24th February 2022: Hanmer (mod)

 Great minds think alike! I had ridden down to Tattenhall with a ride in mind which would take us to The Hanmer Arms at Hanmer. With a strong south-westerly wind forecast it was a route that went roughly south and returned in a roughly northward direction. It would, in theory, avoid too much cycling into the wind. I must admit to having cheated a bit by taking the idea from a previous ride. Seven moderate riders had assembled at Alison's cafe. Eventually the conversation turned to the subject of where we were going to ride to and it was at this point that it became clear that Steve Ha had come up with the same idea. So, The Hanmer Arms it was, and since Steve does more than his fair share of ride leading it only seemed fair that I should lead this one.

The seven of us, Andy B, David M, Steve H, Steve T, the tandem pair of Dave and Liz and myself set off out from Tattenhall towards the A41 and Chowley Oak. David was intending to leave us at Coddington and the tandem pair were going to see how it was with the wind. A tandem, after all, is the cycling equivalent of a high-sided vehicle. But at Coddington the situation was reversed. The weather seemed to be better than forecast so David continued on with us while Dave & Liz decided that the wind would be too much and decided to peel off. I don't think they liked the look of some rather ominous-looking dark clouds that were heading our way and neither did the rest of us but at this point we turned south and hoped to be clear of the rain before it got to us. In the end we got caught by the edge of it but only had to endure it for about five minutes before we were out and heading into sunshine again.

We had passed through Barton and headed down through Tilston towards Threapwood. Beyond Threapwood we encountered our next weather-related hazard – snow. It snowed for about 15-20 minutes but fortunately it didn't start to settle on the road. However, David realised that he wasn't properly kitted out for the conditions and decided to turn towards Malpas and home leaving four of us to turn towards Lower Wych and then on to Hanmer.

By the time we reached The Hanmer Arms the sun had come out again and had mostly dried off our outer clothing. However, we arrived cold from both the snow and the strong winds and when two of us ordered tea we all wanted to wrap our hands round the pot. Once a regular haunt for the Easy Riders it had been closed for a while. This was the first time I had been back there since it reopened, although other rides may have been there recently. It didn't look any different to me and the welcome was as warm as before. The food was also still good although the 'mini-bites' were a little too mini. The 20% off the food bill helped to soften the blow.

The sun was still out as we made our return through Tallarn Green, Sarn and Threapwood. The wind was also still blowing strongly and it seemed that we were still cycling into it. Or were my legs getting tired? At Shocklach Andy left us to go straight home and the two Steves and I turned right. We retraced part of our outward journey into Tilston but then carried straight on towards Carden. As we climbed the hill at the back of Carden Park I realised that it was my legs that were tiring and I was left behind by the other two. As I rounded the bend at the top there they were. I thought they had stopped to wait for me but actually they were repairing a problem with a loose mudguard. From there we continued to the main road where we dog-legged left and right. At Chowley Oak we once again joined our outbound route and followed it back into Tattenhall. Unfortunately, we were just a bit too late to enjoy afternoon tea and cakes at Alison's. Maybe next time. Still, despite the weather an enjoyable 35 miles. 55 for Steve H and myself by the time we got home and goodness knows how many for Andy.

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TC

5th August 2021; Hanmer (mod)

The forecasters had promised us strong SSE winds gusting to nearly 30mph, plus heavy rain from noon. Given this poor forecast there was a good CER turnout at Alison’s in Tattenhall. It was especially good to see Bob for the first time in some months. He is moving to live near Chorley, and we wish him well in his health and his new life in Lancashire.   

The anticipated weather affected our choice of route: either a longer trip south-westward in a crosswind to the Greyhound in St Martin’s, or a shorter route that minimised the time we would spend in rain.  The latter was chosen which meant a trip southward to one of our favourite destinations, the Hanmer Arms. The group comprised myself and the other two Steves, Dave H, George, Alan and Andy, plus Neil who was only able to join us for part of the ride. We headed off over the hills by Bolesworth Castle and then to Brown Knowl.  Although having not long been riding, we managed to lose both Alan and Steve Hu by the time we reached Broxton Old Hall. Luckily telephone communication was established and they re-joined us shortly afterwards. We continued on to No Man’s Heath and began the climb up to Malpas.  Here heavy rain began to fall and we donned our waterproofs expecting to be wet for the rest of the day. The route took us through Lower Wych, by when the rain had petered out. It didn’t take long to reach Eglwys Cross and join the A-roads that led us into Hanmer village by 1230. Although we had often been riding into the wind, it didn’t cause us too many problems, perhaps we had been sheltered by the landscape.

