16th July 2009: Mersey Estuary Ride

Photographs by Glennys Hammond

We had discussed today’s ride a number of times over the last year so I was thinking about how it would go as I cycled to the Cottage Café in Frodsham for an early 9.45am meet. I joined Jim sitting outside in the sun with tea and teacake before being joined by Glennys, Mike, Dave and Peter Williams (joining us for the first time). Once we had discussed the route it was time for the off with Dave leading us through Runcorn to the Runcorn Widnes bridge over the Mersey. Thank goodness we had Dave’s local knowledge to navigate us along the cycle paths through this bewildering landscape of flyovers and underpasses before being able to enjoy the views from the bridge. Once on the Trans Pennine Trial below the bridge Bryan took the lead before Glennys led us to Hale village church to see the grave bearing the inscription "Here lyeth the bodie of John Middleton the Childe of Hale. Nine feet three." After a photo opportunity by the carved giant it was time to continue through Speke before passing alongside the Jaguar Land Rover plant. How we avoided punctures on these glass littered cycle paths I don’t know but it was with a certain amount of relief that we joined the old railway line at Halewood Country Park for the ride up to Gateacre.
Leaving the Trans Pennine Trail Bryan led us uphill through Gateacre Village with the promise of a viewpoint in Calderstones Park which, I have to admit, seemed less and less likely as we got closer. Confidence in Bryan’s map reading skills then suffered a dramatic collapse as it turned out the “viewpoint” was in fact the OS symbol for a “garden”! Luckily the diversion gave us the opportunity to view the original Calder stones before we remounted, donned waterproofs, and set off in the rain down hill to the red bull on the Mersey Estuary embankment.
Once on the embankment, taking in the views across the Mersey, it seemed only a matter of minutes before we were relaxing in a café in the Albert Dock having a much needed lunch in the dry. Although a little behind schedule we took our time only to discover, on arriving at Pier Head, that we had just missed the Ferry and the next one wasn’t due for an hour and a quarter! A short diversion to James Street station was called for, where we took the next train to Hamilton Square negotiating both escalators and lift to get back to street level. Peter offered to lead us on the scenic route through Birkenhead pulling in Birkenhead Park and Bidston Hill before we joined the NCR 56 to Brimstage Craft Centre for afternoon tea and cake. Leaving the Craft Centre as the tearooms closed we headed back to Chester with Peter peeling off in Willaston and Bryan in Capenhurst.
What an interesting day this had turned out to be: a completely different ride to the usual exploring new territory and with four leaders covering different stages. Even the rain and missed ferry didn’t spoil the enjoyment of a great day out. Distance from Chester and back 66 miles.
BW