9th December 2010: Christmas Lunch ride to The Pant yr Ochain

After 10 days of bitterly cold and icy weather the temperatures rose above freezing in time for our Christmas Lunch celebrations at The Pant yr Ochain.  Now don’t get me wrong, it was still cold but it felt positively balmy compared to the previous week.  Five of us cycled out to Caergwrle (Clive, Brian Mac, Mike G, Ivan and I) for a hot drink and toasted teacake.  The plan was for an easy ride to The Pant yr Ochain and we soon agreed a route of just over 12 miles sticking mainly to the B roads.

Out on the roads we took it easy, with a loop round to Hope and then the B road to the Llay crossroads before heading to Rossett where we crossed the railway line at the pedestrian crossing point.  From Rossett it was a simple matter of following the B5102 before a right at the T-junction had us heading back through Borras to Gresford and The Pant yr Ochain where we arrived at 12:15pm.

Photographs by Brian MacDonald
and Ivan Davenport

 

Today wasn’t about the ride though and with the recent bad weather this was to be an opportunity to catch up with friends before, during and after the eagerly awaited Christmas lunch. Inside it was good to see that Jim and Dave H had already made themselves at home with glass in hand. It wasn’t long before the others started to appear with Mike M, Dave & Liz P having cycled direct.  The impressive range of ales caused some problems in deciding where to start.  For my part the stout proved irresistible.
With so much to talk about amongst the 14 of us we were a little late settling down to eat, but once we had, the starters appeared and were quickly demolished with considerable approbation.  A few photos later and it was time for the mains: all superb and served with aplomb.  By the time puddings and coffee had been served time was moving on and with darkness less than an hour away it was time to leave for the ride back to Chester.
What a fantastic day: great to be out on the bike again, a superb meal and great company.  It’s hard to imagine a better Christmas lunch.  Well done Pant yr Ochain: we can’t recommend you too highly.
BW