We had called ahead to alert the pub, but need not have worried as initially we were the sole customers. Drinks and food were ordered, the light bite fish and chips proving most popular and very tasty. Conversation ranged widely but, after George described having watched Jeremy Clarkson’s Farm, tended to focus on farming.  Specifically, Clarkson’s lack of farming aptitude and the massive cost of farm machinery, narrow margins and where did farmers make their money. 

Photo by SH

It was still not raining when we left the pub. We headed for Tallarn Green and Threapwood, noticing, as we leave Chapel Lane and join the B-road, a substantial house oddly named “The Holy Land”. From there we made for Tilston and Stretton, passed by Manor Wood café, and were soon back in Tattenhall. We’d only covered 34 miles, our return helped by a strong tailwind. The heavy rain hadn’t materialised, though when I reached home, I found it had fallen there and much more would later in the day.  I think we’d been lucky. 

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SH

1st October 2020 : Hanmer (brisk)

A bright autumn day was in prospect, and so it was except for an occasional black cloud that thankfully did not rain on us Brisk Six. Ivan and John W arrived last at Alisons, and Nick, Ray and John M made up the sextet today.

After a 100 mile ride on Tuesday (see below) four of us were happy to address the 46 miler to Hanmer that I had proposed. So off via Huxley we head down through Peckforton and Bickerton on our way to Bickley Moss. Marbury comes up quickly and soon it is in and out of Whitchurch heading for Alkington to Hanmer via Fenn Bank.

Try as I might not to do so, I seemed to have picked the very best of the worst road surfaces today. At Bronington , the lanes get worse in that they are plastered with wet field run off. Nearing Hanmer, I deviate north to get onto the dry and smooth A roads to enter Hanmer.

The Hanmer Post Office is busy especially as only two are allowed in at any time. So it takes a while to get our lunch purchased - also there wasn't so much of a choice today. So we sit looking at the mere topping up the calories and fluid levels. 

Cheers!

The route back is going to be short at 16 miles as we have already ridden 30 miles. So we set off riding more badly surfaced roads towards Worthenbury. None of us want to actually go back to Tattenhall, so I suggest "Let's go to Cleopatra's as we probably will not be able to do this again for a while". So we plough along the familiar road to Shocklach where Nick heads home for Tilston.

We sit in the sun with our hot drinks outside Cleopatra's cafe and then John suggests we head home via Rossett, Dodleston and Saltney Ferry bridge. A good idea as this tops up the out-and-back mileage to a respectable 70 miles today.

So apologies to the Brisk group today for loading up their bikes with excess mud, but this is likely to be the norm going forward now as Autumn starts to turn to Winter.

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CA

Photo by JW

Southport Ride

Ivan designed and led this ride which started via car assist in Stretton. After a cold and foggy foray through several suburban landscapes, we arrive in sunny Standish for a late breakfast. After a necessary detour via Rufford (a bridge was being removed over a river) we plough across the fenland and ride the whole length of Southport prom. We then grab cake and a drink at the MeCycle shop in Ainsdale.The route back is shorter, but we now have the going-home traffic to contend with in Warrington. A great day out for Nick, John W, Ivan and myself with 102 miles ridden at 16 mph average speed. Thanks Ivan!

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CA

7th November 2019: Hanmer (mod)

For CER riders looking out of their bedroom windows the main question was, “If I turn up to ride today will I just get reasonably wet, or insufferably wet, as in having to endure miserable, cold hours of driving rain ?” Those who have rich and full lives, urgent household task to tackle, or stimulating company at home, sensibly chose to “give it a miss”. Clive, Ken, George, Nick and myself turned up. To be fair, Nick was multi-tasking in terms of a need to get to Screwfix in Wrexham before the end of the afternoon, then he was going to hang curtains, and later practise his karaoke! That's the energy of (relative) youth for you. I suggested Hanmer or Ellesmere, and I reckon Ken had calculated that at my pace he'd be returning home in the dark if we went to Ellesmere, so the Hanmer Arms it was to be.

I sort of led, but although I have pioneered some perverse routes in this area, mainly to avoid hilly and rough-roaded Malpas, the help of the rest of The Crazy Gang, who ride these lanes more frequently, smoothed things along. When I don't know my north from my south, George can always take bearings from his beloved distant Welsh hills in order to keep us on track. The route out was via Churton. At Coddington the Caravan Park cafe was recommended to those who hadn't yet partaken. We continued through the mazy little lanes of Cuddington Heath and Oldcastle Heath. We passed Peacock Farm where my Clio RS happened to be in the capable, specialist hands of Steve and Andy of Birchdown Motors. At Eglwys Cross, Clive, perhaps surprisingly, suggests the main road in order to miss the super muddy back lane to Hanmer. George and I remember well using sticks here to poke the muck from between our tyres and mudguards. It was by leading us on back lanes like this that Clive literally cemented his reputation. The Hanmer Arms is full of chatting ladies, one of whom nearly knocks me over, chuckling over her view that my yellow “safety jacket” was the only thing that saved me from demolition. Service and food were very good, and it is nice to see this long time CER favourite returned to top form.

