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Retired, work part-time or shifts, enjoy being out in the countryside? Then cycle the lanes and byways of Cheshire and surrounding areas with Chester Easy Riders: you won't get left behind.
Chester Easy Riders is an independent cycling club affiliated to Cycling UK. We cycle every Thursday throughout the year with moderate and brisk day rides of 40 to 80 miles.

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Showing posts with label Pickmere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pickmere. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 December 2021

2nd December 2021: Pickmere (mod)

I cycled with great care to Delamere Station as the temperature had fallen below zero in the night and by 10 o’clock it was only forecast to have risen to 2 degrees. The roads were largely dry, though patches that looked wet were possibly icy and puddles on the verge were iced over. Others were aware of the risks, with some members staying away and David M coming in civies.  In total we had six riders: myself, Steve T, Clive, George, Dave H and Ray.  

I had looked for a route that would keep to the busier roads where gritting and the passage of traffic would reduce the ice risk.  This took us along B roads, northwards to Kingsley and then easterly past Acton Bridge station, through Davenham and into Northwich. As we travelled east, it seemed to get colder with more frost on the paths. We passed a queue of people waiting for their Covid vaccines. We then crossed the Town Bridge over the Weaver Navigation, one of many listed structures on the waterway, this was built in 1899 and was one of the first electrically powered swing bridges in the country. We avoided the dual carriageway by taking to shopping streets surrounded by more mundane structures, and emerged at the roundabout where we took the B-road to Marston.  We stopped for a quick time check as we were running early for our destination. We decided to extend our ride along Budworth Road towards Arley Hall.  Here we were onto country lanes for the first time and we noticed more frost, so caution was called for. We reached the security of the B road heading towards Higher Wincham and soon turned right into our destination at around 1210.

We’ve visited the Red Lion at Pickmere before, but this time it was busier despite the early hour, possibly due to the approach of Christmas.  We settled ourselves on a large table near to one of their fires and began to warm up. An indication of the cold day was that 4 of us ordered hot drinks. After a bit of a wait our food arrived, mostly reasonably priced bagettes with chips and salad garnish. 

Photo by SHa

Soon it was time to leave. Over lunch Clive had told us of a café at Pickmere Lake and as we cycled through Pickmere village we saw it signposted by two bright yellow bicycles on our left: somewhere to investigate on another occasion. Our return route assumed that ice on the lanes would have largely gone, and so we took the familiar route through Great Budworth, Comberbach and Little Leigh. Steve T left us to head home at this stage, and the rest of us took the steep hill above Acton Bridge. We passed through Crowton and climbed up Norley Bank, and before long we were at Hatchmere crossroads. Here we split with Clive and Dave heading back to their cars at Delamere Station, and the rest of us making our various ways home.

Despite the cold it, we had made the most of a fine and sunny day. The total distance travelled from and to Delamere was 33 miles.  

See route map and/or gpx file download

SHa


Thursday, 2 January 2020

2nd January 2020: Pickmere (mod)

First ride of the New Year and the weather looked reasonable – mild and dry with the prospect of some rain only towards the end of the afternoon.  This produced a heathy turnout of Easy Riders at Delamere Station Café, perhaps members were hoping to work-off their unhealthy indulgences of the Christmas season.

Steve T and I had each come prepared with a moderate route.  Steve’s was 40 miles long with 25 miles before lunch.  My ride was 40 miles long with 25 miles before lunch.  Steve’s went to the Red Lion at Pickmere. Mine went to the Red Lion at Pickmere.  We had both selected the same ride from the club archive and so we jointly led for the day.

The moderates comprised the two of us, plus Dave H, Bob, Andy B, Trevor, Ian and Peter. We started by following David M out from the café towards Frodsham.  While he continued, we turned right to head towards the Weaver Navigation, taking the bumpy Cliff Lane into Acton Bridge, across the A49 for the first time, before crossing again, and crossing again to reach Higher Whitley. We were passing a good many horses and riders, including one who told us that flashing lights could alarm the animals. At some point there was confusion when the command “straight on” led half the group to follow the main lane to the right, while the other half turned off to continue literally straight on. No harm done, we crossed over the M6 by its junction with the M56, and began to head south into a blustery wind. It was only a little further before we reached our lunch stop. Here Andy decided to head straight back as it was a long way to Mold.

