7th March 2013: New Brighton

With a rainy overcast sky forecast throughout the day, it was a very welcome sight for me to see 10 riders raring to go at 10:30 from Ness Gardens.  There has always been a good turnout from this cafe over the years, even though routes are somewhat limited from Ness.  Here was me thinking it was because I was leading this time, until George pointed out what a lot of us like about CER; they meet every Thursday, whatever the weather, and that is a real motivator.  Clive, Dave H, Dave P, George, Jim, the 2 Lizzies, Roy, Paul & myself were joined by a CER virgin, Keith.  We set off north, waved off by Martin, who was only here for the coffee.

There are only two ways round the Wirral and both have been done by CER; this time I tried to go clockwise around the peninsula, utilising the plethora of lanes along the western or Deeside coastline.  There were no dramas reported before we reached The Magazine pub in New Brighton, a proper old boozer we had visited a few winters ago.  Reactions to lunch were mixed, but all agreed that the Real Ales on tap were 1st Class.

Photographs by Brian MacDonald

Heading south along the banks of the Mersey, we passed New Brighton’s very own “Black Pearl”, a half size pirate ship breached above the high tide, built by local artist Frank Lund & Major Mace.  Constructed entirely from driftwood & items washed ashore, it’s worth checking Google & Flikr for its provenance.

The tandem picked up a puncture by Twelve Quays & while we were waiting, Clive did his impression of an ostrich, immortalised forever on camera.  The return was via a drab Cammell Lairds, now in full swing fabricating offshore wind-turbines.

After Eastham, Clive and Roy peeled off to Chester; while the rest of us wended (is there such a word?) our way back to High Tea at Ness, having clocked up 41 miles, a record for a Wirral Circular.  Next time, the new Sustrans path from Neston to Shotton will be finished, opening up the possibility of different routes from Ness.

BMac