The conversation was interesting, but as I strayed onto the political, George, quite rightly mentioned out our informal concensus on avoiding the risk of heartfelt arguments over politics.  Of course, George may have just been on Civil Service autopilot after decades of ensuring Political Purdah before elections!

Our return was via Little Arowry, Three Fingers, Threapwood and Shocklach. The pace of the fast lads was considerately turned down, but progress had been good all day. Nick peeled off for home. We, amazingly, felt very little rain until the last few miles to Farndon; even this was only light. We decided to give our custom to Helen, back at Cleopatra's. We had a very pleasant coffee and cake session before departing. I suspect Ken, and definitely Clive, will have hit real rain riding home. Only 31 miles, but very enjoyable despite the gloomy forecast. I am sure that we all were glad that we had not “given it a miss”!

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DH

25th April 2019: Hanmer (mod)

After a sunny and warm, even hot Easter weekend, it was a shock to see heavy rain showers, cool temperatures and gusty winds in today’s forecast. Undeterred eight Easy Riders met at Cleos in Holt. The mods were Neil, George, Dave H and myself. We had decided that the conditions limited our distance to a ride out to the Hanmer Arms at Hanmer.  On the way out we would face an easterly wind veering to southerly, which would speed our return.

The brisk group left before us, and we followed in the same direction over the Dee Bridge and through Farndon to head towards Worthenbury.  So we were a little surprised to find the brisk group overtake us, slipstreaming behind a tractor.  Bypassing Worthenbury we looped round Tallarn Green and made for Holly Bush, then through Penley and towards Ellesmere.  We had been lucky with the showers, but were then hit by heavy rain and paused by The Mere to consider whether to seek shelter in an Ellesmere pub or head to our original destination.  We chose the latter, which turned out to be the best choice as conditions improved and we were drying off as we cycled into the courtyard behind the Hanmer Arms with 25 miles completed.

The pub is one of our favourites and we were welcomed and served decent food and drink.  Conversation turned to recollections of previous visits and previous cold wet rides. One we especially remembered had been led by Jim from Chirk into the hills with Dave, George and myself plus big Roy. The highlights(?) of this being near hypothermia and mechanical catastrophe.

We left the pub to the sound of thunder. For our return I chose to follow the main roads rather than lanes to the east of Hanmer.  A couple of years ago we had become stuck in 6 inch deep mud on these lanes and the memory was sufficient to keep us away from them ever since. We passed through Lower Wych and Malpas, and then via Stretton and Wetreins Lane we entered Farndon and made for Lewis’s. A little later the brisk riders joined. We had successfully avoided any serious rain on the return despite dark threatening clouds in every direction and had been pushed along by a tailwind.  39 miles had been completed – a good ride in the conditions.

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SH

1st November 2018: Hanmer (mod)

All Saints Day began with steady rain, but by the time I’d ridden to the Ice Cream Farm, the clouds had cleared and the day promised to be dry with some sunshine and mild winds. Twelve Easy Riders turned up, the moderates comprising Jim, George, Mike G, David M, Neil (on his new bike), Steve T, Trevor and myself.  It was good to see Dave H also there, in civvies performing his club secretary duties, and also collecting choices and monies for the Christmas Lunch.  He needs to receive confirmation of attendance and at least the £5 deposit by 22^nd November.

I had pulled a previous ride to Hanmer from the archive: a figure of eight with a return through Malpas and Brown Knowl. We started through Tattenhall, Barton and Threapwood, but were making good time and I therefore decided to divert eastwards and dip down through Lower Wych to avoid arriving too early at the pub.  As we travelled along some good surfaced lanes for a change, we split into two groups.  I remained in the slower group and we were surprised to arrive at the Hanmer Arms ahead of the others.  About 5 minutes later they arrived much muddied from their excursion through the lanes to Arowry, whilst we had taken the clean main road for the final mile or so.

The pub was quite busy but we were accommodated on a couple of tables and served relatively quickly.  As usual, there was a friendly welcome with good value food and drink. There appears to be a planning application for a large holiday home development behind the pub. These and caravan parks seem to be a way to keep many country pubs open when others are forced to close.

