22nd February 2024: Malpas (mod +)

On a day following a Met Office Yellow warning for rain, it was encouraging to see such a good turnout of CER members, both riding and in civvies. So many that we could accommodate three different rides a brisk, a mod + and a mod group. The mod+ group consisted of Ray S, Alan and Steve Hu. Mindful of the forecast we felt up to a forty miler would be best in the conditions. Ray had a route from Tattenhall to Whitchurch where Alan suggested we dine at the same venue as Ken's ride last week. 

We set off from Walk Mill in comparative dry and windless weather back along Guy Lane and left onto Martins Lane. At Hargrave we stopped to load Ray’s route onto the computers and the weather decided to change  for the worse and set the scene for the next 10 miles. A local stopped us and advised us of certain road closures due to flooding, by this time we had traversed two long lengths of flooded road the second being deep enough to submerge our bottom brackets! A quick blast through Newton in Tattenhall brought us into Tanner Town. 

Photos by AO

From Tattenhall the route took us through the now soaking wet lanes of Clutton and Tilston. Just before Horton Green our route turned right to Whitchurch a further 12 to 14 miles further on, however a sign viewed through rain speckled glasses advised the warm pubs and cafes of Malpas were only three miles away. A quick quorum was convened and a new destination was agreed, the Fire Station cafe in Dave Heaths favourite town Malpas. 

As we climbed steadily up to the town Ray remembered the Lion pub in the centre. On arriving we were welcomed by the staff who suggested we sat close to the log fire. By now our gloves and pants were soaked so this generous offer was much appreciated. The menu at the Lion is excellent and testament to the food on offer it was a full ten minutes before consensus of sandwiches with extra chips was agreed upon and ordered. 

After a very leisurely lunch waterproofs were donned again in readiness for the return leg. Ray had a route that avoided flooded / dirty lanes. Taking Chester road we headed back towards Ebnal and then broke left to Hampton Heath. We made excellent progress on Long Lane until it crossed Salters Lane and became Harthill Ln. The short climb up here is normally a breeze on a summer's day, but today it seemed a lot harder. Once through Harthill, Bolesworth road is a rollercoaster of a ride all the way back to Tanner Town. 

In order to stick with the tradition of CER, Ray added on a small diversion through Bruera & Saighton bringing us nicely into Waverton where Alan returned to Walk Mill, I peeled off for Golden Sutton and Iron legs Ray headed for Chester. 

Thank you to Ray for leading the route. A reasonable 14.5mph average speed on a very wet and flooded roads 33 mile route. 

Steve Hu

26th October 2023: Malpas (mod+)

Well as I descended in the pouring rain through Hawarden I reflected on how many hardy CER riders would believe the forecast that today would improve and venture out. Oh yee of little faith, Meadow Lea usually results in a good turnout, but today was spectacular, unlike the weather. The CER group had taken over five tables and all ordered drinks by the time Alan Andy B and I had arrived. The large group easily allowed two groups to be formed and Steve T proposed a Mod + ride. The group consisted of John M, Ray S, Matt, new member Shane, Alan, Steve’s T & H and Richard. 

This was a Steve Ha ride that Steve T had copied as a backup ride, as such it had elements of a mystery tour starting with exiting the car park , “Is it left or right” questioned Steve. Once underway the route led us through Guilden Sutton and out onto the lanes via School Lane. Everyone had a  recent story of flooding to tell and we trusted Steve Ha’s route by proxy would avoid such bike washes. The route meandered through Littleton & Christleton, from here we took Guy Lane and whilst the roads were dry they all seemed to be going up hill. Spinning through Newton by Tattenhall we proceeded to Bolesworth Rd. 

Photo by Steve Hu

We stopped outside the Bolesworth estate for the customary group photo whilst Alan regaled us with the ownership of the Bolesworth Estate, who being non other than Barbour as in wax cotton jackets fame. History tells us that in 1856 Robert Barbour a Scottish businessman acquired the estate as a home whilst he was active with his textile business in Manchester. It is still a vibrant estate hosting a variety of concerts and a forthcoming Halloween special. 

