somewhat tricked up
and now signature meander, for me at least, but with my trade mark tail wind
finish, all the way back. Now past the Bluebell Cafe and crossing the A51 (my
first deviation- Lol). I had intended to ride through Tarvin, but I forgot to
look at the Garmin - Plonker! And that’s why we saw DM again, just dismounting
at his house, in Oscroft, having gone his own way. This minor deviation added
another mile to the route, which meant that Steve Hu would be asking “how far
away is lunch?” A little earlier than usual (always him- Lol)
Regrouping again, just after Okell’s, before passing over
the river Gowy, we turn right and head uphill past Walk Mill cafe and turn left
toward Huxley. Our route now becomes more of a zig zag across the county, which
meant there weren’t too many, full on, head winds- Lol. Now in Huxley, heading
toward Beeston, we pass the absolutely fab, Huxley Inn, possibly the best pub
restaurant in the county, for both style and food. Apparently it took the owner
8+ years to clear and build on the site, which I believe was an old pub, the
Farmer’s Arms, although I have heard other stories as well. One thing for sure,
he spent a fortune on it (lovely venue, worth a special dinner night) Consequently,
it is not cheap (again I can picture DH groaning in the background- Lol)
On towards Grassy Green and my favourite little stretch,
past the Shady Oak pub, over that gorgeous little hump back bridge and uphill
to Beeston Castle (just love it and a perfect bit of tarmac as well). We
regroup under the rock face of Beeston Castle and then head toward Tattenhall
past a magnificent dahlia garden on the right, still in full bloom, this late
in the year. We again regroup at the end of the road, after a 3 mile stretch
from Beeston, with a diagonal headwind. Normally I would have led the group
around Tattenhall, but I sensed that lunch was becoming more of an interest
than the lovely scenery around here, so we pass right through Tattenhall and up
the short drag to the A41 crossing.
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| Below Beeston Castle, photo Mike G |
Bit of a nasty crossing however, today was easy and we were soon gliding down Dog Lane, which was the better option as opposed to Holywell Lane. Dog Lane can be very mucky, particularly around the farm (affectionately known as ‘gold fish farm’, by Paula and I) This is due to the gold fish in the cow trough of course- Lol, which we always check on, every time we walk past. The farm house here was built in 1601 and a Tudor gem (1601 is a common historical date around these parts it seems).
I think it was about this time when ‘Tail End Charlie’ asked
me again, “how far was it to lunch”- Lol. “3 miles”, was my response- Lol. As
usual Andy was roughly aware of our location and knew that 3 miles was perhaps
a bit of a fib, the moment I announced we were going to ride through the centre
of Carden Park yet we were only half a mile from COB. I thought CP would be a
pleasant change and completely new for some. It was a first for me as well,
despite it being my golf club (tricky to carry the clubs on a bike- Lol). Even
if you are not a golfer Carden Park is worth a visit, not just for the scenery
and the new mega Spa, but for the ‘Art Garden’ (in front of the hotel) which I
pointed out, as we cruised up past the Spa. The owner, Steve Morgan, of Redrow
construction, has spent more than £250,000 on some of the pieces in the garden
and there must be at least 30.
Anyway, now through Carden Park, heading down Stretton Mill
Lane, we are soon at the junction that delivered us to the COB. However, before
I could inform everybody that we only had a half mile to go, Steve Hu piped up
“how far was it to lunch”, for the third time I think- Lol. Apparently he was
about to bite his arm off, if we didn’t get there soon (it was only 1pm and he
had breakfast- Lol.). We arrived and there was no problem catering for 12, as I
hadn’t booked, taking a risk because there was always the backup option of
Manor Wood cafe, only 500 mtrs down the hill, which is a good cafe on the lake.
Bikes all locked up, we eventually enter the pub, only to find Steve Ha sat
down already, with a pint in hand- Lol. I didn’t know he had slipped off the
front (crafty bugger-Lol)
Despite it being unusually quiet, our food took ages,
although that was more to do with how long it took to take our orders (we
surmised it was due to being mid week and therefore limited staff, as I pointed
out it is busy in the evening and never any issues). Despite the slow service
everybody seemed well happy with the food and at a fair price. It wasn’t just
the Mod group at the COB, as the fast group dropped in to say hello and Fiona
& Elwyn met us there as well (which surprised me, until I remembered she
can track me on 360) - handy app to have in a cycling group, if you are not
aware, not as good as ‘ What Three Words’ , for precise location, but useful on
a day Iike today. Anyway the slow service didn’t seem to bother anybody, going
by the noise we were all making however, it did lead to Andy making tracks
before the rest of us were ready.
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| Photo by Neil T |
We left the pub with only a short 15 miles (does that mean it was a shorter 15 miles than a normal 15 miles? - Lol) and with a tail wind all the way back. We head down Wetreins Lane and across the main drag to Wrexham, which leads us past Farndon (for some of us- Lol). We suddenly realised that Steve T, Ray & Trev weren’t with us as we by-pass Farndon. I simply thought they had decided to follow Fiona & Elwyn, wrongly assuming they lived on the other side of the River Dee. No sooner had we realised when we got to the junction leading us up to Churlton and Aldford beyond. As we hit the junction, who should ride past but the 3 amigos -Lol. Now we were 7 again and cruising along with a nice tailwind. 2 miles later we were crossing the Dee bridge at Aldford, which got badly damaged in the 2020? Floods.
At this point I expected to lose Mr & Mrs Pipe, thinking
the tandem would go straight up into Chester and home. However, we were still 7
heading for Bruera, where I decided to leave the group.
I had intended to drop off at Waverton, but I wasn’t feeling
that good to be honest, after 10 days off the bike and a stomach bug. This left
Steve Ha / DH to lead the group back to ML (thanks guys). I got home with 55
miles on the clock, feeling a little tired in the legs, but more importantly a
clean bike- Lol. However, I can’t help feeling my tired legs might have been
due to the extra weight I was carrying. Steve Hu’s charity donation of £5, just
before we set off, was £ coins can you believe. I reckon he was off loading
weight on to me- charity donation my foot- Lol Lol. I promised a clean dry ride
and I think I achieved that. I hope everybody enjoyed the COB and that it
becomes a CER pub venue in future.
Great day out and no rain. I apologise for the incessant
squeaky disc brakes from me, which I have now fixed, just needed the calliper adjusting,
using the credit card cheat- Lol (rode today and it was whisper quiet)
Is it my imagination or is my occasional diatribe getting
longer- Lol. Till next time,
NT
See route map and/or gpx file download
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