The Red Lion welcomed us with a fire and we ordered our food and drink. Service was quick leaving us limited time to talk about football, warm weather holidays and how members could access our routes from the blog.

The skies had darkened when we left the pub, encouraging a few more of us to switch our lights on. We took one of our familiar routes back, through Great Budworth, Comberbach, Little Leigh, Acton Bridge and Onston.  Before taking the rough tarmac to Delamere Station we said goodbye to some more riders, leaving only Ian and I to take tea and coffee at the café   Our route had been 40 miles long, and no rain materialised.  Not a bad outing for January and my first proper ride in six months.

See route map and/or gpx file download

SH

Thursday, 15 August 2019

15th August 2019 : Pickmere (brisk)

It didn't rain and the afternoon was quite sunny but it was very windy and gusty. I turned up a little late for the last meet start at the Ice Cream Farm  - NB : It's Alison's Cafe in Tattenhall next time!

Neil was sitting there like Billy No Mates with a coffee wondering if anyone was going to show up today. I said I would be there, but he was starting to doubt that until I actually showed up. No one else turned up, so we two set off via Tarporley bound for Pickmere.

The route was unexceptional passing thorough Eaton, Rushton and Little Budworth on our way to Whitegate. Traffic was very light - unlike the strong NW wind. This was great if it was behind you as I can attest as I averaged 18mph on the route out to ICF over 16 miles.

In Whitegate, I take the forest footpath transfer to access Vale Royal Golf club to introduce Neil to the Dave Mathew's "Golf Club - Weaver"  transfer route. We hang right to cross the Weaver over the massive locks and ride along the pleasant footpath with bike unfriendly gates. Up the hill by the Blue Bridge, we are soon in and out of Davenham bound for Lach Dennis.

A left up Common Lane takes into the by-roads of Plumley and we are soon at The Smoker pub on the busy A556. I'd thought about having lunch here but opted to go on to Pickmere to the Red Lion (part of the same group of pubs as The Smoker). So we arrive around 1215 having left Wincham behind.

Service was very prompt and the fare reasonably priced and wholesome. Neil chatted about his 25 yrs experience of working in Saudi Arabia training the Saudi Air Force pilots and technicians. I reflected on the long weekend I spent in Riyadh and Jeddah in the 1990's and how I was addressed there as Mr Al-Bany ( obviously I'm now of Arabian extraction!)

We are soon back on the bike and heading mainly into the wind as we slide through Great Budworth on our way to Little Leigh and the big hill up to Acton Bridge. At Crowton, we take Norley Lane for the inexorable climb up into Norley and use the Dave Heath transfer via Town Farm Lane to journey on to Flaxmere and Delamere Forest.

There is "just one more climb" up and into Kelsall where Neil carries on via Willington to complete the 49 miles route on his way home. I slide off bound for Oscroft and permutate the best way to avoid the head-on wind back to Chester.

So thanks to Neil for his company today, and 70+ miles for both of us probably.

See route map and/or gpx file download

CA

Friday, 4 January 2019

3rd January 2019: Pickmere (mod)

Gathered at Delamere Station café for our first ride of the year was a decent turnout for a moderate ride: Keith, George, Andy B, Clive and myself.  Also there were Steve T only out for the café and Dave H in civvies. 

The weather was forecast to be very cold with little wind, no rain and maybe some sun.  With early morning temperatures well below zero I expected frost and ice on the lanes and therefore prepared a route which largely passed over roads likely to have been gritted and which was relatively short.  It turned out that a mix of low humidity and some cloud cover meant my fears were unjustified, but we followed the route nonetheless.

We cycled out on the road to Frodsham, Steve T left us as we turned down the hill to Kingsley, then followed the main road to Acton Bridge, and across the Weaver.  Here I suffered a rear puncture, the first for a long time, caused by a small stone chip.  The tyre was changed, with thanks to Keith’s CO2 cylinder, while the others shivered.  I them offered the choice between the original route or the quickest route to the pub: in need of warmth, the short route got it. 