If you can zoom into the photo you will witness the disparity on tyre cross section between Steve T’s waif like 25mm road tyres and Pirelli sponsored Ray S’s 40mm gravel tyres. I have the utmost admiration for Ray who hustled his gravel bike complete with said hoops for 47 miles at 14.5 mph average speed. At times we thought we were being followed by a tractor such was the rumble of Ray’s tyres. 

A quick jaunt over a few more hills dropped us into Malpas for our lunch. We have visited the Lion before, however today they must have been short staffed as we waited nearly 90 minutes to be served. Replete with pots of tea and soft drinks the delay led to an increase in my stomach juices as we patiently awaited our fare. As the selection of food arrived, heaped sandwiches, extra chips and even vegan Fish & Chips my taste buds were practically dancing in anticipation. 

Then my fishcake arrived, a lovely fishcake in a rich jus. A quick check revealed that was it! No salad vegetables or anything….zip. So 32 miles in, my lunch was a 2” fishcake. Such was the support from the CER group I was soon inundated with extra chips and even the offer of some mushy peas. So in summary the Lion is a lovely venue, just be cautious with the lite bites choices. 

Replete we left the pub in glorious sunshine that Steve T had pre ordered. The promise of “its all down hill from here” plus a tail wind saw us zip through Tilston and into Tattenhall. A quick zip though Waverton took us back towards Guilden Sutton. We were only stopped crossing Tarvin road. At this point we witnessed what must have been a Welsh Yaris driver pulling onto a 50mph road at 20mph (the new standard for Welsh roads) and deciding to hold up a bus. The cacophony of horns was entertaining. 

As we arrived at Meadow we stopped just to thank Steve T for leading such a dry and pleasant route. Thanks also to Steve Ha for the original route. Shane returned to ride virtually back to our lunch spot and the rest of use made our way home. 

See route map and/or gpx file download

Steve Hu

20th July 2023: Malpas (mod)

Recent rides that I've been on have not been particularly well attended but today no less than 18 members turned up at Meadow Lea. I had a ride of 44 miles planned to the Wheatsheaf Inn at No Man's Heath. Four members were not riding, two set off on a brisk ride and four of the moderates wanted something a bit longer and set off with Steve T for Church Minshull. That left eight of us for my ride. I was joined by Dave H, Dave P, George, Jim, Matt, Mike and Ray as we set off south through Guilden Sutton, across the A51 and on to Waverton. Here we turned left, passing the Crocky Trail before turning into Martin's Lane.

I am more used to following this route to reach our starting point at Alison's but today we were avoiding Tattenhall and after passing through Hargrave we turned left towards Huxley. Here we turned right and before long we came across a very colourful verge where someone had planted masses of wildflowers. We couldn't resist the photo opportunity before turning down towards the Shady Oak, now reopened and renamed The Shady (for some reason best known to the new owners. The oak tree is still there). After skirting round the back of Beeston Castle we again turned towards Tattenhall. This time we avoided it by turning up Carrs Lane and taking the quiet top roads towards Bolesworth.

Photo by TC

Several of my fellow riders had expressed surprise that the Wheatsheaf was open although my searches on the internet suggested it was. However I thought it best to try ringing them but failed to get through. So a Plan B was discussed and Dave H suggested The Lion at Malpas. We rode round the back of Bolesworth castle and across to Brown Knoll. Here I had intended to turn left and take a loop round Bickerton Hill but in case we had to end up going further to reach Malpas I decided to turn right to head through Duckington.

At Hampton Green crossroads we stopped. Malpas was to the right and No Man's Heath straight on. I tried ringing the pub again and again I failed to get through. We turned right. As we rode up the hill into Malpas we found the road busy as the school appeared to be finishing early for the summer holidays. We soon arrived at the Lion and opted to sit at the tables outside. The weather was warm, the food was good and the conversation flowed as we tucked in to our various meals.