I modified our return plans to keep the overall route under 40 miles and to avoid what would have been a hillier return. We took the fairly direct route northwards through Tallarn Green, Shocklach and Clutton. At Sarn Bridge we find a mega-sized tractor going our way, confronting an even bigger one on the bridge.  We carefully keep well away from these monsters at they manoeuvre past each other. From Sarn Bridge we gradually shed riders, as they make their own ways home.  Eventually only Steve T, George, Jim and myself end up back at the Ice Cream Farm, to reflect on what had been a good autumn ride of 38 miles.

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SH

15th February 2018: Hanmer (mod)

A cold sunny but very windy day saw the Easy Riders descend in number on Cleo's in Holt.  It was good to see such a turnout and discussion covered the CER 10th Anniversary Special Ride on 26th April. But today, David M, Trevor and Bryan were doing their own thing; the mods decided on a trip to the Hanmer Arms; and our phalanx of brisk riders were heading for Ellesmere. (Is ‘phalanx’ the right term? Maybe it should be a ‘flight’ or a ‘tornado’? Suggestions on a postcard please.)

The mods were Andy B, Bob, Dave H, George and myself. The route out went through Shocklach, Threapwood and Penley, before skirting The Mere at Ellesmere, and then heading northeast to Hanmer. The wind came from the west and gusted strongly, but unlike the Winter Olympians at Pyeongchang, there were no complaints from the stoical mods. Though they were less sanguine about the steep climbs out of valley bottoms we kept finding.

With 25 miles covered, we arrived at the Hanmer Arms.  It was as good as always, and for those with big appetites and small pockets, the ham and eggs is to be recommended. We chatted about CER’s history and those with long memories tried to recall ‘the who’ and ‘the what’ of previous years, not always successfully.

The return route was only 14 or so miles and was mainly with a tailwind, so we needed to add another challenge. This came from the road surface, though many riders doubted we were actually on a road as we took the route from Arowry to Eglwys Cross and northwards. We had more potholes than road and Somme-like mud. Luckily Dave had packed his patent mudguard de-mudder: a special twig designed for such eventualities.  Soon we were back on tarmac, heading towards Malpas by special request from Dave. From there it was a quick ride to Stretton, down Wetreins Lane and back into Holt.

We arrived back at Cleo's, just as the brisk group were leaving, and settled in for hot drinks and cake, with nearly 39 miles covered. Special congratulations are in order for Bob, who completed an entire ride without a puncture!

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SH

21st September 2017: Hanmer (mod)

It was raining heavily as I rode towards Holt and it was forecast to continue for the rest of the morning.  It wasn’t a bad turnout therefore when five of us gathered in Cleopatra’s: Ken, George, Keith, Steve T and myself. Ken was recently back from a cruise to Greenland and points west, and was only out for a brief ride.

I had seen a report on Google that the Hanmer Arms had re-opened, and keen to investigate whether what had been one of our favourite pubs was still as good, I suggested this as a venue.  Given the weather we agreed to take a fairly short route there and hope things would improve after lunch.

The way out was through Farndon, then Tilston and into Malpas from the west, where Ken left us. Next through Lower Wych to the A525, where we saw we were likely to be too early for the pub. We took the road to Arrowy intending a short loop through Bronington to take up the time.  Now we are used to muddy lanes, but these were really, really muddy: hard work and limited traction.  The only solution was to abandon the loop and make for the main road as the cleanest way to Hanmer.

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The pub was welcoming in spite of our sodden condition and we were quickly served with good reasonably priced food and I had an excellent pint of Dick Turpin. The only problem was the lack of a fire, not that it was cold, but we could have done with it to dry out our gear.  We agreed to place the pub back onto our list of favourites. We were happy with a fairly short route back, even though the rain had stopped.

A few days before I had watched a natural history programme called ‘Swarm’ on the powerful collective intelligence of animal groups.  Unfortunately the collective intelligence of Chester Easy Riders was sadly lacking when climbing the hill above Sarn Bridge, Keith’s rear mech snapped off.  Our initial plan was good: remove the mech and shorten the chain.  Our implementation was lacking.  We faffed about trying to detach Keith’s quick link, then puzzled over how to use a chain splitter, then were perplexed over how to reconnect the shortened chain. Eventually we were able to fashion a working though rather loose chain, good enough to get us back. 

Grateful to only have a short direct route back to Holt, we passed through Shocklach, and on to Farndon without the usual race over the last few miles. We had only completed a little over 30 miles, but were grateful to celebrate our ride in Cleos with a round of hot chocolates, courtesy of George.  It had been a day worth getting out for despite the weather.

SH