When I write up a ride report I usually start at the beginning but today I'm starting at the end. After we had turned into the car park at Ness Gardens at the end of the ride Alan, who had been leading the ride, asked if someone could write it up. He was off on his holidays on Sunday and needed to pack, so wouldn't have time. George hadn't a clue where he'd been and Ray was busy putting his bike on the back of his car. Clive offered to do it but pointed out that he was off on his holidays on Monday. I was going away too, but not until Wednesday. I wasn't sure of all the places we had ridden but, with the benefit of the route recorded on my Garmin, I offered to do it. So here I am, map in front of me and I'll try to do my best.
I've managed to mention all five riders already but we were also joined by Steve T, only out for coffee. The cafe itself at Ness Gardens was closed but they were serving on a takeaway basis from the doorway. Apparently during the heat wave we have been having recently the cafe had been getting very hot and several people had fainted as a result. Fortunately it was warm enough to sit outside and the rain that had been around early in the morning had mostly disappeared.
The weather forecast was good. Not much in the way of wind, maybe a little rain early on but starting off warm and getting warmer throughout the day. Temperatures in the high twenties were expected by late afternoon. The unusual feature of the weather, however (and one which the forecasters missed) was the sandstorm! I had ridden through a short shower on my way out and had seen small spots appearing on my bike as the droplets dried out. It happened again shortly after we started our ride and one of the other riders said that he had seen an orange glow in the sky looking towards Chester. Occasionally a desert storm far away in the Sahara Desert will whip sand high up into the atmosphere where it is blown by the wind and eventually falls onto clouds below. It will then fall with the rain and that is what we were experiencing today. We have ridden in many weather conditions over the years but I think this was the first 'sandstorm' we had ridden in.
Enough of the weather. What about the ride? We turned left out of Ness Garden then right towards Raby, managing to cross the busy A540 without too much trouble. At Raby we turned right and headed towards Willaston but by-passed the centre of the village by turning left into Mill Lane. Another left took us towards Hooton and then we turn up Eastham Rake where we crossed the equally busy A41, this time with the help of traffic lights. We were heading for Eastham Country Park but, as Alan admitted, by a longer route than he had planned as he had missed a turning earlier on. Here we expected to follow the Wirral Circular Trail, albeit for the first time (for me at least) in an anticlockwise direction. However just before Bromborough we turned inland and found ourselves cycling along the route of a disused railway which none of us (apart from Alan) had been on before. Eventually this brought us out in front of the Unilever factory and then into Port Sunlight, the village originally built by William Lever to house the workers in his soap factory.
After cycling through Port Sunlight (another first for most of us) we regained the Wirral Circular Trail and followed it through the Cammell Laird Industrial area passing Birkenhead Priory, tucked away among the modern industrial units. From here we dropped down the aptly named Monks Ferry Lane to the spot where the first Mersey ferry service was started by the monks in the 12th century. We were now following the banks of the Mersey, pausing briefly for a photo and to admire the 3400 passenger Celebrity cruise ship (other cruise ships are available) visiting Liverpool. Then a final dash along New Brighton's brilliant promenade to our lunch destination.
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| Photos by Alan O |
Our first choice of lunch venue when we visit New Brighton is the Seaside Cafe and it was warm enough today to sit outside. The 'Fishy Special' was the most popular choice with three of us tucking into fish, chips and peas with bread and butter and a drink. I can't remember the last time they put the price up so great value for less than £9.
After lunch we set off on our return journey, ignoring the promenade this time as we were soon turning inland towards Bidston. Alan took us onto a network of paths, some getting overgrown, that got us under the M53 motorway and out to Bidston Station. I'm not sure I would have ventured in there on my own – I doubt I would ever have found my way out again – but Alan knew his way through. After a short distance by road he disappeared up another path and we skirted round Bidston Village. Then he found us yet another off-road path that we hadn't ridden on before. This one was sandwiched between the railway and the M53 followed the River Fender eventually emerging into the Woodchurch Estate. Not a place to linger too long, we hurried through and crossed over Woodchurch Road.
This took us into Landican Lane. An unsurfaced route to be avoided when it's wet but on a dry day such as today a useful short cut to get us up to Storeton. Now we were back onto quiet lanes that took us down to Brimstage. A short dash along the busy main road through the village and we turned off again to cycle through Thornton Hough and a return to the small village of Raby. From here we followed our outbound route through Neston to arrive back at Ness Gardens having completed 38 miles. Alan's hopes of getting an ice cream before setting off home were dashed by the fact that as early as 3pm the cafe was already closing down. Anyway thanks to him for leading the ride and for managing to find good off-road routes that we have never been on before. It amazes me that after 13 years riding with Chester Easy Riders it is still possible to find them.
See route map and/or gpx file download
TC
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