After lunch it was uphill through Malpas then the long downhill run to Tilston. Not the usual fast descent as a cool wind tried to force us back up the hill. In Tilston we turned towards Stretton then turned left into Wetreins Lane heading for Farndon. When we reached the centre of the village we turned up towards Chester but as we were leaving the village we realised that we were down to five riders. Jim and the two Daves were missing. They knew the way alright so we waited several minutes for them to appear. No sign of them so we tried ringing but without reply. Eventually they returned our call and we discovered that they had gone to Lewis's for a coffee. I should contact the secretary to have them thrown out of the club but unfortunately one of them is the secretary. Not for taking an unauthorised coffee break but for not inviting the rest of us.

We carried on without them (and without a caffeine hit) and before long George decided he was going to go back through Tattenhall. I'd done my best to avoid all morning but he was obviously missing it. Matt and Mike left us at Saighton leaving just Ray and me to continue on to Waverton where we returned to Meadow Lea on our outward route. Well, not quite. With a quarter of a mile to go I turned off myself leaving just Ray to complete  41 miles.   

See route map and/or gpx file download

TC                 

8th September 2022: Malpas (mod)

There was a modest turnout of riders this week. The threatening weather forecast and booked September breaks were likely reasons for the absence of some regulars. John Wilkie and Richard were doing their own separate rides. I think John was preparing for one of his mega challenges, and Richard had workmen at home, so had been using our collection of past ride routes to dip into and return home early. The moderate group consisted of Steve Tan, Steve Haywood, Steve Hughes, George and myself. Steve Haywood had been thinking about a ride to Whittington. I think it was Ye Olde Boote Inn we had enjoyed visiting there in the past. My concern was that if the forecast number of heavy showers arrived after lunch, that two hours of a wet return ride would not be  much fun. Steve Tan had expressed the belief that it was pretty certain that we would get wet, it was more a question of when the rain would arrive and how heavy it would be. I suggested an experimental circular route to Malpas, of all places(!). Not for the first time, the idea would be to cover a decent mileage to lunch, but be close to home anytime after lunch if the rain had closed in. Another ploy in order to beat approaching bad weather is to give lunch a miss until returning to the starting venue.  Once we successfully adopted this tactic from Cleopatra's, arriving back dry, but those without cars, who stayed for lunch, found it wet on their ride home. Once, the Fast Lads rode from Chester to Chirk, had their breakfast, and beat the rain approaching from the south, by staying ahead of it on their brisk return north. 

Anyway, today's moderate riders amiably went along with my untried route plan, which reached down to Penley via Shocklach and Worthenbury. It was a pleasant surprise to briefly cross paths with Richard at Holly Bush. From Penley we turned left at the site of the former Dymock Arms a historic Grade ll-listed building which was set on fire by arsonists back in 2010. We headed up some rough, quiet lanes before  navigating left and right across the A525. It was reassuring, as always, to have sound directional advice from my Garmin-led friends. I just hope that they never acquire pedestrian recognition or lane assist technology for bikes! There would be a lot of slamming on, and landing in prickly hedges. As long as we know the wind direction, or the position of the sun in the sky, George knows where the Welsh hills lie, and we can find two stick to rub together to make fire, who needs a Garmin? We headed for Lower Wych from Tallarn Green. I was discouraged from exploring a path crossing Wych Brook at Oldcastle Mill. I must take Tonto with me and have a delve sometime soon. After the steep climb out of Lower Wych we soon reached The Lion At Malpas. Our Gourmet in the Saddle, Steve Tan, and Steve Hughes who has spent years munching his way through the menus of top Ribble Valley chefs, appeared to approve the fare on offer. We have Steve Haywood to thank for first introducing us to this particular pleasant watering-hole

After lunch, it was still not raining, so instead of bolting direct for Holt, about 8.5 miles away, we went across to No Mans Heath, and headed up narrow lanes just east of the A41. Edge Lane was a smoothly surfaced, quiet little gem, which saw us re-crossing the A41, and  passing Edge Hall and dropping into Tilston. Plenty of ominous clouds, but still no rain, so we ignored the safer bet of the Wetreins short cut for the sake of squeezing a couple of more miles in via Barton, Coddington and Churton. At Coddington, Steve Haywood took his leave to head for Tattenhall.  We did cop a heavy shower at Churton, but we weren't too wet on reaching Holt, and George was already tucking into cake, as Steve Tan and I reached Cleopatra's after chucking our bikes into the Berlingo. Steve Hughes needed to return home earlyish, so everyone was pretty happy even though our mileage had been defensively modest.

