Now I have to admit that when Mike sent a tweet, earlier in the week, suggesting a ride to Coton I had no idea where it was other than somewhere south of Whitchurch. A detailed perusal of the OS map revealed that I had in fact cycled through it some years earlier on the National Byway route south to Shrewsbury. With Mike willing to lead, providing there was GPS backup, everything was in place for a good days ride. Thursday dawned with good weather in prospect so perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that ten of us turned up at Bellis Garden Centre Café for the ride with a further two, introduced by Jim, joining us for elevenses.
Mike led us out through Shocklach, over Sarn Bridge and through the lanes south of Wych Brook towards Painters Green and Fenn’s Bank. What a glorious day, probably the best so far this year: the sun shone and the countryside, just like us, appeared to be welcoming the coming summer. We made good progress with a constant buzz of conversation and I suddenly realised we had joined the National Byway with not much further to go. The Bull and Dog was almost empty when we arrived at 1.00pm. but with ten of us that soon changed. The pensioners’ special was hard to resist and Liz and Dave P both succumbed. The rest of us went for the “lighter bite” of a door step sandwich served with soup, chips and salad garnish! The non-availability of cask ale today was a disappointment to some, while Ray went without in protest at the exorbitant price of lime and soda.
For the return journey Mike led us back along delightful lanes past Whixall, Dobson’s Bridge and Bettisfield where we turned off to Penley via Tarts Hills. From here on Ray, with the route programmed into his Garmin, shepherded us back to Bellis by way of Bangor on Dee to arrive a few minutes after they had stopped serving for the afternoon. Never mind; it had been a wonderful day, with beautiful lanes we hadn’t ridden before, great weather and good company. What more could you ask for? Thanks to Mike for a great day.
Distance from Chester and back 68 miles.
BW
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