In Great Budworth, we passed along Westage Lane which has been closed to traffic for many months due to the road being undermined by badgers.  This time work was underway.  The badger sett must have been moved, the banks were covered with wire netting to prevent them returning, and workers were finishing off some re-surfacing and clearing overgrown vegetation.

The pub was quickly reached and we ensconced ourselves in front of a warm fire.  The welcome was friendly, and the food and drink were satisfying. While we ate, Keith entertained us with his climb up the North Ridge of Tryfan, onto the tops and down beside the Devil’s Kitchen.  This led to a number of mountain tales from others before it was time to leave.

Our return was equally short, passing through the Flashes and Marbury Park, then by the Anderton Boat Lift, into Weaverham, Sandiway and Cuddington. Some steep hills back to Norley followed. We said some goodbyes at Hatchmere, and George and I continued for a brew.

Choosing the Visitor Centre Café over the station to get some better coffee (it is better!), we soon regretted this as the place was teaming with people, the queues were long and all the tables occupied. There has been some discussion of using the Visitor Centre rather than the Station café to meet due to the coffee. While there were reasons that today was particularly busy, it can also be very crowded some mornings on good days in the school holidays. We need to bear this in mind if we do switch regarding holiday dates.

Overall we had a good ride of 30 miles with a good pub stop.

See route map and/or gpx file download

SH

Friday, 26 January 2018

25th January 2018: Pickmere (mod)

Have you ever travelled past an interesting-looking or attractive place and thought “I wonder what that’s like”?  I’ve cycled many times past the destination of this ride. It’s often on our routes to the Peovers, Chelford or Wincham, but really too close to our ride starts to be an obvious choice.  So it was that I devised a route for a short winter’s day that involved a long outward ride leaving less than a third of the miles for our return.

Quite a large turnout at Delamere Station Café, resulted in only 4 members joining the moderate ride: Andy B, Dave H, Keith and myself. The forecast was for a dry often sunny morning, but a high risk of heavy rain in the afternoon.  With this in mind I thought it best to ride moderately briskly before lunch in hope of arriving dry.

We took the longer route out to Acton Bridge, passing three “No Through Road” signs to come close to the River Weaver and then ascend Cliff Lane.  We crossed, re-crossed and re-crossed again the A49, before travelling through Higher Whitley. From here it was north-westwards, passing over the old concrete perimeter of Royal Naval Air Station Stretton, south of Warrington. This facility, known as HMS Blackcap was operational from 1942 to 1958, flying Fairey Barracudas, Fireflies and Supermarine aircraft amongst others.

Next we crossed some more modern transport infrastructure, the M6/M62 junction, before starting to loop south beside Swineyard Hall, a moated partly 16th century country house. Continuing our wide circuit of Arley Hall, we entered the village of Pickmere, and swung into the carpark of the Red Lion, before a drop of rain had fallen.

The Red Lion is a Robinsons’ pub with an open fire, a friendly welcome and tasty food.  I settled down with an excellent pint of Unicorn, and three of us opted for baguette and chips at around £7.  A series of historical photos adorn the walls, many of Pickmere Lake in its Edwardian heyday, complete with landing stage, rowing boats and cruiser. Dave remembered this as well as the travelling fair, but it all later fell into decay.  I am told that the cruiser, the Princess Irene, can still be found underwater in the middle of the lake. Despite this and later housing developments, you can still enjoy a walk around the lake.

We left the pub as the rain started and before long it was heavy with a very blustery wind making progress difficult.  But we weren’t going to be under a deluge, because although a lot of water had fallen, we were not under it at the time.  The skies brightened and we then only faced intermittent rain. The route back was direct through Great Budworth, Little Leigh and Norley, the only interest being the indefinite closure to motors of Westage Lane into Great Budworth due to badger earths undermining the carriageway. Keith left us for Runcorn and the remaining three headed back towards Delamere: Dave to his car, myself slightly further on to Kelsall and Andy much further on to Mold.

Overall a very good ride of about 40 miles in generally reasonable weather with a new find in the Red Lion for lunch stops.

Route now loaded on plotaroute.com due to bikeroutetoaster.com remaining down:


SH