See route map and/or gpx file download

DH

17th February 2022: Malpas (mod)

This Thursday was sandwiched between the westerlies of Storm Dudley which was still blowing itself out in the morning, and Storm Eunice due to blow in on the Friday. As we had no desire to ride into the wind, either outbound or inbound, I was in Meadow Lea café discussing possible routes onto the Wirral with Dave H and Steve T, when messengers from the West arrived in the shape of Steve Hu and Alan.  Keep away from Parkgate and the Wirral they said.  So, if we weren’t to ride north, the alternative was to ride south. Dave H took some convincing that Malpas was due south from Mickle Trafford, but eventually agreed that this should be our destination. Despite having a decent café, Malpas has long been missing a decent pub and therefore has not been a common CER destination. However, the old Red Lion has now been refurbished as The Lion, so I was keen to try this out.

The brisk riders were bravely heading out westwards into the wind to Holywell. The moderates comprised myself, Dave H, Steve T, George, Steve Hu, Alan, Andy B, David M and Andy M, who it was good to see back again. We headed in towards Hoole, before turning left to Littleton to cross the A51 at the new improved crossing. Then we passed through Christleton, Waverton, along the Shropshire Union and past a former regular starting point, the Ice Cream Farm. We passed Bolesworth Castle, heading to Brown Knowl and then stopped outside Broxton Old Hall for a photo. 

Photo by AO

After this David M and Andy W took an alternative route as Andy was to miss lunch in order to be back early, and David agreed to meet us in the pub. The wind was causing us little problem and we continued south to No Man’s Heath and began the climb into Malpas.

The Lion is on the eastern side of the High Street, just below the old cross. In 2021 it was refurbished extensively with accommodation in adjoining buildings, an outdoor courtyard, and a comfortable interior with separate rooms (is this sounding like an advert?). We were seated in the main dining area and served quickly and efficiently. Food was available at all prices and was tasty and sufficient – Steve T’s Korean Benedict drew most interest - and my local Kelsall brewery, Weetwood, supplied the ales. All agreed that this would be worth re-visiting.

As we prepared to leave all had been going well. The weather in the morning had been fine, and although it rained as we ate, the skies had cleared when it was time to leave. Our return route was NNW to Tilston and Stretton, though David M made his own way home back through No Man’s Heath. We negotiated the traffic in Malpas High Street, reached the top of the hill and sped down the other side before we realised Steve T was missing. We waited, but no Steve; phone messages were left, but no Steve. Was he lost? Unlikely. Was he broken down? Again, unlikely or he would have answered his phone. The others continued to Tilston, while I climbed back towards Malpas, when I met him. The unexpected reason for delay, was a complete traffic jam in Malpas – apparently a regular occurrence with 4x4s being unable to negotiate parking and the high street. Re-united we were about to continue, when George’s rear wheel stopped turning. Our collective intelligence (don’t laugh) was applied to this problem before a sticking mudguard was found responsible.  Again, we continued, but next it was my turn – another sticking mudguard problem.

Missing riders and mudguards solved we continued into Tattenhall, on the way saying goodbye to Steve Hu and Andy B. We were approaching Waverton when the ominous clouds in the distance, suddenly seemed to be over our heads. The odd spot of rain became heavier and then heavier until we eventually arrived, drenched at Meadow Lea.

Despite the afternoon’s problems it had been another good ride in good company and with a new destination found for lunch to which we will return.

See route map and/or gpx file download

SH